00:00Birmingham faces waste collection disruptions as 350 workers commence strike action.
00:06The council's decision to downgrade 170 roles is at the centre of the dispute,
00:11with Unite stating this will cost affected workers up to £8,000 annually.
00:16Alongside the strike and overtime ban, and work to rule, are already causing delays.
00:21The council has expressed its disappointment and claims it's committed to resolving the matter,
00:26but residents are bracing for the impact of the action.
00:29We spoke to people in the city to hear their thoughts.
00:32Yeah, they would have tried everything else before striking.
00:36Nobody wants to be off work, but obviously they've not been listened to.
00:40This is a last resort, so whilst it is rubbishy for the rest of us,
00:45I do get it, I do get it.
00:47It highlights again how important they are for the community as well.
00:51Oh yeah, massive.
00:52I feel like you don't realise how important something is until it's gone,
00:57and everybody will realise, oh crikey, we need these, let's give them a pay rise.
01:01How can they say they're going to still be out in April?
01:04Does that tell me that they're not prepared to get round the table and negotiate a deal?
01:08You know, I was brought up that strikes, you know, I was around in the 70s when there was a lot of strikes and stuff.
01:16Strikes, strike pay doesn't pay bills.
01:19The unions need to negotiate, get round that table and negotiate.
01:24Get an offer, it may not be the offer they want, accept it, but then get back in negotiating for the next.
01:32Well, I think that they're ambitious because as we know, Birmingham is on the brink of financial collapse.
01:43I don't live in the Birmingham local authority, I live in the Dudley local authority,
01:48which is also, you know, hanging on by its fingertips because it has very low reserves.
