Birmingham councillors clash over missed collections on ‘megapicket’ day

Last Friday, protesters from a number of unions travelled to Birmingham from across the country and gathered at depots to show solidarity with striking bin workers.

The industrial action, triggered by a dispute between the Labour-run council and Unite the union over the loss of the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) role, has been rumbling on since January.

This year has seen residents dealing with missed collections, bins overflowing with rubbish and heaps of waste on the streets.

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was among speakers on Friday morning who addressed protesters at locations such as Atlas Depot in Tyseley, where the gates were shut due to the demonstration.

The council would later confirm that there had been disruptions to collections that day due to the protests outside its depots and urged residents to leave their bin out.

Friday morning, July 25, also saw a meeting of the council’s finance scrutiny committee, where a number of councillors expressed frustration over missed collections.

There were also claims that fed-up residents were going to the private sector and paying to get their rubbish cleared.

Conservative councillor Deirdre Alden raised concerns at the meeting over the financial toll the industrial action was having on the council, saying: “We’ve got some big problems there and it’s sort of the elephant in the room.

“We all sit here and it looks very nice and cosy but out there on the streets, the rubbish is still piling up.

“As councillors, we are getting complaints about it day after day after day – and these costs are rising.”

Karen McCarthy, the Labour cabinet member for finance, said a recent session with the waste team had recognised “all their issues” going into next year’s budget.

She continued: “I’m going to stick my neck out and say most people in the city are now getting a refuse collection once a week.”

Coun Alden then interjected, arguing: “If they live in flats, they are absolutely not – that’s a myth.

“Houses are, I accept that, but flats are not.”

Coun McCarthy responded: “Okay, I bow to your knowledge of your ward – certainly in my area, people have been confirming that they’ve been getting those collections.

“But to come back to the financial aspect, the degree of information we are getting to recognise those pressures is extraordinarily thorough.”

Coun Sir Albert Bore, chair of the committee, then echoed concerns raised by Coun Alden, saying he had “numerous” apartment blocks within Ladywood where there had reportedly not been collections for “weeks and weeks and weeks”.

“Some of the ones my colleague and I were dealing with a week or two ago had not had a collection for nine weeks,” he said.

“I’ve got apartment blocks who are going to private sector, paying for collection.”

“It doesn’t affect all wards but it certainly affects mine,” he added.

“I said I was sticking my neck out,” Coun McCarthy said. “I will take that back and discuss it with the cabinet member and the appropriate officers.”

Conservative councillor Alex Yip would later argue in the meeting: “It’s quite a staggering statement from the cabinet member to assert the collections are being done when today of all days there’s been all-out pickets at depots.

“I’ve just received an email from a primary school who’s had eight weeks of missed collections.

“They’ve complained about maggots, they’ve had to pay for other people to come in and clean it.”

Bins strike row

The second ‘megapicket’ came after the council said it was ending negotiations with Unite to resolve the dispute.

In response to striking workers’ concerns about pay, the leadership at the Labour-run council has repeatedly insisted a “fair and reasonable” offer had been made.

The authority said recently it would notify staff and unions of its intention to enter consultation with affected workers – while keeping the door open to those wanting to accept offers to retrain or be redeployed.

Council leader John Cotton said: “We have negotiated in good faith but unfortunately Unite has rejected all offers so we must now press ahead to both address our equal pay risk and make much needed improvements to the waste service.

“Unite’s demands would leave us with another equal pay bill of hundreds of millions of pounds, which is totally unacceptable, and would jeopardise the considerable progress we have made in our financial recovery.”

Local government minister Jim McMahon said: “The union has rejected the council’s fair and reasonable offer….(despite) the council’s hard work to offer options to affected workers.”

The council also confirmed last week it had applied for contempt of court proceedings against Unite due to “persistent evidence of a breach of the court order which the union have agreed to and are required to comply with”.

It said the injunction prevented the blocking of its refuse collection vehicles, both at its depots and on streets.

“We are taking this step to ensure the safety of our city and the safety of our workforce, including those who are on strike,” the council said.

A spokesperson for Unite said: “The court application is the latest distraction from the real task of resolving the ongoing dispute.”

Unite also said that since the council’s court application, it had worked with its members and reps to “ensure that there has been compliance with the court order”.