Unite says Birmingham waste strikes are set to escalate from 4 to 12 days in February and from 4 to 13 days in March as part of a protracted dispute over job role.
The industrial action will affect anyone who has their waste collected by the council on the planned strike days.
Unite the Union said the dispute is over Birmingham City Council’s decision to “downgrade” Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) roles.
On average, Unite said staff performing the “safety-critical” WRCO role will lose around £8,000 a year under the plans.
Birmingham City Council disputed Unite and said its whole team is accountable for working in a safe and responsible way.
None of the roles either past or present make any specific reference to there being a lead person responsible for health and safety, the Council said.
Birmingham City Council said the changes are being made due to a statutory requirement under the Environmental Act 2021 to provide ensure households can better separate food waste, glass, plastics, metals, paper and cardboard.
The Council has offered all affected staff the opportunity to move to alternative roles at their current grade, train as drivers, take voluntary redundancy or work as loaders with pay protection.
Unite said talks broke down in December last year after the Council said it would not delay the planned changes to the WRCO role.
There is no justification for such huge pay cuts to workers’ wages.
Commenting on the industrial action, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “There is no justification for such huge pay cuts to workers’ wages. Birmingham Council cannot just ignore this situation and hope that it will go away.
“It is a line in the sand for our members, who know more attacks will follow if they don’t fight back. Unite is with them 100 per cent.”
The strikes began in January with 12 days of industrial action and an overtime ban has been in place since 2 January, which could cause disruption on days when there is no strike action planned.
The Council has advised residents to put their bins out as usual on normal collection days, and if they’re not collected on the day, to leave them out, promising to collect them as soon as possible.
According to figures released by the Council, Birmingham’s recycling rate is 22.9%, which is the lowest of any unitary authority, apart from Liverpool.
The amount of “unusable” recycling it collects has increased from 11.1% in 2019 to 2020, to 30.6% last year (2023 to 2024).
