By James Simons-
Birmingham’s bin strike has been suspended following a High Court ruling on Wednesday.
The high court ruling granted an interim injunction against the council’s bid to make workers redundant.
Workers had been on strike since 30 June, protesting over wage cuts.
The court ruling was against the council’s bid to make staff redundant and change working patterns. It addressed the actions of former council leader, John Clancy who backtracked on a deal to keep worker’s jobs, increasing the tensions surrounding the longstanding dispute.
The council had accepted the workers’ case and restored the jobs of grade three workers responsible for safety at the back of refuse vehicles. However, a council report concluded that the deal struck was ”unaffordable”’, jeopardizing the jobs of over 120 staff.
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CREDIT
In reference to the council and its officer, Mr.Justice Frasier described the entire affair as a ”sorry saga”, adding that neither side had come out of it with any credit at all. The bin strike has had a destabilizing effect to families in Birmingham for nearly 3 months, causing rats and worms to gather around the dumped and abandoned bins of many families, leading to horrible stench.
DISCOMFORT
Disorientated families have had to endure the discomfort of having nowhere to store their mounting refuse, with some households physically taking their rubbish and dumping on the streets in ways that worsened the situation in the environment. With this ruling, refuse workers will return to their normal working hours with the industrial action suspended until a further hearing yet to be set.
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