Birmingham City Council has today praised the efforts of a 100-strong casual workforce, who have been drafted in over the festive holidays to help reduce the impact on local residents of continuing industrial action by trade unions.
Without the efforts of this workforce the action, which has been staged on the busiest week of the year for refuse collection, would have had an even greater impact on the city than that already being felt.
With as much as 30% extra waste to be collected over the Christmas period, plus a backlog created by the recent poor weather, impassable side roads and the continuing industrial action , the city is doing all it can to help tackle the problems the action continues to cause.
As well as mobilising extra collection crews to catch-up work that has been missed due to the action, the council has also extended opening hours at its five Household Recycling Centres to 9pm every evening.
Tommy Wallace, Director of Fleet and Waste Management for Birmingham City Council, said “While we are doing everything we can to offer as complete a service as possible, the timing of this action inevitably means that there will be some delays to scheduled collection rounds.
“However contrary to some reports, it is not true that residents may go up to a month without a collection. Where industrial action makes it impossible for us to make collections on the scheduled day we are endeavouring to pick up the waste within a week using our casual workforce. All neighbouring Local Authorities have had refuse collection services disrupted by the severe weather, and in Birmingham this is compounded by industrial action.
This scenario is especially the case for those scheduled for Monday collections where the service has been severely disrupted by the staging of an all-out strike on Monday 20th December followed by a refusal to work on the two consecutive Bank Holiday Mondays.
The Council will continue to do everything it can to limit the disruption including working Saturday 1st January, Sun 2nd January and bank holiday Monday 3rd January with the casual workforce.
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Totally agree with “HC” and “Howe”. Has anyone from the council’s management team driven around Birmingham to see the extent of the actual backlog? South Birmingham has not had a collection for 3 weeks now – the rubbish is piling up together with all the recycling. We are paying for a service we are clearly not getting – am making copious notes and will be reconciling my council tax in the new year and deduct for services unrendered! And now it is snowing…..07.01.11
My street has not had a collection since the 7th December – so we now have a months worth of rubbish stacking up. I telephoned your contact centre on 29th and was answered by very unhelpful staff who were clearly not bothered, whilst I appreciate that they could not give more specific information it would have been nice if they had shown some empathy. By the way surrounding streets have had two collections to my none!
I would like to know why a “crew” could drive onto our estate, turn round and drive away without collecting rubbish before Christmas? The black bags were on the side of the road, the men would not have slipped on ice as they only had to pick the bags up. Needless to say we have not had a collection for 4 weeks. I too would like to know whether we will get a rebate on our Council Tax. Whilst I appreciate that some workers are losing money, I also work for the Council and I too face a reduction in my salary. However I keep working!”
Although i sympathise with the issue trying to be resolved, at the end of the day we pay for rubbish to be collected. This is not being done, there is three weeks worth of bin bags & recycling sat in the street the cats & fox’s have opened the bags.
Any chance of a rebate on our Council Tax as they have not met their obligations?
Disappointed that you have not kept to promises made in the briefing above. It has been over a week since you collected any refuse from yelverton drive edgbaston.