A major incident has been declared by Birmingham City Council over the ongoing bin strike, which has left 17,000 tonnes of waste on the streets.
Council leader John Cotton said the action had been taken in response to rising concerns about public health as the authority struggles to clear the rubbish.
The declaration means the authority can increase its street cleaning operation and fly-tipping removal, with an extra 35 vehicles and crews around the city.
Members of Unite have been on all-out strike since 11 March in a row of pay, which the union says will leave some workers £8,000 worse off.
Mr Cotton said daily picket lines in the all-out strike were preventing vehicles from getting out of depots, which has led to the waste building up.
He said it was “regrettable” the council had to take this step.
“[But] we cannot tolerate a situation that is causing harm and distress to communities across Birmingham,” he said.
“I respect the right to strike and protest, however actions on the picket line must be lawful and sadly the behaviour of some now means we are seeing a significant impact on residents and the city’s environment.
“Unless we declare a major incident and deploy the waste service’s contingency plan, then we would be unable to clear the backlog of waste on the streets or improve the frequency of collections.”
Leave a Reply