Birmingham bin workers have voted to continue a months-long strike, meaning industrial action could continue until December.
The dispute over pay and jobs between staff and the local Labour-run council left rubbish filling the streets of the Second City earlier this year.
The Unite union said the council told the bin workers they would face pay cuts of up to £8,000, which amounted to as much as a quarter of some staff's wages.
But a ballot on Thursday saw 97 per cent of workers voting in favour of more strike action on a 75 per cent turnout, Unite said.
The Unite union said the council told the bin workers they would face pay cuts of up to £8,000
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The dispute over pay and jobs between staff and the local Labour-run council left rubbish filling the streets of the Second City
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A statement from the union's general secretary Sharon Graham reads: "After smearing these workers in public since January and telling them to accept a fair and reasonable offer that never existed, the council finally put a proposal in writing last week.
"True to form, the proposal came weeks late and was not in line with the ballpark offer discussed during Acas [Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service] talks in May.
"It had been watered down by the Government commissioners and the leader of the council, despite them never having been in the negotiations.
"It beggars belief that a Labour Government and Labour council are treating these workers so disgracefully. It is hardly surprising that so many working people are asking whose side Labour is on.
"The decision-makers at Birmingham council need to get in the room and put forward an acceptable offer.
READ MORE ON BIRMINGHAM'S BIN STRIKES:
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner had visited Birmingham in April
PA
"Unite will not allow these workers to be financially ruined - the strikes will continue for as long as it takes. Unite calls on the decision-makers to let common sense prevail in upcoming negotiations."
Also on Thursday, Graham laid into Labour's impending Winter Fuel Payment U-turn.
The Government should "stop digging" and reverse the cuts in full, she said.
"You can't leave pensioners in limbo while you work out plans for taxing the families of the deceased - just reverse it now."
Back in April, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner had visited Birmingham where she demanded that workers accept a "significantly improved" pay offer.
"This dispute is causing misery and disruption to residents and the backlog must be dealt with quickly to address public health risks," she blasted.
"There is a significantly improved offer on the table for the workers and I'm urging Unite to suspend their action and to accept that offer."
GRAPHED: Who does the British public blame for Birmingham's bin strikes?YOUGOVYouGov polling carried out last month revealed that under a sixth of Britons blamed bin workers for the strikes.
A survey of more than 5,000 adults on May 21 found that 13 per cent blamed staff, 30 per cent blamed Birmingham Council, 32 per cent blamed both equally, and 24 per cent didn't know.
That data found that just nine per cent of Labour voters blamed workers, with 35 per cent of them turning on council bosses to lay the blame at their door.
It also exposed stark divides between Tory and Reform voters, with Conservatives tending to blame bin workers, and Reform backers blasting the council.
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