Britain's Second-Largest City Faces Garbage Surge: 17,000 Tons Of Waste Pile Up As Workers Go On Strike

The dispute dates back to December 2024, when the trade group announced that garbage collectors would strike in response to pay cuts, a ban on overtime, and the elimination of a waste collection role.

Birmingham faces a garbage crisis with over 17,000 tons of uncollected waste due to a strike by sanitation workers over pay cuts and job eliminations.

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In a tragic turn of events, the second-largest city of Britain witnessed over 17,000 tons of uncollected garbage on the curbside after sanitation workers went on strike. City faced mounds of uncollected garbage overflowing from collection bins and dumpsters.

“It’s regrettable that we have had to take this step, but we cannot tolerate a situation that is causing harm and distress to communities across Birmingham,” CNN quoted John Cotton, leader of Birmingham city council, as saying. 

The dispute dates back to December 2024 when the trade group Unite the Union announced that garbage collectors would strike in 2025 in response to pay cuts, a ban on overtime, and the elimination of a waste collection role by the council.

On March 28, the city issued a statement asserting that "all workers have been offered alternative employment at the same pay, driver training, or voluntary redundancy," and justified the eliminated role as a financial liability for city budgets.

“Birmingham council could easily resolve this dispute, but instead it seems hellbent on imposing its plan of demotions and pay cuts at all costs. If that involves spending far more than it would cost to resolve the strike fairly, they don’t seem to care," Sharon Graham, secretary of Unite the Union, said on Monday.

Union members have voted several times to extend their strike after the city started using contractual workers to pick up trash since the dispute began. Those contractors were blocked by picketing workers.

British Government Is Aware Of Strike: Minister of Communities

On Monday, the city council stated in the statement that the "daily blocking of our depots by pickets has meant that we cannot get our vehicles out to collect waste from residents.”

The city further added that declaring a major incident would prompt the city to bypass the picket lines and clean the streets. Meanwhile, sanitation workers claimed that the city’s declaration amounts to “strike breaking.”

Minister of Communities Jim McMahon said in a speech to Parliament on Monday that the British government is aware of the strike. “Well-established arrangements are in place for local areas to escalate issues where they do need support and the government is monitoring the situation closely,” McMahon said, British newswire service PA Media reported.

“If local leaders on the ground in Birmingham feel that tackling these issues goes beyond the resources available to them, and they request national support. Then of course we stand ready to respond to any such request," McMahon added.