Birmingham bin workers to strike AGAIN after council threatens redundancies – and walkout could last until NEXT YEAR
BIRMINGHAM faces yet more rubbish chaos - after bin workers vowed to go on strike AGAIN.
Talks between union members and Birmingham City Council broke down meaning binmen could join the picket line again as early as tomorrow.
And the Unite union has warned the action could last until NEXT YEAR.
Although workers returned to their jobs on August 16, some parts of the city are still piled high with rubbish after a series of walkouts over job losses.
A council spokesperson said they hoped a walkout could be avoided.
But Unite hit back, saying: "It does a great disservice to the people of Birmingham and the city's refuse workers who now face being made redundant and losing their livelihoods or pay cuts of thousands of pounds.
"The last thing refuse workers want to do is resume industrial action and see piles of rubbish accumulating on Birmingham's streets. This is their city too."
Earlier this month volunteers stepped up to clear huge mountains of rotting rubbish from the streets themselves.
Brummies teamed up to carry out their own waste collections in the city after the council's refuse collectors walked out in a row over job losses.
Naveed Sadiq, from Muslim community group Bearded Broz, said volunteers were using a tipper truck owned by Balsall Heath Forum.
He told The : "This is getting out of hand really and someone needs to take ownership of this rubbish and we have decided to do that.”
Other locals described seeing bags bursting with used nappies piling up on the street.
Pest controllers last month warned the city could be overrun by a giant plague of rats after a three-week strike.
Horrified residents said they had seen binmen drive past overflowing wheelie bins and rats running riot in the city.
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The Youngtrepreneurs Youth Community Enterprise have also been clearing rubbish from the streets.
A revolting video posted on the group's Facebook page showed liquid leaking from rotting bags as they were scooped up.
Volunteers also sorted through the bags by hand to move them away from a tree.
The cameraman says: "Bit by bit, grab by grab, it's going.
"Look at the juices off that.
"Sorry bin lads, I understand your strike and we respect that, but the point is we are living here and we can't be in here."
Unite earlier said walkouts will continue until September after talks with the council failed.
Birmingham City Council said it hoped to reached a resolution "sooner rather than later",
Bearded Broz will use the truck to take waste to the Tyseley waste collection centre in the city.
The council wants to modernise its service to save £5million a year.
But Unite fears that more than 120 refuse collectors' jobs are at risk.
A City Council spokesman said: "Positive discussions are continuing to take place with the unions and we hope to be able to resolve this sooner rather than later."
Unite added: "There were talks earlier in the week with the chief executive of Birmingham council where there was a full and frank exchange of views.
"We regret that the people of Birmingham are suffering from the lack of collections but would ask them to step into the shoes of our members who have taken strike action as a last resort and at financial loss to themselves in order to protect their already low wages.
"We urge council bosses to resolve this dispute before it escalates further."
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