Union hopes over bin strike redundancy plans

A union has said it hopes for a "change of heart" from Birmingham City Council, which threatened compulsory redundancies after negotiations over bin strikes broke down.

Discussions between Unite and the local authority ground to a halt on Thursday, with the latter saying that all offers on the table had been rejected.

Bin bags have continued to pile up since all-out strikes began earlier this month, and images of the city's rubbish-strewn streets have been beamed across the world.

Onay Kasab, Unite's national lead officer, said the union remained determined to find a resolution and would continue negotiations on Monday.

"People may say: 'Well, why are you bothering to meet again after what happened today?' That's our determination to get to a resolution," he said.

"The fact that they've threatened those redundancies, for me, it can send one message - that they are not serious about resolving this dispute, but we are.

"That's why, despite that, we'll still turn up on Monday."

• Birmingham bin strikes - what to expect

The row centres around the loss of a job role that the union claims would mean about 50 staff could lose up to £8,000 a year - a figure that is disputed by the local authority.

Birmingham City Council said it had made a "very fair" offer that would mean no worker would need to lose any money, and that offer remained on the table.

Following the breakdown of talks on Thursday, it said it would enter a period of collective consultation regarding compulsory redundancies on Monday.

"This is about securing a better waste service for the people of Birmingham," it said in a statement.

Steeven Biset, who is one of the refuse workers on strike, said the threat of redundancy was "sad and shocking".

"We just want to keep the little money we've got; it's not the most glamorous job in the world, but it pays the bills, and the majority of us love our job, and we love our city.

"I don't feel they have the public's best interests at heart; otherwise this would have all been put to bed," Mr Biset added.

The Labour-run council said all staff had been offered alternative employment at the same pay, and almost three-quarters of staff had taken the offer or chosen voluntary redundancy.

"There are now 41 workers who have declined any offer and 35 workers who opted for valuable and skilled driver training, who have also told us via a letter from Unite that they are working under protest," it said.

Writing before negotiations broke down, West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker called for an urgent pause in the strike action.

He said it would be the "responsible" thing for Unite to do to "help avoid a public health emergency".

"Just like every resident in Birmingham, I'm fed up with the waste piling up and the streets being filthy," he wrote.

In response, Mr Kasab said: "He's fed up? We're fed up, our members are fed up. Our members want to be back at work.

"I'm fed up because we've got a Labour council under a Labour government threatening to dismiss workers when we should be talking about workers' rights.

"I understand that the residents of Birmingham are fed up but the reason why the dispute is continuing, the blame for that, lies fairly and squarely with the council."

Bin bags and rubbish continue to pile up on many streets across the city.

Students Sam Gillen and Morgan Edlin live in Selly Oak.

"You see it all over our social media, and even my parents send me the videos, and they're like: 'Are you actually living in this?'" said Mr Edlin.

"It's horrible."

Mr Gillen added: "It's impossible to live in, and it's just not a nice place at the moment."

"There's no sign of it ending... as students we feel sort of powerless because the situation's just not changing - the city council came out and said they can't really do anything about it."

Private waste contractor Jordan Clayton said he wanted to "come up with a solution" and decided to lease a bin lorry to try and keep up with demand from local customers.

Mr Clayton, who is from Sheldon, trained to drive bin vehicles last year and said ever since the strikes began, business had been "absolutely crazy".

"I've never seen anything like it; you've just got mounds of black bags everywhere. It's chaotic.

"It's causing a mini-pandemic," he said.

Mr Clayton added that he fully supported the strike action by the refuse workers and said he had provided his service for "as cheap as I possibly can" to people who are "desperate" for their waste to be collected.

Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.