Agency workers who have been covering for striking bin collectors in Birmingham have voted to join the picket lines, escalating the long-running dispute with Birmingham City Council. The workers, employed by Job & Talent, will be able to join official strike action from December 1.
The move marks a significant intensification of industrial action that has been ongoing since March. Hundreds of Unite members employed directly by Birmingham City Council have been on an all-out strike over pay and jobs. Unite claimed a growing number of agency staff were already refusing to cross picket lines due to "unsustainable" workloads.
Sharon Graham, Unite's general secretary, described the development as a "real escalation." She 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 & Talent and Birmingham Council.»
Graham criticized the council's approach to the dispute. «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. She emphasized that both agency and directly employed workers have the union's «complete and utter support.»
Council defends waste collection record
A Birmingham City Council spokesman expressed disappointment that Unite has rejected all offers but insisted regular waste collections continue. «We are continuing to make regular waste collections and our contingency plan is working,» the spokesman said.
The council reported collecting approximately 1,330 tonnes of kerbside waste daily, more than before the industrial action began. Over the last six months, the authority has collected over 100,000 tonnes of waste. The council cited a 22% increase in tonnage collected per employee and a 52% improvement in missed collections.
A small number of agency staff are involved in a separate dispute with Job & Talent. The council said it has contingency plans to maintain at least one collection per week for residents while moving forward with «service improvements that are long overdue.»
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
