Comment Editor Jen Sawitzki discusses the disappointing lack of updates in the ongoing Birmingham bin strikes and highlights the everyday impact on local residents
11 March marked the official beginning of the now infamous Birmingham bin strikes. This was prompted by pay cuts of up to £8,000 – a slash equivalent to a ⅓ of their normal pay. Now, more than six months on, has anything changed in Selly Oak and wider Birmingham?
…characterised by not just full, but overflowing bins
Although we’ve finally escaped the pong characteristic of summers in Selly Oak, the binbags lining our streets still show no signs of budging. See below, for example, pictures taken on a brisk Wednesday morning, October 15. Although I was lucky enough that the bins on my house’s side of the road were emptied, various remnants of fly-tipped junk still remained. The other side of the road was not so blessed, characterised by not just full, but overflowing bins.
All photos were taken within a two minute walking radius of Selly Oak’s main street, Bristol Road.
This would be good news for myself and my four lovely housemates, however the council is still refusing to replace our bins after they melted away in the aftermath of a fire in April. (If you’re reading this, number 16, sorry for the extra rubbish in your bins.) Ironically enough, said fire was caused by the aforementioned rubbish pile ups, now deemed as a formal fire risk by the West Midlands Fire Service. Despite our landlord reaching out to the council multiple times, their reluctance to supply us with new bins continues to fuel the fire (pun not intended) for future bin-related issues. This not only puts students and permanent Selly Oak residents at risk, but also younger students of the 30 primary and secondary schools based in Selly Oak – particularly those situated opposite the fire, as Tiverton Academy on Dawlish Road was earlier this year.
…representatives for the council are now refusing to cross the picket lines
With Birmingham City Council (BCC) refusing to take even the simplest preventative measures, I doubt it will surprise many to hear that many representatives for the council are now refusing to cross the picket lines to negotiate with striking refuse workers. Represented by Unite the Union, the bin workers only strive for “a fair deal”, and are understandably striking until said deal is reached. In April, Unite was involved in talks with BCC; once presented with figures deemed ‘totally inadequate’ (that still involved cuts to pay), it became clear (to me, at least) that we may have to wait a few more summers for BCC to budge. Keeping in mind that entry level salaries for bin workers begin at £24,000 and peak at £30,000, any kind of cut to this vitally underpaid job, whose workers sacrifice more than I’d be willing to (e.g., early mornings, personal hygiene, their lives), is a kick in the teeth.
Yet another public service in Selly Oak is being neglected, with all but 1 of Selly Oak’s 5 postboxes now ‘out of service’.
The reason for the Union’s involvement doesn’t only extend to the pay cuts, but also BCC’s new ‘fire and rehire’ strategy, leading to the purchase of (expensive) agency staff in order to plug the gaps. However, even agency staff are being discriminated against, according to Birmingham Mail, with temporary workers and their colleagues being “bullied and victimised” and pressured to “undertake extra work or face the threat of a disciplinary or the sack”.
not even the rats are winning…
With the morale amongst agency staff at an all time low, and still sinking, at least the rat population is thriving. Birmingham residents have now exhausted all ways of healthily dealing with Bingate, now resorting to cosplaying as rats in order to see some kind of silver lining to the situation. Despite their surplus of food, not even the rats are winning, with residents reporting dead rodents mowed down by cars as a daily occurrence, with one adding how “he had seen four in just one morning” in a street interview with the BBC.
One measure imposed by BCC has been their ‘Street Cleansing Service’, helpfully bagging up debris whilst not taking any measures to dispose of it.
With a report revealing that the council have racked up costs of £9.6 million, every day without action is costing Birmingham. These costs are a result of not only agency payments, but mutual aid from neighbouring boroughs, legal advice, and extended opening hours for waste and recycling centres.
Local representatives for the Green Party and Labour Party were approached for comment, with Al Carns, our local Labour MP, providing the following response:
‘Like many students living in the Bournbrook and Selly Oak areas, I’m frustrated that the bin strike has yet to be resolved. Please be assured that I remain in regular contact with Birmingham City Council regarding the ongoing situation.
Residents of Birmingham want and deserve a reliable waste collection service. The restructure being opposed through this industrial action is part of the essential transformation needed to improve the service after years of underperformance.
That said, I fully understand that this offers little comfort to residents currently affected by the strikes, and that the accumulation of uncollected waste is having a visible and negative impact on Selly Oak’s environment.
Waste management in Bournbrook and Selly Oak has been a persistent issue, even before the strikes began. This is why I wrote to the Leader of Birmingham City Council, Cllr John Cotton, in January to highlight the need for a bespoke waste collection service that reflects the density and unique nature of the local population. I am pleased that in his response, Cllr Cotton recognised this and agreed that the council’s new waste collection strategy must be responsive to local needs. He has also committed to working collaboratively with me on this issue moving forward.’
As of writing this, October 30, the only real progress that has been made is the decision of Unite to continue their strike throughout Christmas and into spring. I’d like to stay hopeful and believe that Labour’s ‘regular contact’ with BCC will amount to something more than empty platitudes, but the only thing that has been acknowledged over the last seven months is the obvious fact that there is a problem. Until the council turns recognition into action, Selly Oak’s bin crisis – and its chaos – aren’t going anywhere.
If you liked this, try reading…
Bingate: A Timeline of Everything that has Happened (or Lack Thereof)
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