Images circulating from Birmingham this week paint a clear picture: mountains of uncollected bin bags in working-class neighbourhoods, while streets outside senior council leaders’ homes remain clean and untouched.
The comparison — striking and impossible to ignore — comes during the ongoing strike action by refuse workers and street cleansing staff. Their dispute centres around pay, conditions, and long-standing grievances. But what the photos show is something deeper: a stark divide in how different communities are treated.
The industrial action, which stems from long-standing disputes over pay, working conditions, and broken commitments, is being carried out by refuse and street cleansing workers. According to union sources and local workers, negotiations have stalled despite efforts by staff to bring their concerns forward through official channels.
What has particularly struck many observers is not only the impact of the strike itself, but how unevenly that impact appears to be distributed. In areas with high levels of deprivation, residents are now dealing with weeks of uncollected waste — a potential public health issue — while wealthier or politically connected areas show no such disruption. This contrast has sparked accusations of double standards and reinforced wider concerns about inequality in how services are managed and prioritised across the city.
UWA continues to support all workers fighting for fair treatment and a voice at work. Strikes are not taken lightly — but when leadership fails to listen, this is the result.