Agency workers have now joined Birmingham City Council’s directly employed refuse collectors in the long-running bin strike.
Industrial action by Unite members began in January over pay and job security, but tensions deepened in March.
The council brought in agency staff from Job & Talent to keep collections running, but 18 of the 22 Unite-affiliated agency workers have now reportedly voted to walk out.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘This is a real escalation in the dispute with agency workers now joining picket lines due to the terrible way they have been treated by Job & Talent and Birmingham council.’
A spokesperson for Unite said they were ‘disappointed’ the dispute had not been resolved.
They added: ‘A small number of agency staff are in a separate dispute with Job & Talent. The city council has contingency plans and will continue to look to maintain residents with a minimum of one collection a week.’
