Christmas bins chaos fears as strike grows

AGENCY STAFF NOW JOIN LONG-RUN NINE DISPUTE OVER WASTE CHANGES

- JANE HAYNES News Reporter

A picket line earlier this year when former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn turned up

AGENCY workers brought in to empty Birmingham’s bins when staff went on strike have now voted to down tools themselves - posing a massive Christmas headache for the beleaguered city council.

Some 22 agency staff who were filling in on the bin lorries to ensure rubbish could be collected have now decided to join the strike and stop carrying out their council assigned roles.

It's a move that appears to scupper any hopes of a recycling service coming back in time for the festive period. There has been no doorstep collection of recycling or green waste all year, with already dire recycling rates plummeting as a result.

The council has insisted its contingency plans are working and it will be able to maintain a once-weekly collection per household, despite the union’s actions.

The union Unite said 275 council staff still in dispute with the council over its waste service changes have also voted to extend action until mid-May.