Birmingham Bin Strike//Care Workers news and discussion

[Casually Red]

Kids are unlikely to eat it . Unfortunately telling vermin not to eat it is another matter . Rats and kids in close proximity isn't good at all . Rats spread disease ...especially weils...and can bite kids. The schools are off . Kids are in the streets all day long . Kids being kids also poke around in stuff . Infestations of flies also spread harmful bacteria . They get on your fresh food just as happily as they settle on rotting meat, rancid egg waste , rat piss and rat shit . Theyre happy to go back and forth, all day long . Foxes and rats ..even household dogs and cats ..will have torn many of these bags open . After 5 weeks there's a real public health issue to consider .

That's why I'd be loath to automatically accuse anyone of being a scab without waiting to hear the unions take on it first . To me it looks a little more complicated .

Eta

I do note though people are saying a private company have donated a refuse truck . Without doubt that's a cause for concern . But still I'd prefer to hear the strikers themselves . Think it's wiser .

 

[Nice one]

live next to a pile of rotting rubbish with the risk of disease and sick kids or support strike, its a toughie

if only the grave diggers would go on strike

 

[Nice one]

Kids are unlikely to eat it . Unfortunately telling vermin not to eat it is another matter . Rats and kids in close proximity isn't good at all . Rats spread disease ...especially weils...and can bite kids. The schools are off . Kids are in the streets all day long . Kids being kids also poke around in stuff . Infestations of flies also spread harmful bacteria . They get on your fresh food just as happily as they settle on rotting meat, rancid egg waste , rat piss and rat shit . Theyre happy to go back and forth, all day long . Foxes and rats ..even household dogs and cats ..will have torn many of these bags open . After 5 weeks there's a real public health issue to consider .

That's why I'd be loath to automatically accuse anyone of being a scab without waiting to hear the unions take on it first . To me it looks a little more complicated .

Eta

I do note though people are saying a private company have donated a refuse truck . Without doubt that's a cause for concern . But still I'd prefer to hear the strikers themselves . Think it's wiser .

you know don't you the council got in their 'partners' to shift the rubbish, but it proved too costly. Be interesting to know who instigated these volunteers, someone who read up on their 1926 general strike history perhaps?

 

[Ho Chi Ming]

Does anyone have any pictures of these disease-mountains, riddled with sabre-toothed, baby-eating rats and needle-wielding foxes? I'm intrigued to see them. I'm picturing the Great Pyramids of Giza except they're constructed entirely from shit and maggots with a river of piss, pus and liquefied evil running between them.

Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's just a few bin bags of sun-ripened rubbish.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Does anyone have any pictures of these disease-mountains, riddled with sabre-toothed, baby-eating rats and needle-wielding foxes? I'm intrigued to see them. I'm picturing the Great Pyramids of Giza except they're constructed entirely from shit and maggots with a river of piss, pus and liquefied evil running between them.

Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's just a few bin bags of sun-ripened rubbish.

I posted a pic of the mountain outside our house earlier in the thread. That was after theee weeks, it got to almost twice that size. It utterly stank, and had leaking bags, piles of maggots and clouds of flies. We had to pick our way through it to get to the path that leads to our house, it was grim.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

From another angle, again this was after 3 weeks, it was over 5 weeks before it all went so both piles ended up much larger and smellier

 

[Ho Chi Ming]

That does indeed look like a minor inconvenience. Worth becoming a scab over? Hardly.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

Community spirit

 

[Dowie]

I agree it's a scab action but given the lack of awareness around these things I could appreciate they might not realise that. I didn't realise there was a FB page for them and I notice there's been a fair few comments pointing out its scab action and they've carried on so fuck em.

Is it scabbing if a resident takes their own rubbish to the council tip or just if these volunteers do it in a more organised manner? I mean technically the residents could leave it all festering in piles outside their houses but after a while surely they can dispose of some of it and still have pressure applied to the council?

 

[1927]

Does anyone have any pictures of these disease-mountains, riddled with sabre-toothed, baby-eating rats and needle-wielding foxes? I'm intrigued to see them. I'm picturing the Great Pyramids of Giza except they're constructed entirely from shit and maggots with a river of piss, pus and liquefied evil running between them.

Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's just a few bin bags of sun-ripened rubbish.

Oh please.

 

[Casually Red]

you know don't you the council got in their 'partners' to shift the rubbish, but it proved too costly. Be interesting to know who instigated these volunteers, someone who read up on their 1926 general strike history perhaps?

I don't really think we are into black shirted razor gang territory just yet .

I've been in industrial action were strictly speaking it was a breach of work to rule for meals to be physically given to patients , jugs of water left at besides..stuff like that . The action taken had to be balanced against welfare and health of patients . The union made allowances for what was inconvenient and annoying and what was intolerable/unsafe for the public . Management taking patients on trolleys for operations and treatment weren't in anyway hindered , abused or considered scabs either . Even though all this mitigated against the effects of the action and took pressure off them . There are situations that arise sometimes were a balance needs to be struck .
That's why I'd wait to hear the unions take before I'd take a position as to whether or not this constituted scabbing .

A strike against an elected council requires public support . The union will have to weigh up the pros and cons of alienating public support . Appearing overly inflexible in a situation were ordinary people are facing hazards on their doorstep is a potential route to alienating the public . I doubt any union wants to be seen as having a position of " we don't care if you get sick and there are rats and flies everywhere " . PR and public goodwill is very important in a dispute like this too . It's not a companies profits and shareholders that are bearing the brunt of this , it's the general public . Primarily the working class . It's very important not to alienate or divide that constituency whether you're a striker or a councillor .

It's definitely wise to scrutinise this situation closely and be wary but a knee jerk can prove counter productive . Worth too bearing in mind it's local businessmen who are shouldering the expense of this clean up. They generally squeal louder than any rat when they're out of pocket . The strike still makes an impact .
I'm sure that's what the union are weighing up so that's why I'd wait to hear their position . If they say scab then scab it is .

 

[Ho Chi Ming]

Oh please.

Care to elaborate?

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

That does indeed look like a minor inconvenience. Worth becoming a scab over? Hardly.

Well, aren't you a tiresome prick. Worrying that your inquisitive 2 year old is about to pick up a fistful of rotting maggot infested rubbish isn't really a minor inconvenience.

I support the strike. But I can see why some people ran out of patience and took matters into their own hands. Stop seeing the world in such binary terms.

 

[cybershot]

From another angle, again this was after 3 weeks, it was over 5 weeks before it all went so both piles ended up much larger and smellier

View attachment 112902

Hae you guys not been issued with wheeley bins yet?

 

[Ho Chi Ming]

Stop seeing the world in such binary terms.

Gosh, a true Urbanite. Thinks the end times have arrived because the bin collection is a couple of weeks late, gives it the large one and then squirts out an ossified Urban idiom. Try harder, petal. Some people are facing real hardships with the prospect of a real drop in wages.
Fucking gimp.

 

[NoXion]

Hae you guys not been issued with wheeley bins yet?

If they have then they're probably full.

 

[Casually Red]

That does indeed look like a minor inconvenience. Worth becoming a scab over? Hardly.

There's some video here . Not nice . According to this Birmingham was the rat infestation capital of Britain back in 2015 . And it's clear from the pictures the strikers themselves are making a direct link between the removal of services and rat infestations . It's more than an inconvenience I'm afraid . That's definite hazard territory .

Experts warn huge RAT invasion imminent if bins strike continues

Common sense would tell you rubbish piles left for weeks will attract the bastards in droves .

 

[NoXion]

I would say that whether or not the Broz are scabs depends on how they really came about, where they got their equipment from, and how their costs are being met. Given that their trucks at least were donated by some refuse company, the signs are not looking good.

 

[Athos]

Hi all
My names IMRAN from the bearded broz team. I've read all comments and thanks for discussing this here. We are a community team from Birmingham that was sick and tired of rubbish on our streets for the last five weeks. The stench, the rats, the maggots, the foxes everything is horrible. The kids have to go past this nasty stuff each day to school and now in holidays. So we came together to clean it up that's all. We are not a political party and nor do we get involved in any politics. What the council and bin men have going on is nothing to do with us. We are just cleaning out streets simple as that. Hope that helps clear up the matter www.beardedbroz.com

Whilst I appreciate that your hearts might be in the right place, and can understand your frustration about mounting rubbish, what you're doing - strike breaking - is political, regardless of whether or not that's your intention. And, you say that the dispute is nothing to do with you, but you've chosen to undermine one side - the wokers. It's really not just "simple as that", I'm afraid. Raher than scabbing, you shuld be putting your efforts into resolving the issue to the bin men's benefit, by putting pressure on the council.

 

[cybershot]

There's some video here . Not nice . According to this Birmingham was the rat infestation capital of Britain back in 2015 . And it's clear from the pictures the strikers themselves are making a direct link between the removal of services and rat infestations . It's more than an inconvenience I'm afraid . That's definite hazard territory .

Experts warn huge RAT invasion imminent if bins strike continues

Common sense would tell you rubbish piles left for weeks will attract the bastards in droves .

Majority of the rat problem is caused by people again not giving a shit about their area. There's some areas of Birmingham which have street cleaners visit every weekday, because the people of the area, just throw rubbish everywhere. There's fly tipping to the extreme, to the point where even one guy in a facebook group i'm in is taking cash to take peoples rubbish, and then just throwing it out on the street literally round the corner, people are so pissed off about him, and after he duped a heavily pregnant woman it's become vigilante to track him down, and people have, so i expect he's had a good beating by now.

There's also the problem that hardly anyone seems to give a shit about their garden and it just turns into an extension of dumping shit everywhere. I think I'm probably one of the only people by me who actually maintains their garden.

Birmingham is a shit hole unfortunately, way before any bin strike, as the 2015 report concluded. Piles of rubbish are everywhere, every day. Regardless. It's a major problem. I think the Labour councillor for my area has made cleaning the streets up a priority. Obviously he didn't time that campaign very well!

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Hae you guys not been issued with wheeley bins yet?

We're one of the few places that haven't got them. It's hard to explain without seeing the layout of our grove but essentially they just wouldn't work as we'd have nowhere to put them and if we did have them every bin day would see 40 wheelie bins blocking the street as the area they'd end up in is only two houses wide.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Gosh, a true Urbanite. Thinks the end times have arrived because the bin collection is a couple of weeks late, gives it the large one and then squirts out an ossified Urban idiom. Try harder, petal. Some people are facing real hardships with the prospect of a real drop in wages.
Fucking gimp.

I support the strike you fucking plum.

 

[Ho Chi Ming]

Common sense would tell you rubbish piles left for weeks will attract the bastards in droves .

Common sense would, indeed, tell me that rats will be attracted by food. No argument there. A mountain of binbags the size of Everest won't, however, result in rats the size of fucking Godzilla or rats that are more likely to give humans diseases. It will simply result in more rats. The terrifying thing is that some people think scabbing is the answer.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

Common sense would, indeed, tell me that rats will be attracted by food. No argument there. A mountain of binbags the size of Everest won't, however, result in rats the size of fucking Godzilla or rats that are more likely to give humans diseases. It will simply result in more rats. The terrifying thing is that some people think scabbing is the answer.

Or redefine what scabbing means in order to justify shrugging about it.

 

[Ho Chi Ming]

I support the strike you fucking plum.

Of course you do, luv. That's why you're fucking whining about it. Stand up, you pathetic cunt!

 

[Casually Red]

I would say that whether or not the Broz are scabs depends on how they really came about, where they got their equipment from, and how their costs are being met. Given that their trucks at least were donated by some refuse company, the signs are not looking good.

According to this report they got a tipper truck...which doesnt sound anything like a privately run bin lorry...from a local community organisation . The Ballsall Heath forum .

Birmingham residents start collecting their own rubbish


St. Paul's Community Trust: Balsall Heath Forum

There would appear to be a major discrepancy between that lot and what we are being told by somebody on the Internet . Unless anyone has some definite info to the contrary .

Which is why I'd prefer to hear the unions take on it before jumping to conclusions .

 

[Smokeandsteam]

According to this report they got a tipper truck...which doesnt sound anything like a privately run bin lorry...from a local community organisation . The Ballsall Heath forum .

Birmingham residents start collecting their own rubbish


St. Paul's Community Trust: Balsall Heath Forum

There would appear to be a major discrepancy between that lot and what we are being told by somebody on the Internet . Unless anyone has some definite info to the contrary .

Which is why I'd prefer to hear the unions take on it before jumping to conclusions .

I live up the road from Balsall Heath. The area is litter strewn at the best of times - down Moseley Road and the roads off it and towards Edgbaston - in particular. There is loads of fly tipping all around there and down towards Highgate and Digbeth. I'm not aware of any previous community led action to tackle it.

I wonder if this 'community response' which has been widely reported by the right wing press here and others desperate to see the refuse workers lose, would be met with such an equivocal response on U75 if it was being done in a white middle class area?

Their action is undermining the industrial action and is scabbing.

 

[purenarcotic]

Birmingham isn't a shit hole. Ta.

 

[Smokeandsteam]

I would say that whether or not the Broz are scabs depends on how they really came about, where they got their equipment from, and how their costs are being met. Given that their trucks at least were donated by some refuse company, the signs are not looking good.

Or it could be as basic and simple as this 'are they undermining the strike action and being held up by the local right wing rags and others who want a group of organised workers to lose?'

The answer's by the way are 'yes' and 'yes'

 

[Casually Red]

Common sense would, indeed, tell me that rats will be attracted by food. No argument there. A mountain of binbags the size of Everest won't, however, result in rats the size of fucking Godzilla or rats that are more likely to give humans diseases. It will simply result in more rats. The terrifying thing is that some people think scabbing is the answer.

All feral rats of whatever size are very likely to give humans diseases . Even little ones . Even mice if there's a plague of them . Its not simply about them biting anyone . This is a real health hazard that needs taken seriously .

Rodent-borne diseases | Rentokil

Rats are incontinent , they leave a stream of piss everywhere they go . That piss is riddled with bacteria and viruses, some of which you really don't want to come in contact with . Infestations of flies land in that stuff too, then walk all about your kitchen , get in your food . It's a definite hazard . It can kill. It can blind you, leave you on dialysis for the rest of your life . It's really not good or safe to have to live in that type of environment . That's why I'm very reluctant to denounce anyone on what appears to be hearsay and suspicion.