Bin workers in Birmingham have demanded the council to “pay them fairly” as nearly 400 employees walked out today over cuts.
Workers are protesting against pay cuts following the scrapping of waste collection and recycling officer roles.
Unite Union, a leading force in the protests against Birmingham City Council, says some of its members have already voluntarily accepted cuts to pay and terms following the council’s bankruptcy declaration.
Speaking to GB News, protesting workers admitted their own waste collections are being affected as a result of the council’s cuts, and subsequent protest action.
Birmingham refuse workers have demanded to be ‘valued’ and ‘paid fairly’ as the continue their protests against the council
GB News
Unite Union officer Zoe Mayou told GB News: “Unfortunately, since November we’ve had to take industrial action ballot just to get conversations going with the council.
“And that’s why we’ve had to escalate the action to get some movement from them.”
One worker, Jim, told GB News reporter Steve Bennett that the council “needs to value” the refuse workers and “pay them fairly”.
He said: “The council needs to value us. We do the whole of Birmingham. Everybody produces rubbish – come on, let’s be fair, let’s pay them fairly.
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Birmingham refuse workers have been striking against cuts
PA
“They work in all weathers, every day of the year. We worked all through Covid – we were the only department in the council to work through Covid. We got no extra money for that, no extra pay. We put our families, our lives at risk, and now the council has seen fit to try and cut our money.”
Another worker, Stephen, told GB News that the current situation is “uncomfortable” for the workers, and the council needs to realise they are “also Birmingham residents too”, meaning their waste is also not being collected.
Stephen explained: “It’s really, really uncomfortable. One thing also that the public needs to realise is that the majority of the bin men here are Birmingham residents too.
“My recycling hasn’t been collected since the start of the strikes, and also with the household rubbish, we’ve been getting very un-regular collections, just like I imagine the majority of the Birmingham public are as well.”
Workers told GB News that even their own waste collections are being impacted as a result
GB News
Unite Union have claimed that 150 workers are set to lose up to £8,000 a year if they’re forced to retrain into other positions.
Birmingham City Council have responded by offering voluntary redundancy to those positions affected, with a settlement thought to be around £7,000, which some workers have accepted.
The council has also resorted to enlisting agency staff to plug the gap of the striking workers, which Unite say is “unlawful” and “undermines the strikes”.
Local residents are also at breaking point, with 4000 having signed an online petition for Birmingham City Council to end the strikes.
