Agency workers covering for Birmingham bin strikers vote to join picket lines

Birmingham bin strikes could continue beyond May’s local elections unless a deal is reached, Unite the union has said after workers “overwhelmingly” voted to extend their strike action.

Workers who are directly employed by Birmingham City Council will now be joined on picket lines by agency workers employed by Job & Talent on the refuse contract, the union said on Monday.

By voting for industrial action they will now be able to join official picket lines from December 1.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “This is a real escalation in the dispute with agency workers now joining picket lines due to the terrible way they have been treated by Job & Talent and Birmingham Council.

“Birmingham Council is spending a fortune it doesn’t have on a dispute that could easily be resolved by agreeing a fair deal for workers.

“Unite does what it says on the trade union tin – we are totally committed to fighting for the jobs, pay and conditions of all its members.

“Agency and directly employed workers alike in Birmingham Council’s refuse service have the union’s complete and utter support.”

Hundreds of members of Unite in Birmingham have been on an all-out strike since March in a dispute over pay and jobs.

Unite claimed a growing number of agency staff are refusing to cross the picket lines of striking bin workers because of “unsustainable” workloads.

A Birmingham City Council spokesman said: “While we are disappointed the dispute has not been resolved as Unite has rejected all our offers, we are continuing to make regular waste collections and our contingency plan is working.

“We have been collecting an average of approximately 1,330 tonnes of kerbside waste every day, more than we did prior to industrial action, and over the last six months we have collected over 100,000 tonnes of kerbside waste.

“There has been a 22% increase in tonnage of waste collected per employee and a 52% improvement regarding missed collections.

“A small number of agency staff are in a separate dispute with Job & Talent. The city council has contingency plans and will continue to look to maintain residents with a minimum of one collection a week.

“Meanwhile we continue to move forward with the service improvements that are long overdue and that our residents need.”