Birmingham bin strikes: Police cut officer numbers on pickets
Policing of Birmingham bin strike picket lines to protect rubbish collections has been cut back, it has emerged. Powers under Section 14 of the Public Order Act, are "no longer in place", West Midlands Police confirmed, with the city council saying it was warned of the move just hours before.The legislation had been used to prevent strikers from delaying trucks as they left depots in the city, however on Thursday, there were locked gates at two of Birmingham City Council's three depots, as police withdrew officers.Workers who are Unite union members have been involved in all-out industrial action since 11 March in a pay row that now also includes a dispute over bin lorry drivers' wages.
Police patrols had helped to secure the smooth exit of trucks in the recent weeks, but reduced powers now meant piles of rubbish had started to reappear in parts of the city.On Thursday however, the locked gates at the Atlas, Tyseley and Lifford, Kings Norton depots meant collections in the south, centre and east of the city were disrupted with waste left uncollected, the city council said. At the height of the dispute before Section 14 powers were used, more than 17,000 tonnes of waste accumulated in the city, prompting the authority to declare a major incident.
'Less than 24 hours' notice'
In April, days after the incident was declared, Chief Constable Craig Guildford laughed when faced with suggestions he should resign over a failure to intervene at the depots.But days later, following the visit of government ministers to the city, officers stepped in to prevent delaying tactics by striking workers.In a statement a police spokesperson said: "There continues to be a police presence at the sites in line with our core policing responsibilities", but they did not acknowledge why the reduction in officers involved had been made.The BBC had been told the city council was given less than 24 hours notice of the changes and the authority warned disruption was likely to increase in the coming days."We are grateful for [the police's] ongoing support and will be looking at all of our options so we are able to try and maintain a service to residents," a council spokesperson said. "However, if we see the level of disruption we saw at the start of the strike this may not be possible."
Although the picture is patchy, a council source acknowledged that the amount of uncollected rubbish had started to build again and likened managing the situation to "a game of jenga."Residents have told the BBC that despite the council claiming to offer everybody a rubbish collection once a week, some areas had not had collections since mid April.When this was put to the council in April, it said disruptions were down to Unite union members blocking refuse trucks from leaving depots, and therefore preventing crews from collecting residents' bins.In March, workers protesting at the Tyseley depot insisted they were only stopping lorries leaving if they had safety concerns.Previously, police officers at the site stopped strikers' obstruction tactics by threatening arrest and fines.The West Midlands force told the BBC in April it had not yet issued fines, because bin workers on the picket line were co-operating.
Candy Manders, an NHS worker from Kings Norton, said she had had only two collection since the strike started."It is a public health hazard and despite the strike a service still needs to be provided," she said. "We are still also paying for a service that isn't being delivered."Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer called on Unite to end the strike "immediately", and said the government continued to support the council so that the backlog of rubbish collections did not reappear.
'Service transformation needed'
Last week, the council said it had cleared 100% of the large piles of waste in the hot spot areas and 85% across the rest of the city.While recycling collections remain suspended, it has urged residents to continue putting out household waste bins for collection."Before industrial action began, our crews were collecting about 1,000 to 1,100 tonnes of waste per day," the local authority's website reads."However, in recent weeks, our crews have collected 1,500 to 1,700 tonnes of waste each day, with a reduced team."This highlights the need for transformation in the service we provide to residents."
The strike initially centred on a dispute with the council over its decision to remove Waste Recycling and Collection Officer roles, but the row has since expanded after the authority revealed there were also plans to cut the pay of bin lorry drivers.The council recently said it must make changes to comply with equal pay laws, but it was committed to finding a fair and sustainable deal.It added "negotiations are continuing" and previously told the BBC its job evaluation process was "fair and transparent".The strike has attracted worldwide coverage with images of large waste piles and claims of rats as big as cats.
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