As a Birmingham resident I'll clear up what's going on. The council are looking to install CCTV on the back of the lorries that collect the rubbish, so that the driver can see what's happening at the back of the lorry from a little screen at the front. This is because one member of the 'team' per lorry must be a designated health and safety person, and rather than paying one of the men who collects the rubbish extra to be Mr Health and Safety, they can just get the driver to do it and save money.
So the binmen took industrial action and just as they were coming to a resolution with the council, the council broke their agreement and started making people redundant. And so it continues...
TL;DR- the binmen are on strike because the council shafted them.
P.S Birmingham is a lovely city and I will not have it be rubbished (get it
) by members of the forum.