Bin strike during heatwave gives Birmingham locals 'the ick'
It has been more than 100 days since Birmingham's bin workers began their all-out strike.Now the country is in a heatwave, and the last thing residents need is rubbish piling up in the streets."It just adds to the 'ick' of the city now, I think the whole city and the reputation of Birmingham on a whole, everyone's just having such a big negative impact," said Sadia Khan.As a volunteer for a park in Balsall Heath, one of the worst affected areas during the strike, she said she had seen fly-tipping soar.
"It just puts you off really, it's quite depressing," she said."It's really destroying people's mental wellbeing."Many have complained the heatwave has made things worse - with the stench from overflowing bins forcing some to put extra bags around already-bagged rubbish in an attempt to contain the smell.The indefinite industrial action officially started on 11 March, but collectors have been striking on-and-off since January.It has led to reports of rat infestations, and rubbish strewn across streets as animals have clawed their way into bin bags.
Steve Message, who lives in Hockley, said missed collections had meant nappies, food and other rubbish being strewn across the road."My neighbour can't open her windows because the piles of rubbish are near where she lives, and the flies, it's a fly-fest.""People are putting more and more bags on top of bags which haven't been collected."The black bin bags were being ripped open by cats, squirrels, foxes, he said."There are hundreds of bluebottles everywhere. It's a public health issue, it's not good to have stinking rubbish and all these flies spreading disease."
Jonathan Yu, who lives on a new estate in Selly Oak, said his bins had not been collected since March – although the council disputes this."We have to hold our nose every time we step out [of the house]," he said.He has been taking his bin bags to work with him, to dispose of them in commercial waste bins.He added that it was "really, really hard" to get a booking at a recycling centre, and that appointments needed to be booked about a week in advance.He said he understood the bin workers' reasons for striking, but wanted the problem to be resolved.Mr Yu said he felt people in neighbouring areas to his had been getting their bins collected, and that "posh areas" seemed to be getting a better service.
Birmingham City Council said since taking legal action to prevent striking bin workers from delaying trucks leaving depots, it had collected more than 33,000 tonnes of rubbish.
In a video posted on social media, council leader John Cotton said the authority was working to "clear the backlog of waste".He added the authority had "put a new deal on the table" to end the industrial action.A Unite spokesperson said earlier this week that the latest deal had been presented two weeks ago, with the union saying at that time the proposal had been "watered down" from a "ballpark offer" made at conciliation talks.Bosses from the union claim changes to how rubbish is collected in the city will see up to 170 workers face an £8,000 annual pay cut, but the council disputes this, saying 17 people could lose up to £6,000 a year.
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