Striking Birmingham bin worker says PM living in ‘la-la land’

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was living in la-la land for calling on union workers to end their industrial action, a striking Birmingham refuse worker has said.

Lorry driver Dave Callaghan said he was sorry the city looked a mess and was gaining a bad reputation but workers could not stand by and watch people lose money.

At Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir said the government supported the Labour-run council and called on Unite to end its strike immediately.

Refuse workers have been taking all-out action for 10 weeks in a dispute which now focuses on plans to cut pay for drivers. The council said the changes were part of a regrading exercise aimed at avoiding future equal pay claims.

The equal pay issue, which relates to claims staff in female-dominated roles were historically underpaid in relation to male-dominated positions, was one of the key factors in the authority declaring effective bankruptcy in 2023, when it said it was facing a bill of £760m to settle the claims.

Unite the Union bosses said the council’s stance over the refuse workers pay amounted to a ‘fire and rehire’ situation.

Dave Callaghan, a lifelong Labour voter who has worked in the refuse service for 35 years, said he was ashamed of the council and the government and would never vote for them again.

Speaking to Politics Midlands, Mr Callaghan said he had been involved in three previous rounds of industrial action, but this strike had cost him thousands in lost wages as well as taking a toll on his mental health.

“This is the hardest strike I’ve ever done, being out for so long in one go,” he said.

“The 300 strong on the picket line is humbling really, because everyone feels the same.”

He said the council’s plans to regrade drivers were shocking and unfair but he had sympathy with residents impacted by the disruption.

“None of us want to be out on strike but as a union member we’ve got to be able to do something as we’re losing £8,000,” he said.

“I’m sorry to the people of Birmingham that it looks a mess and we’re giving Birmingham a bad rap, but we can’t just stand by and lose that kind of money.”

Sir Keir said the government was supporting the council to make sure a backlog of waste, which at one point totalled more than 17,000 tonnes, did not reappear.

The strike escalated again last week when West Midlands Police scaled back its operation at the picket lines.

Negotiations to end the dispute are ongoing.

Meanwhile, Labour MP for Birmingham Erdington Paulette Hamilton said collections in her constituency had been “quite regular” due to the extra resources deployed by the council.

But, she called on the authority and Unite to “sit down and sort this out”.

“We have to understand that this strike is something we need to end. Residents in Birmingham are tired of it,” she added.

Councillor Ade Adeyemo, the leader of the Liberal Democrat group on Solihull Council, said Birmingham had experienced so much disruption during the strike that Labour would see repercussions at the next local election.

“They are going to pay a very heavy price. People in Birmingham are totally fed up of having waste piling up everywhere,” he said.