Zarah ChoudharyBirmingham City Council spent millions on employment agencies for temporary workers ahead of strike action, with costs now expected to increase further, according to figures released by Unite.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted by the union found that as of 31st December 2024, the council had 493 temporary workers in its Fleet and Waste Operations Service.
These workers, hired through the Job&Talent employment agency, were paid an average hourly rate of £18.44, equivalent to an annual salary of approximately £38,400 based on a 40-hour workweek.
The data also showed that the council had 736 directly employed workers in the same department at that time, meaning temporary workers made up around 40% of the workforce—higher than the 20% figure previously cited by the council.
Most directly employed workers earn between £24,027 and £25,992 annually, marginally above the £23,795 yearly earnings of full-time workers on the minimum wage.
If all 493 temporary workers were employed full-time at their current rates, the cost to the council would be around £18.9m annually.
In contrast, the same number of directly employed workers on a £25,000 salary would cost an estimated £12.3m per year.
The figures also indicated that the total number of staff, including both permanent and agency workers, stood at 1,229—237 more than the 992 posts allocated for the refuse service.
The increased reliance on temporary workers and additional staffing costs come at a time when Birmingham City Council is facing financial difficulties, with Government-appointed commissioners overseeing its operations.
The council is also implementing major spending cuts and raising council tax as part of efforts to address its financial challenges.
Sharon Graham, general secretary at Unite said: “Birmingham council has been wasting millions upon millions boosting agency profits.
“That makes the pay attacks on its directly employed refuse workforce even more disgraceful.
“It would be cheaper and fairer to cut out the middleman, employ long serving agency staff directly and halt the brutal wage cuts.
“Instead, the council has decided to waste even more money by using Job&Talent to provide unlawful labour to undermine the strikes.
“This is a collision course to failure – our members won’t break and Unite’s is backing them all the way.”
Agency costs for Birmingham City Council are expected to rise further, as Unite has claimed that the council and Job&Talent are continuing to use agency labour during ongoing industrial action.
According to a Freedom of Information (FOI) response from the council, the longest-serving agency worker in its refuse service has been employed since 7th November 2011—marking 13 years of service.
Additionally, several other agency workers have been employed by the council for a decade or more.
Strike action began in January after the council removed the waste collection and recycling officer role, affecting 150 workers with reported pay reductions of up to £8,000.
The removal of this role has also raised concerns about pay progression within the service, as lower-paid workers have fewer opportunities for wage increases despite years of service in what is described as a demanding role.
Prior to the strike, workers had already accepted reductions in pay and conditions as part of measures taken after the council declared effective bankruptcy.
This included the voluntary forfeiture of £1,000 in shift pay.
However, concerns remained that further changes to jobs and wages may follow.
The dispute has escalated, with the refuse workforce set to begin indefinite strike action from 11th March.
The industrial action comes as Birmingham’s Government-appointed commissioners continue overseeing significant budget reductions across the city.
Onay Kasab, national officer at Unite, said: “The commissioners have no place in Birmingham. Unelected means unaccountable and uncaring.
“It is time for the Labour Government to remove the commissioners.
“It is time for an end to cutting jobs, services and pay while pouring money meant for the public sector into the coffers of agencies.”
A spokesperson from Birmingham City Council said: “The Council would rather not have to overly use agency staff, however to maintain a service to residents, even when there isn’t a strike, we have to.
“Obviously our preferred option is to have permanent employees, which is why part of our offer to those refuse workers who are in dispute has been driver training which would lead to an alternative higher paid role in the new transformed service.
“There are just a small number of workers, 41, that are still affected by the restructure that Unite is opposing.
“This restructure is part of a much-needed transformation of the service that would also reduce the reliance on agency staff, however they do play an important role in keeping the service going to cover sickness and leave.
“We strongly refute any suggestion that agency workers have been carrying out work normally undertaken by striking workers.
“We continue to deploy the same number of agency workers on days of action as we would on any normal working days.
“Our door is always open to Unite and we would encourage them to come back to the table.
“The further escalation of strike action is causing more misery to residents at even more cost to the taxpayer.”
