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WATCH: Birmingham bin workers demand 'fair evaluation' from council as protest reaches nine-month milestone
Dec 11, 2025
A Birmingham refuse worker has demanded a "fair evaluation" from the council as protests against the proposed pay cuts reach nine months.Speaking to GB News, Luke Dalton told National Reporter Jack Carson that both the striking workers and agency staff have "had enough" of the way the council is handling the situation.FULL STORY HERE.
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0:00
Good morning to you both. Of course, it is nine months to the day today that this all-out strike started
0:04
There have been some frequent strikes, one or two a week from January this year
0:10
but the all-out strike started in March and here, nine months on, just here
0:14
Here we are at the Perry Bar Depot this morning. All of these workers still out on strike
0:19
Banners here saying, back your bin workers. Well, let's speak to one of them now
0:23
Shall we find out nine months on how they're feeling? Luke, we've spoken to you a few times over the year, you know, nine months on
0:30
How do you mark a day like today? To be honest, it's just been going on and on, hasn't it
0:37
We didn't even realise it had been nine months today because every day is kind of rolling into the other
0:44
We're still no further forward, still waiting for the council to get back round the table. And they're still refusing to do so
0:50
And just remind people, because this is not about a pay rise. This is about protecting pay cuts for you because the council are changing the grading system with the workers
0:59
I mean, you're a driver. You weren't even part of the original dispute. That was with waste and recycling collection officers
1:04
You're now a driver. You've been brought into this dispute since it began
1:08
That's right. Yeah, it is literally an eight thousand pounds or up to eight thousand pounds pay cut
1:15
And we just want to get back around the table, have a conversation because it's nearly Christmas
1:20
It's been a difficult year for people, and they need to get back round the table and have a discussion
1:26
because we're not going away. We're balloting. It's 99%, 100% ballots on both
1:31
We've got agency workers out here with us as well that have had enough, so it's now time to get this sorted
1:36
So what is acceptable? What are the kind of terms that would put you back in the depots
1:41
and back out collecting the rubbish? Well basically we want a fair evaluation of our jobs as drivers because that was never completed As much as they say they did they deleted our role We want a fair and proper evaluation of our roles
1:56
And, yeah, we just need a conversation. Because the council will say that they are reforming the waste and recycling collection service in this city
2:03
They are bringing in new lorries which wouldn't need the waste and recycling collection officer role
2:09
And, you know, that's a role which, obviously, you said before, is safety critical. so the council would say that this is all part of just having to reform the waste service
2:15
and ultimately they're going ahead with it anyway. Yeah, but it's again at what cost
2:22
I don't dispute the transformation of waste in regards to the improvement of vehicles
2:27
because it was an issue for us forever. Trucks breaking down, temperature up
2:33
There was all sorts of issues with the trucks that they didn't operate correctly so no issues with that
2:37
But you can't just pull money out of people's pockets to the sum of £8,000
2:41
pains and expect us to stand and say okay that's fine and of course the the strike has has gone even
2:47
further now because you're joined by agency workers on this picket line here this morning
2:52
they've come out over allegations of of bullying and harassment i mean that's quite something that
2:57
agency workers brought in to try and collect the rubbish now joining you on the picket line that's
3:01
right and let's be clear there's a lot of agency out here we've got 12 years 14 years service some
3:06
of these people have been here on agency for that period of time and they were being threatened
3:10
with their jobs, they asked us for support and we provided it to them
3:15
They was asking us if we need help, the way they're treating us inside, we're being threatened with our
3:21
jobs if we don't complete, if we don't do things and the workload was unsustainable
3:24
that what the council are trying to do is push on with implementation of changes while the
3:29
full timers are out on strike so that there's no resistance. Luke, thank you so
3:33
much for joining us. Of course, giving us that update here from the picket line in Perry Bar this morning
3:37
nine months on, it doesn't look exactly when we'll know these strikes will end
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