A major incident has been declared by Birmingham City Council after the ongoing bin strike left 17,000 tonnes of uncollected rubbish piling high in the streets.
Masses of putrid waste remains yet to be cleared across the city, which residents claim has led to ‘rats becoming the size of cats’ as they feast on discarded food.
Bankrupt Birmingham City Council claimed the problem has been compounded by striking binmen blocking its depots with pickets – meaning vehicles struggle to leave to collect waste.
Members of the Unite union in Birmingham are holding an all-out strike which has led to rubbish piling up in the streets.
The council says daily blocking of its depots by pickets has meant workers cannot get their vehicles out to collect waste from residents.
Declaring a major incident allows the council to increase the availability of street cleansing and fly-tipping removal with an extra 35 vehicles and crews around the city – and it also allows the council to explore further support from neighbouring authorities and the Government.
John Cotton, leader of Birmingham City Council, said: ‘It’s regrettable that we have had to take this step, but we cannot tolerate a situation that is causing harm and distress to communities across Birmingham.
‘I respect the right to strike and protest, however actions on the picket line must be lawful and sadly the behaviour of some now means we are seeing a significant impact on residents and the city’s environment.
‘Unless we declare a major incident and deploy the waste service’s contingency plan, then we would be unable to clear the backlog of waste on the streets or improve the frequency of collections.’
Almost 400 council bin workers in Birmingham began indefinite strike action earlier this month as part of a row over jobs and pay.
Some residents claim that due to the strike the city is being overrun with rodents, with some ‘rats becoming the size of cats’.
The Unite union says its members face pay cuts after the scrapping of waste collection and recycling officer roles – but Labour-run Birmingham City Council says its offer is ‘fair and reasonable’.
Birmingham City Council has said the ‘escalation’ of industrial action would mean greater disruption to residents despite a ‘fair and reasonable offer’ made to Unite members.
The council also disputes Unite’s claims that 150 workers could lose £8,000 per year in pay.
And it has insisted plans to restructure the service were a crucial part of the authority’s efforts to become financially sustainable.
In September 2023 the council effectively declared itself bankrupt after facing a £760million equal pay bill and an £80million overspend on an IT project.
The moves have triggered a restructuring aimed at saving £300million over two years.
Last month the struggling local authority outlined plans to cut £148million from its budget for this year – with an axe being taken to adult and social care and children and families services.
Meanwhile, council tax bills for residents of England’s second city are set to rise by 7.5 per cent from next month.
Pest control experts have warned the build-up of refuse caused by a bin collection strike poses a huge public health danger.
Unite has warned bin disruption in the city could stretch into the summer after refuse workers voted in favour of extending their strike mandate over the council’s use of temporary labour to ‘undermine’ their industrial action.