I love this city but we can't live like this: Birmingham must move past these endless bin strikes

Having suffered a three-month dispute over the summer of 2017, when thousands of tonnes of refuse piled up, it might have been hoped seeing piles of binbags in our stress would not occur again, and certainly not so soon.

I vividly recall the deeply unpleasant putrid stench of rotting meat from a local butcher that went up your nostrils as you walked by the bin containing it.

The roots of that dispute were restructuring plans of workers by Birmingham City Council (BCC), intended to save £5 million annually which Unite, the union representing refuse workers, were unhappy about.

Unfortunately, the solution to the 2017 dispute, which resulted in a go slow by refuse workers in 2019, has not meant that we are free of the dreadful vista of black bin bags piling up across the city.

According to Unite, on this occasion, industrial action by refuse workers has been caused by BCC’s plan to remove 150 Waste Recycling and Collection Officer roles that will result, they argue in a potential loss of income to workers of around £8,000 in annual salary.

For good measure, Unite believe this role is "safety-critical" and should be maintained.

BCC counter claim that only 17 workers will be affected and loss no more than £6,000 pa.

Looking at the two arguments it’s about saving £1.2 million pa (Unite’s calculation) or £102,000 (BCC’s calculation.

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Though neither figure is exactly ‘chicken feed’, particularly the former, in the big scheme of things for an authority with an annual budget measured in billions of pounds (was in excess of £3.2billion in 2021), the reputational damage being caused by the current dispute will outweigh any savings.

Given Birmingham’s latest bin strike has featured on national news there’s the real possibility that potential investment urgently required for jobs to solve the problem of those not in education, employment or training in the city, so called ‘NEETs’ may go elsewhere.

More crucially, there’s the fast-developing health issue of refuse literally spilling into pavements across suburbs of Birmingham because of being torn open by the ubiquitous urban foxes and, of course, rats.

It’s becoming apparent there’s an informal contest of who can spot the largest rodent.

Most accounts of seeing rats in Birmingham will include suggestion that they’re as big as cats.

The largest I’ve heard, from a rodent specialist, was that he’d seen one which was 55 cm long.

That’s a whopper!

The serious point is that Birmingham, a city with a long and proud industrial tradition we’re immensely proud of, shouldn’t be once again known as a place in which conflict between workers and management is a problem.

Those of us who grew up in the 1970s remember that striking workers at British Leyland’s Longbridge car plant regularly featured on the national news and became a byword for everything wrong with Britain at the time.

Surely, given the undisputed importance of effective disposal of waste and refuse for every city, it can’t be beyond the wit of our city leaders to end this dispute and, if at all possible, ensure we don’t have to ensure the stench of rotting rubbish on out pavements?

What is about refuse collectors in Birmingham that makes them different to other local authorities?

For the record, I’m in admiration for those willing to deal with our refuse as it cannot be pleasant.

That said, there are many other occupations we depend on for our health and wellbeing that are woefully underpaid.

Notably, Birmingham current financial situation, caused by poor decisions made concerning the equality of workers – particularly females – in the past, means it’s been forced by Commissioners sent in by government to make stringent savings to all of its budgets including those giving support to those most in need.

Nonetheless, it’s a priority to get Birmingham off the news for the wrong reasons and back into it for the positives the city has to offer.

Buying a job lot of rat traps, or air freshener, is not the way forward for Birmingham!!

Dr Steven McCabe

Steve is Professor and Pro Vice Chancellor, DoctorateHub.

Previously, having worked for Birmingham City Council, he spent the last 35 years as an academic at Birmingham City University teaching and researching economics, management and business. Additionally, he has written extensively for edited texts examining economics and politics.

He regularly writes and comments regularly in the national and international media on politics and the economy and has published texts on quality management, benchmarking, ‘Brexit’ and its economic and social impact, the green economy and manufacturing, house prices and India’s progress since independence.