If you’re in Birmingham, how bad is the bin collection situation?

[Eastie77Returns]

Is the strike impacting the whole city? Asking as I’m attending a 2 day work conference there next week and was a bit disturbed listening to a pest control company owner on the news describing how he is catching rats as big as kittens. I have a mouse/rat phobia so want to know if I need to look out for rodents the moment I step off the train?!😅

Don't the union provide strike pay? I thought this was the case.

I haven't read the full judgment (clearly you haven't either) but the court found after lengthy proceedings that it was work of equal value.

No, I haven't read the judgement but I don't really need to. The 'value' of the jobs shouldn't be the basis for the salary IMO. It's the personal danger and difficulty involved in doing the job that should dictate it.

If one job is highly dangerous and the other isn't then this should reflected in the pay. Same as if one requires working unsociable hours or in adverse environments like the rain or freezing temperatures. And a binman walks almost 15 miles a day on average.

The fact that a judgement was passed doesn't make it right. We've seen all sorts of ridiculous decisions made in recent years in the name of equality/inclusiveness not limited to male rapists being housed in women's prisons, a 19yo male being appointed as the Minister for Women, and tens of millions paid to China as foreign aid (and also numerous other donations to projects in areas with higher GDP than much of the UK).

It depends on the Union. They can pay up to £70/day but that is not going to include employer NI contributions or pension benefits - which for a Local Government worker could be 6% employee contribution and 20% employer contribution. The Council is not going to put 20% of wages into the pension pot of someone who's on strike!

What rubbish. Do you know Birmingham…live there ??
They are bankrupt because of Equal Pay and an expensive HR system that wasn’t fit for purpose. Not because people in the city don’t work or can’t speak English. Far from it.

They are being paid £350 a week through the union.

I think it depends where you live, some of the less affluent areas are covered in bin bags and likely rats (areas like alum rock, balsall heath, sparkbrook, sparkbill, tyseley, etc) but the more ‘affluent’ areas are ok, (Sutton, Moseley village, Harborne, great Barr) shan’t say where I live but it’s in one of the ‘better areas’ I’ve listed, in fact driven through all of them this weekend and no bin bags in sight