Birmingham bin workers could strike again over Christmas

• Bin collections in Birmingham could grind to a halt over Christmas if members of the Unite union vote to strike.

• They could walk out from December 28th.

• Last summer’s on-and-off strikes lasted for 222 days and cost Birmingham City Council more than £6 million.

A row has broken out over alleged secret payments, said to be up to £4,000 each, made by Birmingham City Council to bin workers in the GMB union.

Its members did not take part in last summer’s long-running strikes.

READ: All the details of last summer’s bin strikes

Unite claims the payments were a ‘sweetheart deal’, effectively a thank-you for not supporting the strikes – which lasted for three months and saw rubbish piled high across the city’s streets.

Unite has already lodged documents with the Employment Tribunal, claiming compensation and ‘damage to feelings’ over the secret payments, but this Friday ballot papers will be sent out to members.

If they vote to strike, bin collections will cease just after Christmas.

A spokesperson for Birmingham City Council said:

Union GMB said its members have not received payments relating to not taking strike action and that some members had had pay stopped for standing in solidarity with their colleagues.

In a statement, the union's senior organiser, Stuart Richards, said:

• Last summer’s on-and-off strikes lasted for 222 days and cost Birmingham City Council more than £6 million.

• The Labour-run council’s leader John Clancy was forced to resign after a deal he

• personally struck with Unite proved to be unworkable.

• The dispute was finally settled last November, with crews agreeing to work five days a week instead of four in return for the council scrapping its plans to re-grade 106 workers.