'It's frustrating that the bin strike continues'

Residents are fed up a long-running bin strike could run into Spring 2026

"It's just so frustrating, it's been going on for so long now."

Birmingham residents have been expressing their despair at an announcement the city's all out bin strike, which started almost six months ago, could last another six months.

General waste is being largely collected but residents have not had recycling collected since January. Some say they have resorted to putting it in with their general waste with others saying they take it in to work.

Unite the union said on Tuesday its members had "overwhelmingly" voted to extend the industrial action to March 2026.

The dispute started over the city council's decision to remove Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) roles, which the union said would cost about 170 workers up to £8,000 a year.

The council has challenged the figures, and said 17 people could lose just over £6,000 annually, but would have pay protection for six months.

Katrina Devlin, who lives in Kings Norton said the situation was absurd.

Katrina Devlin is irritated the dispute may drag on for another six months

While mounds of rubbish bags were a common sight in parts of Birmingham in the weeks after the walkouts began, Ms Devlin said her household waste collections were now reliable.

However, she was exasperated recycling was still not being collected. Residents have not had their recycling collected since January when on and off strike action began. Garden waste, a paid for service, has not been collected either although payments were refunded.

"Everyone's just having to put their recycling in to the general waste bins. It's ok for people that drive who do have the means to get to a tip but some people don't have access to vehicles," she said.

"I pay my council tax every month I shouldn't be having to do tip runs myself... Things are meant to be recycled for the planet - it's not good."

A major incident was declared by the council at the end of March to clear the rubbish backlog, but the council says household waste is now being collected as scheduled.

It currently advises residents to leave bins out on the usual date, and, if not emptied, "we will collect it as soon as we can".

However, Selly Oak resident Jonathan Yu said collections on Escalie Way had been missed since July and he had grown sick of reporting issues.

"I don't want to open the bin, it's full of flies," he said and added he did not have time to keep complaining about missed collections.

Residents felt "fed up" and "hopeless" over the ongoing action, Mr Yu said, and he has resorted to taking his waste to work.

"It's my routine now, every morning I take my rubbish to my workplace."

Jonathan Yu has given up on collections and started taking his rubbish to work

Meanwhile, Judith Whalley who lives in Hockley and uses a mobility scooter, has previously said she has not been able to get down the road due to bags on the pavements.

Her street does not have bins and residents have been told to put their black bags by the pavements.

"Our bin day is Thursday morning but they didn't appear 'til the middle of Friday last week," she said. "It's sporadic, not totally reliable."

She says items recently dumped on pavements, such as shoe stands and a broken airer, meant she had not been able to get out of the house again, and she feels "total and utter frustration" at the prospect of the strike continuing.

"I understand that those chaps cannot afford to lose that money but the council is going to have to think of some way around it," she said.

Shafaq Hussain said less affluent parts of Birmingham were feeling more of an impact from bin strikes

Shafaq Hussain, who chairs an End the Bin Strike campaign, said he was disappointed by the union vote and wanted more "transparency" over the stumbling blocks to negotiations.

He acknowledged collections were "good" some weeks, but claimed inner-city areas like Small Heath, Balsall Heath, Alum Rock, Aston, and Sparkhill were still disproportionately affected by piled-up waste, with vermin common.

"People are having to cope with the rubbish still on the streets, the infestation and the smell," he said.

Over the summer, residents were scared to take their children to the park, he added. "There were syringes, there were bags full of nitrogen oxide canisters.

The campaign group wants an independent inquiry into the health impact of the strike.

"A lot of the rats have started going into people's back gardens and entering homes," he said. "It's going to be very difficult to get rid of them long-term."

Pictures taken on 22 July showed rubbish piled up in Sparkhill - a report the same month showed reports of fly-tipping had almost doubled since industrial action began

The council has said its planned waste collection improvements should not be delayed and it had sought to be "reasonable and flexible" throughout the dispute, but that Unite had rejected all its offers.

Unite said the only way the action would end was with a "fair and reasonable deal".