Image source, PA Media

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has weighed in, using the rubbish piling up on Birmingham's streets as an attack line ahead of the local elections in May.

"If you vote Labour, you get trash," she says, in a broadside at the Labour-run council.

It's a repeat of a line she used at Prime Minister's Questions the week before - responding to that and other criticisms, Keir Starmer addressed wider national issues, saying his party was fixing the "mess" left by the Conservatives.

Onay Kasab, Unite's national lead officer, has been asked how this strike can be resolved.

He says there first needs to be clarity over the numbers of people affected and the amount of money they stand to lose - something the two sides have so far failed to agree on.

He also says it's "absolutely key" to have clarity over the impact the union's pay claim would have on equal pay at the council.

The council leader, John Cotton, has said making pay concessions to the largely male bin collecting workforce could lead to further equal pay claims for women, which it cannot afford.

He said the need to restructure pay across the council was behind the changes to the bin workers' pay.

But Kasab says: "The council are throwing out the argument about equal pay every two minutes implying that no resolution can be reached as a result. I don't accept that."

He says he wants to see the legal arguments to back this claim up.

Alexander Brock
Local Democracy Reporting Service

Even before this latest strike action began, Birmingham was struggling to keep up with its bin collections.

The city council had a target of no more than 90 missed collections per 100,000, but new figures show that in the third quarter of 2024-2025 it was missing 356 per 100,000.

That was 31% higher than the previous quarter and more than double the figure from the previous year.

The numbers appear in a council cabinet report which also reveals incidents of fly-tipping were up and the number of those cleared within a week was down.

Rachael Lewis
BBC Radio WM, reporting from Birmingham

Stephen Message from Hockley tells us he's "angry and depressed" by the bin strike.

There are bin bags in his street stacked six feet high, right up to the top of a hedge.

"It's just everywhere," he says.

He's worried about the smell that will be created now that we're getting some warmer weather. "Why would you come to Birmingham now with this dispute on," he adds.

Message is also very unhappy with Birmingham City Council.

He asks: "Why has the council left it to this point to not end the dispute?"

• Listen to the full interview

As we've been reporting, the bin strike has led to large piles of rubbish building up in some Birmingham streets.

In one case, the rare sight of a collection lorry caused such a stir that the police were called.

Here's a few images of the scene over the past few days:

Image source, PA Media

Image source, UK Parliament

As the rubbish continues to pile up, people are becoming increasingly worried about pests and vermin.

Labour MP for Edgbaston Preet Gill has written to Birmingham City Council with her concerns, saying she now fears a "public health emergency".

She says the bin bags are obstructing pavements, adding: "Residents are reporting that the waste is driving a plague of rats and cockroaches."

With the warmer weather approaching, she fears the situation could get worse.

The issue was also raised during Prime Minister's Questions last week, with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch attacking Labour, saying rubbish was "piling up" on the city's streets.

As rubbish piles up in the streets, Birmingham City Council and the Unite union are insisting they won't budge in their positions.

An indefinite all-out strike began on 11 March, but refuse collectors had been striking on and off since January. So what's it all about?

What the union says

• Unite says the removal of a higher pay grade for about 150 refuse workers responsible for health and safety could cost those affected up to £8,000 a year
• It argues that the roles are "safety-critical" and bring safety expertise to an "often dirty and dangerous job"
• And it argues the workers have accepted other cuts in recent years, and that the service and staff are already under pressure

How about the council?

• Birmingham City Council disputes Unite’s figures, with the leader arguing "everybody is in a position where they wouldn't need to lose pay or they could have an alternative role or take voluntary redundancy”
• It says the current structure was agreed following the 2017 bin strikes and it needs to save money after effectively declaring itself bankrupt in 2023
• Recycling rates are too low, it argues, and it says changes are needed to hit government targets

Birmingham City Council has been operating what it calls Mobile Household Waste Centres for a couple of years now.

Normally, the bin lorries are a way for people to get rid of their extra household waste or bulky items and there are two of them, which get around 10 locations in the city every week.

Every day they arrive at 07:30 GMT and leave at 13:00, and there is no need to book, pay or bring ID.

People have also been told they can visit the pick-up points as many times as they want, but while the strike is on, the city council has said it can not accept waste from people in vans who want to get rid of large quantities of waste.

Residents can check on the council website, external to learn where the collection service is due to visit.

The council has also said it sends staff out with the lorries.

Josh Sandiford
BBC Radio WM, reporting from Birmingham

I've been speaking to some of the people dropping off their rubbish at a mobile collection service in Bordesley Green this morning.

Mushtaq Hussain tells me it suits him because he is on an afternoon shift today. He says it's fine for "us youngsters" who could drive, but he worried about more elderly people who could not.

He also says there's a problem with people dumping waste in the streets.

"When you see one bag left somewhere someone else comes along and dumps rubbish," he explains.

Asim Iqbal says there was "mess and smells everywhere".

He says there were seven people living in his house so they were producing a lot of waste and would normally have to visit the recycling centres to take it away.

Your Voice Your BBC News

With bin bags piling up in the streets and no end to the dispute, we're very keen to hear how the Birmingham bin strike is affecting you.

If you want to get in touch you can email bbcyourvoice@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: +44 7980 682727

www.bbc.co.uk/yourvoice

This isn't the first time Birmingham's bin workers have been on strike in recent years.

In 2017 there was a seven-week dispute over restructuring plans.

That ended with an agreement from the council that certain posts would not be made redundant and union officials in return recommended staff considered accepting rota changes.

There was also a dispute in 2019 when Unite claimed members of the GMB union were given larger "conciliatory payments" at the resolution of the 2017 dispute.

The GMB union said this was because its members did not take part in the strike and the extra payments were because they had been left out of conciliatory talks.

That dispute ended the following month when a financial settlement was agreed to satisfy Unite members.

Birmingham City Council says its waste services are in need of change - and it's not just about saving money and restructuring pay.

It says its recycling rate of 22.9% is the lowest of any unitary authority in the country, with the exception of Liverpool.

A government target of reaching 65% in the next 10 years has been set.

The council also says its seen a big jump in the amount of recycled waste which it can't use, from 11.1% in 2019-20 to 30.6% in 2023-24.

It's finding waste put in recycling bins which has been sorted into the wrong container has not been cleaned properly or which simply can't be recycled.

It says change is needed to help people better separate their waste.

Josh Sandiford
BBC Radio WM, reporting from Birmingham

It’s a beautiful sunny morning in Bordesley Green, but one that’s likely to get smellier as the morning rolls on.

There was a stench in the air when I arrived near a huge pile of black waste sacks, left on the side of the street here on Bertram Road.

It’s because today this area is benefitting from a mobile refuse collection service.

In other words, a bin lorry in a static location allowing residents whose bins aren’t being collected to drop their rubbish off.

Yesterday there were dramatic scenes as one such service descended into chaos.

In Moseley, a collection lorry was swarmed by so many people that a local councillor decided to call police.

It’s calm here this morning and there are a number of what appear to be private security guards.

But we are on a very narrow cul-de-sac and the road I’m on is getting busier and busier.

The lorry arrived at 07:30 GMT and will be here until 13:00.

I wouldn’t be surprised if some residents were waiting a good while before managing to dispose of their rubbish.

Yesterday we saw chaotic scenes when a bin lorry was driven to Moseley to allow people to get rid of some of that pile-up waste.

But, the Unite union has said this morning it is concerned people's safety is being put at risk.

Its regional officer, Zoe Mayou said: "We have already seen footage of residents putting rubbish directly into lorries, which is extremely dangerous as people can be dragged into the compactor.

"The latest dangerous incidents, underlines why the council should drop these dangerous stunts and instead concentrate on getting round the table and negotiating a deal that our members are able to accept.”

Image source, Jewellery Quarter resident

A man who lives in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter tells us the large communal bins near his home (pictured) had not been collected for four weeks and the rubbish was attracting rats.

He does not want to give his name, but says he has little sympathy with the striking bin collectors or the Unite union, which described as "quite divisive".

He complains that "these guys have been spoon-fed ridiculous bonuses " and need to realise the "city is in a mess" financially.

The man also says there has been a gradual decline in the way Birmingham's streets are maintained.

"There just seems to be more rubbish everywhere," he says.

Image source, William Timms

Since the start of the current dispute William Timms, the owner of WJ Pest Solutions in Birmingham, says he's had a 75% increase in calls.

"There are rats in front gardens, back, and gaining access because of the bins being left out," he says.

"We're going to be inundated with them. It's unbelievable at the moment. The all-out strike is going to make it worse."

He urges people to keep their rubbish bags high off the ground and away from walls so rats can't get on them.

Image source, PA Media

Waste is piling up on the streets of Birmingham amid an ongoing bin collection strike. If you're just joining us, here's a quick overview:

• An indefinite all-out strike began on 11 March, but refuse collectors had been striking on and off since January following plans to downgrade some staff and reduce their pay
• Yesterday, a bin lorry was swarmed by so many people that a local councillor called the police. "That's very regretful but somebody was going to get hurt," they said.
• The BBC's Katie Thompson was at the scene, and described it as "like some sort of binmageddon". People were rushing down the streets or arriving in cars desperate to unload their rubbish, she reports, with the situation getting "heated at times" until it was called off
• Birmingham MP Preet Gill says the situation has reached "crisis point". Residents report the waste is "driving a plague of rats cockroaches", she says, adding she fears a "public health emergency"
• An expert at the National Pest Technicians Association said last week that the situation is a "huge public health danger, and what we’re seeing in Birmingham is incredibly concerning"
• Birmingham City Council has expressed disappointment at the industrial action, and said it made a “fair and reasonable offer” to the Unite union

We've got reporters on the ground and we'll be bringing you the latest as the situation develops - stick with us.

Rachael Lewis
BBC Radio WM, reporting from Birmingham

Judith Warley from Hockley has been telling us how the bin strike is affecting her.

She uses a mobility scooter and says the bin bags on the pavement were forcing her to take it on to the road to get around.

Judith describes the scene outside her house as looking "like the entrance to the tip".

She says there are "bin bags piled up above waist high, the whole way across the pavement".

Judith tells us it's been like this for weeks now and some of the bags had been attacked by seagulls and cats, and were starting to split.

West Midlands Police was called to Moseley yesterday to deal with the people queuing to put their waste in a collection lorry.

It received reports of people dumping rubbish in the road and an officer at the scene told the BBC it was a waste of police resources, but said he understood people's anger as they had to live in the area.

The force said it had also arrested a man on Tuesday for obstruction and cautioned him.

Residents who dumped rubbish on the street were told they would be fined but some said they were willing to pay it as they were so desperate to get rid of their waste, the officer added.

The mobile service had to be called off two hours ahead of schedule as the lorry had reached capacity and safety concerns had been raised.

Council leader John Cotton has warned that with many bin workers being men, making pay concessions to striking staff could reopen the issue of equal pay claims.

When the council had to effectively declare itself bankrupt in 2023, equal pay claims of up to £760m were a big factor and the council is keen to avoid further big payouts.

The equal pay dispute was resolved last year in an agreement with the Unison and the GMB unions that thousands of women would have their claims settled.

Cotton says: "I think it's important that everyone's paid fairly, which is why we are resetting the entire pay and grading model across the council, and rightly so."

But Unite disagrees and its national lead officer, Onay Kasab, says it believed it was possible to introduce a pay system "in line with other councils that would ensure equal pay liabilities are avoided".