Birmingham bin strikes at crisis point with rats and cockroaches threatening public health emergency

The industrial action, which went ‘all out’ on Tuesday, has led to scenes of overflowing bins and rubbish bags piling high in streets right across the city - and now there’s a warning of a public health emergency with fears over disease spreading.

The strike began in January and was triggered by a dispute between the Labour-run Birmingham City Council and Unite the union over the scrapping of a certain role.

As mounting waste continues to blight Birmingham’s neighbourhoods, Edgbaston MP Preet Gill has warned that residents are reporting a “plague of rats and cockroaches” in a letter to the city council.

She went to urge the authority to take action before a public health emergency engulfs Birmingham.

“The accumulation of domestic waste on the streets of Birmingham has now got to a crisis point,” the Labour MP wrote.

“Some roads in Edgbaston constituency are particularly badly affected where the volume of waste is obstructing passage along the pavements.

“Additionally, residents are reporting that the waste is driving a plague of rats and cockroaches.

“I now fear that we are facing a public health emergency with the risk of disease being spread, especially as the warmer weather approaches.”

WATCH THIS: Shocking images show stinking rubbish piled high in Birmingham’s streets

In the letter, addressed to environment cabinet member Councillor Majid Mahmood, Ms Gill continued that she appreciates the city council is impacted by “industrial relations issues”.

“However, there are statutory duties to protect the public from both environmental and public health perspectives that must take priority in this emergency situation,” she said.

“Consequently, I am formally requesting you use the relevant statutory powers available to you to ensure that this emergency situation is addressed, ensuring the streets are not running with vermin and the health of the population protected.”

READ MORE: When will my bins be emptied if Birmingham bin strikes are extended until summer?

Preet Gill is not the only well-known political figure in the region who has made their feelings known about the bins strike this week.

Andy Street, the former Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, wrote on X earlier today that Birmingham’s reputation was “in the mud again” because of the strike.

He went on to describe the situation as “deeply depressing”.

“So many did so much to change Brum’s perception, and now that’s all being undone,” he said.

“But Brummie believers please don’t lose hope.

“Our city will bounce back and it’ll need us more than ever.”

Unite organised the strike amid the city council’s plans to scrap the waste recycling and collection officer role (WRCO), which the union described as “safety-critical”.

“We have a lot of support [from residents],” Zoe Mayou, regional officer at Unite, told the LDRS during a demonstration last week.

“We are not doing this strike to hold the city to ransom.”

Go beyond the story - sign up for our BirminghamWorld newsletter

The city council said it had made a “fair and reasonable offer” to Unite and alternatives have been offered to the “small number of workers whose wages are impacted ongoing by the changes to the service”.

“Residents of Birmingham want and deserve a better waste collection service and the restructure that Unite is opposing is part of the much-needed transformation of the service,” a council spokesperson said recently.

The council’s plans for the WRCO role were one of the many proposed cuts and changes included within its latest painful budget, which was passed earlier this month in a bid to make around £150 million in ‘savings’.

That means residents are set to be hit by a council tax hike of 7.5 per cent, following a 10 per cent rise last year.

External auditors recently highlighted several issues and missteps which contributed to the council’s financial woes, including the equal pay debacle, inadequate budget setting, poor service management, demand led pressures and the disastrous implementation of a new IT and finance system.

Labour councillors have also been keen to highlight the impact of funding cuts over the past decade or so.