00:00The strike is still on and now the council's walked away.
00:05After months of talks, Birmingham City Council says it's done negotiating with Unite.
00:11Officials claim they've hit the limit on money, on offers, on patients.
00:14The union sees it differently.
00:17Unite calls it betrayal.
00:19They say the council never truly engaged,
00:21that proper talks were replaced by press statements
00:24and that bin workers are being forced into worse contracts
00:27or out the door altogether.
00:30At the heart of this dispute is the council's decision
00:33to axe a specific bin worker role.
00:36Unite says around 170 workers could lose up to a grand a year.
00:40The council insists it's just 17,
00:43all of whom were offered new roles for voluntary exit.
00:46But that doesn't resolve the core clash,
00:48a fundamental disagreement over what's fair and who decides.
00:52Birmingham streets are now a battleground.
00:55In small heath and Selly Oak, rubbish piles are swarming with flies and rats.
00:59Doctors are warning of health risks.
01:01GPs are disinfecting surgeries.
01:04Pest control firms are overwhelmed.
01:06Families say vermin are getting into homes.
01:09Some workers are wearing masks just to take their bins out.
01:13The council turned to agency workers.
01:15Police are now escorting bin lorries.
01:17High court orders that restrict pickets.
01:20Unite's still striking but under heavy legal pressure.
01:23And behind it all, Ace City, still reeling from its financial collapse.
01:28Libra's leadership here is under fire.
01:30Not just from unions, but from angry residents and nervous councillors.
01:34The strike's no longer just about bins.
01:37It's about trust in power.
01:38About what happens when Ace City goes broke.
01:41And who ends up paying the price.
01:43And who ends up paying the price.
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