Birmingham bin strikes: When will the strikes end? Council and union talks scheduled and latest update

Birmingham’s bin strikes continue to plague the city, but fresh talk will take place this week with the aim of bringing the dispute to an end.

The bins strike was triggered by a dispute between the council and Unite, with the union saying plans to scrap a Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) role would force “dedicated workers onto pay levels barely above the minimum wage”.

However, the council’s political leadership has insisted that a “fair and reasonable offer” has been made and that “not a single worker needs to lose a penny”.

The council declared a major incident in the city following the all out bin strike which began last month. Bin crews, who say a change of job roles will leave them up to £8,000-a-year worse off, have been striking since March 11 and say they will continue until September unless a deal is reached between Unite and the city council.

Despite the ongoing crisis, since the city council declared a major incident towards the end of March, positive progress has been made and, according to a government minister, around 26,000 tonnes of excess waste has now been cleared.

Since the major incident was declared, a number of measures were taken to clear the huge backlog of waste, including the extension of opening hours at the city’s tips.

Recent talks between the council and Unite failed to reach a resolution but independent public body ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) are set to be involved in negotiations.

When will the ACAS talks take place?

Talks between the union, the city council and ACAS are set scheduled for this Thursday, May 1.

A spokesperson for the city council said: this week: “Negotiations are ongoing and are positive.

“There has been agreement that there will be further discussions at the end of next week under the auspices of ACAS.”