Birmingham City Council has declared a major incident over the ongoing bin strikes, which have left 17,000 tonnes of waste uncollected across the city.
The council has been in dispute with Unite the Union over the decision to remove Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) roles.
Unite criticised the decision to declare a major incident, saying it would cost more than resolving the dispute.
The council said declaring a major incident will initially allow them to quickly deploy an additional 35 vehicles and crews for street cleansing and fly-tip removal across the city.
Usually, 200 vehicles are deployed to collect waste daily over 8-hour shifts, which would make over 500,000 collections per week.
The contingency allows 90 vehicles to be deployed per day which should make 360,000 collections per week. However, the council said they are operating far below this, which it blamed on picket lines blocking access to depots.
The council has accused striking workers of blocking access to depots, saying they can only get one vehicle out per hour.
Throughout the dispute, Unite has said the council has “smeared” the behaviour of workers on picket lines.
Declaring a major incident also allows for increased data and intelligence sharing with partners, which the council said will initially focus on support to allow vehicles to safely exit and enter depots on time.
Finally, a major incident will allow the council to explore what further support is available from neighbouring authorities and government.
Councillor John Cotton, leader of Birmingham City Council, said without declaring a major incident they would be unable to clear the backlog of waste on the streets.
“It’s regrettable that we have had to take this step, but we cannot tolerate a situation that is causing harm and distress to communities across Birmingham,” Cotton commented.
It’s regrettable that we have had to take this step, but we cannot tolerate a situation that is causing harm and distress to communities across Birmingham.
“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.”
Unite called the decision to declare a major incident in the city an attempt to “crush any opposition to attacks on jobs, pay and conditions that are set to extend to other workers across the council”.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham commented: “Birmingham Council could easily resolve this dispute but instead it seems hellbent on imposing its plan of demotions and pay cuts at all costs.
“If that involves spending far more than it would cost to resolve the strike fairly, they don’t seem to care.”
According to figures provided by the council, the daily accumulation of waste in Birmingham has increased from 483 tonnes per day in the week of 10 March to almost 900 tonnes per day in the week of 24 March.
The waste collection rate against the reduced service plan (one single collection per property/week) has declined from 87% in the week of 10 March to 17% in the week of 24 March.
