Sharon Graham has said that there’s ‘absolutely’ a chance that ongoing bin worker strikes in Birmingham could spread across the UK. The Unite boss warned that Sheffield and Peterborough are most at risk of being left without bin collections.
Bin worker strikes have left mountains of binbags on the streets of Birmingham, with more than 5,000 tonnes of rubbish remaining uncollected over the city. As rat infestations and fears for public health grow, on Monday, refuse workers rejected a council offer to halt the long-running dispute.
After workers returned to the picket line ahead of further talks between the union and the council, Unite general secretary Mrs Graham said there ‘absolutely’ could be further strikes across the UK if councils cut bin workers’ pay. Workers in Cambridgeshire and Yorkshire are already in similar disputes, with some Unite staff in Sheffield already on strike.
Asked if other bin workers could follow suit, Mrs Graham told LBC: “If other councils decide to make low-paid workers pay for bad decisions that they did not make, workers paying the price yet again, then absolutely, we all have to take action in those other areas.”
Unite’s national lead officer Onay Kasab admitted in a BBC interview that “there is the potential for strike action spreading.” While a senior union source told the Daily Telegraph that it was “not inconceivable” that other bin workers with the GMB union could soon go on strike in Peterborough.
Business and Trade minister Sarah Jones has urged the union to accept the “good offer” on the table so Birmingham can “get back to normal”. However, a revised offer put forward by council chiefs was slammed as “totally inadequate” by Unite, whose members voted by 97% against. If you can’t see the poll, click here.
The all-out bin strike in Birmingham began on March 11, but several houses have not had their bins emptied since January. The council declared a major incident last month over fears for public health posed by the rubbish. On Tuesday, rats were once again seen amongst the rubbish left on the street in the inner-city Sparkbrook area.
Fed-up locals have demanded that the council act now to end the crisis end that’s left them fearing for their health. Housing maintenance boss Jonathan Ward, checking on properties in Sparkbrook, said: “I’ve seen rats as big as cats, they’re getting in houses and cars. The people in our properties are actually getting cats to kill the rats it’s making things worse for us.
“This is people’s health. It’s a danger to life to be living like this. We’re no better than if we were living down that drain. We’re tripping over rubbish, reversing over the rubbish.” The council have claimed it will be cleaning the rubbish away by the weekend, but Jonathan added: “Why the hell can’t they do it now? If this isn’t an emergency I don’t know what is.”
It’s not just humans who are suffering. One woman told how she found a dead cat, feared to have been killed by poison laid to tackle the ravaging rodents. Chair of Friends of Spark Green Park, in Sparkbrook, Sadia Khan, told how she found the dead cat during a litter pick: “It was a healthy adult size with no signs of any injury to it.
“We took it to the vet who couldn’t confirm it died from poisoning but it’s a suspicion that we have. I’ve seen on Facebook, people have lost their cats and it’s a real fear that they’re getting poisoned. We’re trying to control this rodent infestation and it’s disgusting.
What do you think? Are you worried bin strikes could spread across the UK? Take our poll and have your say in the comments below.
At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share my Data” button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.
