The rubbish strewn across Birmingham’s streets is NOT down to strikes – it’s some binmen not doing their jobs properly the rest of the day.

That is the view of council leader John Clancy, who said that they have instructed managers to “get tough” to ensure that bins are being collected and emptied during the seven hours a day dustmen are on duty.

The Unite union has been operating a work to rule and overtime ban alongside the daily two-hour strikes since the start of July.

Labour leader Coun Clancy (Lab, Quinton) said: “There’s a two-hour strike each day and there’s other industrial action. Clearly, the impact of this is not necessarily the result of the two-hour strike. In those circumstances we have to respond to the fact the service is not being delivered in the way it should be delivered.

“We are insisting that even though people are on strike for two hours, they are still getting the job done in the times that they are not. People still have to do their jobs.”

Rubbish piling up on Belle Walk, Moseley, during the binmen strike
Rubbish piling up on Belle Walk, Moseley, during the binmen strike

Previously the council has complained some bins staff are not collecting extra waste, tower block waste and ignoring management instructions .

He said that they have put on extra rounds to respond to the wider impact of the disruptive action rather than the two-hour daily strike action. He said the extra collections, such as those at the weekend which saw an extra 222 tonnes of rubbish cleared , are necessary to deal with the public health issue.

“We had to have a big push at the weekend. I think as each day goes by we will find the city is getting in a better position,” he added.

Last week, council bosses wrote to the union warning them over the issue, but Unite dismissed the allegations as “spurious”.

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Unite assistant general secretary Howard Beckett said: “The comments from the council leader Cllr John Clancy are unhelpful as Unite continues to seek a fair resolution to this dispute. His remarks are almost an invitation to increase strike action.

“I have already written to Cllr Clancy to encourage him to meet with me to discuss the dispute and whether a resolution can be found which is what the citizens of Birmingham desire above all. We would encourage him to do so before this dispute escalates.

“I would like to reiterate that the industrial action, being taken by our members in defence of their jobs and livelihoods, is lawful. Council bosses should be focusing their energies on trying to resolve this dispute rather than seeking to inflame matters.

“We urge the council to rethink its plans which will see many workers either being forced to take a pay cut of up to £6,000-a-year or losing their job in the refuse service.

“Unite’s door is open 24/7 for constructive and meaningful negotiations.”

Is there an end to the dispute in sight?

Coun Clancy defended the council’s stance including over the controversial move from a four-day to five-day working week and cutting the routine level of overtime.

He made his statement as it emerged the city bins service had already over spent by £2 million this year before the strike had started.

City leader Coun John Clancy
City leader Coun John Clancy

He said they inherited an inefficient bins service from the Tory-Lib Dem administration in 2012, and that action was needed.

“Previous administrations failed to get to grips with this, we are getting to grips,” he added.

Asked if the can see an end to the dispute soon, he added: ”The best way for us to solve this for the citizens is to continue to talk, round the table with the unions.”

He insisted that the council is ‘bending over backwards’ to reform the service without job losses. “We are giving the leading hands every opportunity to further their careers elsewhere in the city council with at least the same basic salary,” he added. And pointed out they are creating 220 more bin jobs to replace the agency staff they use.