Council fears agency staff joining bin strike

WORKERS TARGET RECRUITERS AS THEY CLAIM ‘WE'RE GOING TO WIN’

- HARRY LEACH News Reporter

Striking binmen protesting in Waterloo Street this week

BIRMINGHAM City Council is terrified over continued pressure from striking bin workers and agency staff joining their fight for a better deal, a union has claimed.

Flare smoke filled the air outside the offices of agency ‘Job & Talent’ in Waterloo Street in the city centre yesterday morning as striking binmen called for an end to the long-running dispute.

They claimed the company, which has provided the council with agency bin staff during the industrial action, was complicit in trying to “break the strike”

It was reported in July how the city council had paid out nearly £8 million to two private firms to keep its rubbish collections going. The authority spent more than £6.5 million on agency staff through just one provider in the first six months of this year - nearly double the amount spent in the same period last year.

Union boss Onay Kasab last week claimed the city council had spent millions of pounds extra on agency staff.