Birmingham’s bin strike is making headlines across Europe amid reports the city is being taken “to the brink”. Tonnes of rubbish has been piling up in the city’s streets after hundreds of workers walked out indefinitely in protest at council plans to scrap the role of waste recycling collection officer.
French daily Le Parisien reported Birmingham as being “in the grip of a rubbish invasion” and repeated claims of “rats bigger than cats” feasting on piles of crud. German news outlet Bild said the city was “drowning in rubbish”, with more than 20,000 tonnes “in every conceivable space”. Its report included video which appeared to show bin collectors “fleeing” from a rat. Italy’s Corriere della Sera reported on a “stinking war” being fought by the Army, sent into the city to tackle the “rubbish crisis” which sparked “an infestation of giant rats” and public health risks.
Birmingham’s bin strike has not only been reported on by EU countries. In the United States, the New York Times told its readers the city likes to call itself the UK’s second biggest, but in a report on April 4 the newspaper said: “Right now, it’s the nation’s garbage capital.”
Since those damning reports, Unite members rejected a council offer by 97% on a 60% turnout. The union said the proposal did not address potential pay cuts for 200 drivers and was “totally inadequate”.
Unite said if guarantees no worker needs to lose money could be put into writing as part of a new offer, a deal would be “much closer”. But the union fears alternative roles at the same grade being offered to affected workers could be downgraded in the coming months.
Council leader John Cotton has asked Unite to “come back to the table” and bring an end to the all-out bin worker strike which has caused misery for some locals since it began on March 11.
While 18,000 tonnes has been cleared since April 4, Mr Cotton said the only way for a normal service to resume is for the strike to come to an end. He warned the cash-strapped council has “red lines” it will not cross during negotiations.
Mr Cotton said: “It’s really disappointing that Unite have rejected a second reasonable offer from the council. However, our door remains open to talk, so I’m really pleased that there will be further talks taking place later today.
“Obviously, I’m not going to offer a running commentary on what happens in those negotiations but what I will say is what we cannot accept is anything that results in crossing our red lines around our equal pay liability, or indeed imperilling the transformation of the waste service.
“These are really important things that need to happen for the benefit of the citizens of Birmingham, but we’re absolutely open to negotiations and bringing this dispute to a close which has gone on, frankly, for far too long.”
The council leader said he is confident the majority of the mountains of waste left on the streets can be cleared by the end of this week, with crews currently getting rid of 1,500 tonnes of rubbish a day.
Mr Cotton said Birmingham has a “positive future ahead” once the bin strike ends. He urged Unite to engage in “reasonable discussion” to bring it to a close.
No doubt Birmingham’s leaders will be looking for that positive future to be reflected in the headlines.