After more than a month of industrial action by refuse collectors in Birmingham, thousands of tonnes of uncollected waste have piled up on the city’s streets, with residents reporting the presence of “cat-sized rats”. Union members are expected to vote on a proposed resolution to the dispute.
Unite union members engaged in limited strike action throughout January and February, escalating to an all-out, indefinite walkout on 11 March in protest against proposed job cuts and pay reductions.
Since then, at least 17,000 tonnes of rubbish have accumulated across the city, home to nearly 1.2 million people, according to The Guardian.
The British Poles managed to talk about the crisis with Piotr Góralik, the Director of the Polish Association in Birmingham.
“In my neighbourhood, which is located in a Sandwell district, the problem is much less serious, but for some five weeks now, the garbage has not been collected regularly. Officially, the strike [bin workers strike – ed.] started on 11 March, but these problems started at the beginning of the year. As you know, the reason for this situation is the bankruptcy of our local government,” Mr Góralik said.
“The city centre is in the worst situation, and there is uncollected waste there, sometimes forming 50-metre-high mountains of garbage. Naturally, this situation brought a plague of rats to the city. Local authorities have noted that foxes have been feeding on the uncollected rubbish. According to statements, the military will help to clean the city, ” Mr Góralik added.
“The commercial waste is still being processed, but the problem remains with garbage from private homes,” said Mr Góralik.
“The city has no clear plan to fight the long-term problem. Before the bankruptcy, the local government signed a deal with the unions about the growing remuneration of bin workers, which it could not uphold after the financial problems started,” Mr Góralik told British Poles.
“I am also worried that the potential epidemic threat is not considered a serious risk,” Mr Piotr concluded.
The mounting waste and a burgeoning rodent infestation have sparked growing public outrage. At a recent city council meeting, a man dressed as a rat sarcastically thanked officials for supporting the rodent population. He asked when they intended to take control of the crisis.
One resident, Ian Cook, told the BBC he could no longer open his windows due to the overpowering stench.
At the end of March, the city council declared a “major incident” — a move that enabled the deployment of additional vehicles to clear the backlog of rubbish. The situation has since drawn national attention. Health Secretary Wes Streeting expressed concern over the “public health emergency and poor conditions” caused by “rats and other vermin”.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who also heads the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, has reportedly called in the military to assist with the escalating rubbish crisis, invoking a formal contingency mechanism previously used during the Covid-19 pandemic, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Source: PAP
Photo: @XJosh
Tomasz Modrzejewski
