Bin workers in Birmingham vote to continue industrial action for another six months in pay dispute
Bin workers in Birmingham have voted to continue taking industrial action for another six months in their long-running dispute over pay.
Unite said its members decided overwhelmingly to extend their action past local elections in May and into September.
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The workers have been taking industrial action for more than a year and have been on all-out strike since last March.
The council is pressing ahead with reforms to refuse collections it insists are needed to improve the service but Unite says this will lead to pay cuts for hundreds of its members.
Agency workers hired to help with collections have also voted to continue taking industrial action, said Unite.
General secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our members are more determined than ever to achieve a fair settlement, and they have Unite’s unwavering support.
“The council needs to get back around the table now because strikes will not end until we have a fair deal for Birmingham’s bin workers.”
There have been no negotiations over ending the dispute since May last year, said Unite.
Unions involved in disputes have to reballot their members every six months to ask if they want to continue taking industrial action.
Birmingham councillor Majid Mahmood said: “This is disappointing and will be immensely frustrating for the residents of Birmingham.
“We have invited Unite on multiple occasions to make a proposal to end the strike, which we would fully and carefully consider, but they have declined to do so thus far. They have also rejected our fair and reasonable offers.”
He said workers involved in the dispute had been redeployed or taken voluntary redundancy.
“Given this it is hard to understand why the strike is continuing,” he added.
“Despite this, we are driving forward our service improvements, set to start rolling out in June whether or not the industrial action continues. My message to those still taking action is simple: come back to work, I want you to be part of this new, improved service.”
