By GB News (World News) | Created at 2025-03-30 15:11:01 | Updated at 2025-04-01 14:00:28
1 day ago
Angela Rayner has been urged to convene an emergency Cobra meeting after three weeks of rubbish chaos in Birmingham.
Residents in England's second city are facing a mounting crisis as trash continues to pile up across the city thanks to a union-organised bin strike.
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A dispute between the bankrupt Labour-run Birmingham council and Unite union has left streets strewn with waste - with residents reporting their neighbourhoods are now plagued by rats "as big as cats" as the situation deteriorates.
On Saturday, hundreds of desperate residents swamped several bin lorries in Small Heath in attempts to dispose of their accumulated rubbish.
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Angela Rayner has been urged to convene an emergency Cobra meeting amid the growing rubbish chaos in Birmingham
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The shadow ministers have claimed the chaos is 'putting residents at risk' and required immediate Government action
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The Tory top brass have demanded that Rayner send in private cleaning firms to break 'the unions' grip over the rubbish-strewn second city'
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"It is high time for this Government to put aside the vested interests of its union paymasters, and start working in the interest of residents," wrote Burghart and Hollinrake.
They noted Birmingham residents are facing a 7.5 per cent council tax hike just as their services are "slashed" and "rubbish rots in the streets".
The dispute centres on changes to job roles within the city's waste services.
The Unite union claims the restructuring will cause 50 workers to lose £8,000 annually, with another 20 staff facing £2,000 pay cuts - and as a result, the city has been made to suffer.
Birmingham council has disputed the union's figures, insisting that "no worker need lose any money" under their offer.
It has also threatened to make up to 76 refuse collectors redundant if they continue to resist the proposed changes.
The industrial action has severely disrupted waste collection services across Europe's largest council area.
Unite, which has called the strike, is one of Labour's biggest financial backers, having donated £7.6million to the party since Sir Keir Starmer became leader.
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said: "Birmingham residents deserve a clean and reliable waste service."
The spokesman added that commissioners "will continue to support Birmingham city council in reaching a fair and sustainable resolution with the union."
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