Still no end in sight for city's bitter bins dispute

IT'S NOW SIX MONTHS SINCE ALL-OUT STRIKE BEGAN

- JANE HAYNES News Reporter

THE bitter bins dispute that has blighted Birmingham all year has reached a sorry landmark.

It is six months since bin workers downed tools indefinitely - and the two sides involved are further apart than ever.

Legal action and bitter public statements over who is to blame make the prospect of an agreed resolution between Birmingham City Council and the union Unite "very unlikely", say insiders.

The two sides are no longer talking to each other in a meaningful way.

Members of the Unite recently voted to extend their industrial action until March 2026, accusing the city council of being underhand, trampling on workers' rights and being dictated to by the Government and its appointed commissioners over what to do.

Meanwhile, the city council has maintained it has "reached the absolute limit" of what it can offer and has launched a PR offensive claiming the kerbside collection service for residents is better now than pre-strike, with more rubbish picked up and fewer missed collections.