'Unprecedented development' for Birmingham bins strike as agency workers to join council refuse workers on the picket line - here's when

In what has been described as an unprecedented development, the workers who are directly employed by Birmingham council will now be joined on picket lines by agency workers employed by Job & Talent on the refuse contract.

The rally will take place on Monday, December 1 at 8.30am at the Smithfield Depot on Pershore and Sherlock Street.

Unite the Union said the Job & Talent workers had voted in favour of strike action over what they described as bullying, harassment and the threat of blacklisting at the council’s refuse department two weeks ago.

A spokesman for Unite said: "The number of agency workers, many of whom have worked in the refuse service for more than a decade without job security or full employment rights, who will join the strike action is growing daily.

"Meanwhile, strikes over fire and rehire pay cuts of up to £8,000 by directly employed bin workers, which have been running since January, could continue beyond May’s local elections.

"The directly employed bin workers voted in favour of extending their industrial action mandate earlier this month."

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Birmingham council will only resolve this dispute when it stops the appalling treatment of its workforce.

“Agency workers have now joined with directly employed staff to stand up against the massive injustices done to them.

“Instead of wasting millions more of council taxpayers’ money fighting a dispute it could settle justly for a fraction of the cost, the council needs to return to talks with Unite and put forward a fair deal for all bin workers. Strikes will not end until it does.”

Birmingham Council have put out replies to address three areas of the dispute.

For the Agency staff ballot, a spokeswoman 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 per cent increase in tonnage of waste collected per employee and a 52 per cent 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."

For Blacklisting allegations, a spokeswoman said: "The council does not condone any actions which are contrary to legislation and good employment practice. Blacklisting will not be tolerated. A full investigation was immediately initiated. This has now concluded and has found that no blacklisting has taken place."

For Bullying allegations, a spokeswoman said: "We strongly refute Unite’s claims of bullying which are unfounded.  Our agency workforce have been crucial to delivering a consistent waste service during this strike, with improved reliability for residents.

“Transformation of the city’s waste service began in 2024. Part of this transformation includes initiatives to enhance our waste colleagues’ progression and training opportunities alongside work to foster a positive and collaborative working environment. “Managers regularly engage with workforce through ‘check-ins’ and 1-2-1s, and we have also invested in new welfare facilities for our agency workforce.

"Our crews’ and contractors’ workloads are in line with industry standards, with crew performance monitored to ensure collection standards are met. Crews are supported throughout their employment, and the management team work in partnership with the agency and the collection crews to jointly review targets.”