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Bin workers in Birmingham have rejected a pay deal to end industrial action, extending the month-long strike that has led to rubbish piling up across the UK’s second city.
Unite the union said on Monday afternoon that its members had voted against the “totally inadequate” offer put forward by Birmingham City Council and called on the government to convene urgent talks.
Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: “For weeks, these workers have faced attacks from government and their employer pushing the lie that only a handful of workers are affected by the council’s plans to cut pay by up to £8,000.
“Instead of peddling untruths about these low-paid workers and focusing on winning a media war, the government should have taken the time to check facts and used its office to bring the council to the table in a meaningful way,” Graham added.
Birmingham City Council and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The rejection of the deal came after UK ministers drafted in military planners to assist the council with logistics and planning in dealing with a vast pile-up of waste, particularly in poorer areas of the city that cannot afford commercial waste clearance.
Government officials stressed that army personnel were not being used on the ground to clear the rubbish, but instead to provide planning expertise for the large-scale clearing operation.
Rubbish collection in Birmingham has been severely reduced since Unite began all-out industrial action last month. The walkout was called in response to the council’s decision to restructure the service.
Birmingham council declared effective bankruptcy in 2023 after a £100mn software debacle and a £250mn liability for an equal pay claim. The local authority’s latest budget included a large council tax rise as well as cuts to library and adult social care services.
Unite earlier said it was not recommending the offer to its members since it represented only a “partial deal” that did not address what the union claims is an impending pay cut for an additional 200 lorry drivers.
Graham said after the vote: “The rejection of the offer is no surprise as these workers simply cannot afford to take pay cuts of this [£8,000] magnitude to pay the price for bad decision after bad decision.”
The current dispute is focused around the restructuring of the waste collection service and the eradication of the role of grade three waste collector, which the council says does not fit its plan for modernisation.
The role, which triggered a separate strike in 2017, is paid more than lorry loaders but less than drivers, and requires completing some safety and data collection tasks as well as collecting rubbish.
The government earlier on Monday said that “in light of the ongoing public health risk, a small number of office-based military personnel with operational planning expertise have been made available to Birmingham City Council”.
On Thursday, Birmingham council said a single weekly collection was being maintained for each property in the city, but added that delays caused by picket lines at depots had led to “uneven collection across the city”.
