Now the strike-breakers are on strike: Union claims agency workers will join Birmingham's striking bin workers on the picket lines
Agency workers called in to cover for Birmingham's striking bin collectors have now themselves voted to go on strike, claiming bullying, harassment and intimidation.
Sign up to our free newsletter today
Temporary bin collectors, employed by agency Job and Talent, were drafted in to clear the backlog of rubbish collections following the outbreak of the strike in January this year.
But agency staff have now themselves voted to join in the dispute, and are set to join their regular colleagues on the picket line from December 1.
The regular workers have also voted to extend their action beyond the local elections in May next year.
The council said only a small number of agency staff were involved with the dispute, and said weekly bin collections would continue as normal. It said the amount of waste collected had actually increased since the strike began.
A spokesman for union Unite said a growing number of agency staff have been refusing to cross picket lines due to unsustainable workloads and the toxic and bullying workplace culture at the council’s refuse department.
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 and 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."
She said both the agency workers and council employees had the union's complete and utter support.
Strike action began in January and became all out in March as a result of the council's reorganisation of refuse services.
The union claims the changes amount to a pay cut of up to £8,000 a year for drivers and senior loaders - between a quarter and a fifth of their total earnings.
The workers say it could result in them losing their homes or being unable to feed their families.
A spokesman for Unite said there had been no formal negotiations over ending the dispute since May, after a 'ballpark deal' broke down.
A spokesman for Birmingham Council said while t was disappointed the dispute had not been resolved, the authority was continuing to make regular waste collections.
"Our contingency plan is working.," he said.
He said the refuse teams had been collecting 1,300 tons of kerbside waste every day, an increase on what was collected prior to the start of the dispute.
Over the past six months, about 100,000 tons of waste had been collected from the roadside, he said.
"There has been a 22 per cent increase in tonnage of waste collected per employee, and a 52 per cent improvement regarding missed collections," he said.
"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 with the service improvements that are long overdue and that our residents need."
The union claims the dispute will have cost the council, which was effectively declared bankrupt two years ago, £15 million by the end of the year.
Unite national lead officer Onay Kasab said: “Residents of Birmingham will be rightly concerned to see that the misery of bin strikes can continue through Christmas, New Year and beyond May’s local elections but the council is solely responsible for the ongoing dispute.
“Unite remains fully committed to return to meaningful negotiations to secure a fair deal for affected workers while also ensuring the endemic bullying culture and threats of blacklisting are stamped out.”
