One year on - backing Birmingham's refuse workers

Hundreds of Birmingham refuse workers have been on strike for over 12 months against pay cuts of up to £8,000. The Labour-run council is effectively "firing and rehiring" loaders and drivers and has now carried out the threat of compulsory redundancies. Birmingham City Councillors need to show up and deliver. They need to end the bin strike - or they will be held accountable in May.

Send a message to your local councillors today: Labour stop attacking Brum bin workers!

Thanks for joining the mass rally on Monday 1 December

A mass rally in support of Birmingham bin workers on the first day of strike action by agency workers employed by Job & Talent took place in Birmingham on Monday 1 December 2025.

In an unprecedented development, workers directly employed by Birmingham council have now been joined on picket lines by agency workers employed by Job & Talent on the refuse contract. The Job & Talent workers voted in favour of strike action over bullying, harassment and the threat of blacklisting at the council’s refuse department two weeks ago.

The strikes, over fire and rehire pay cuts of up to £8,000, by directly employed bin workers, have been running since January and could continue beyond May’s local elections.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Instead of wasting millions more of council taxpayers’ money fighting a dispute it could settle justly for a fraction of the cost, the council needs to return to talks with Unite and put forward a fair deal for all bin workers. Strikes will not end until it does.”

Campaign latest: Are council funds being effectively spent?

Research conducted for Unite estimates the daily cost to Birmingham city council of maintaining the bin strike at £65,750 per day. The strike began on 6 January 2025 and became all out on 11 March.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite deals with thousands of negotiations every year. From the council side, the negotiations in this dispute have been a shambles, with the government right at the heart of it ... The offer briefed to the press for all affected workers simply never existed and the new ballpark offer discussed at Acas has now been blocked by government commissioners. Instead of trying to injunct picket lines and attack workers, the council leader should stop playing games, get in the room and solve this dispute."

Birmingham’s community is backing the bin workers

Organisations and businesses backing the Unite pledge

On top of the nearly 6,000 households in Birmingham that are displaying posters or bin stickers in support of striking refuse workers, now more than 150 businesses, plus faith groups and community groups have also pledged support to Unite’s campaign calling for the council to enter new talks.

From Acocks Green Boxing Gym to Digbeth-in-the-Field URC Church via the Central Jamia Mosque Ghamkol Sharif in Small Heath to the Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Smethwick, right through to the Hutton Hall Community & Advice Centre, community groups are joining residents and workers in calling on the council to get back to the negotiating table and end the dispute. Almost 240 key organisations and businesses have backed the pledge, with more adding their name every day.

It's time for the council to come back to the negotiating table and end this dispute. 

Time to strike a deal!

Get in the room and deliver what you promised

Hundreds of Birmingham refuse workers have been on strike for over six months against pay cuts of up to £8,000.  The Labour-run council is effectively “firing and rehiring” loaders and drivers  and is now threatening compulsory redundancies. 

What do Birmingham’s refuse workers want?

• Negotiate in good faith with decision makers in the room.
• Take on board the new legal advice.
• Return to the deal supported by all sides during the July negotiations

Download the latest Back the workers flyer/update [PDF]

SIGN: Labour stop attacking Brum bin workers!

Back Birmingham's bin workers

Unite Action Newsletter #7 | Vote YES in the ballot

You will soon be receiving a ballot paper in the post. It is vital that you take part and VOTE YES. We need to re–ballot to continue to make sure that you are legally  protected. Both BCC and agency members will be reballoted. We are fighting hard for all members: permanent and agencv, we are all together. Download Unite Action Newsletter #7

Unite Action Newsletter #6

Labour’s running scared – now let’s push to win. It’s time to escalate and win. New year, new beginning. This is the ideal moment for a big push to win the strike. Why? Because now the politicians have shaken off their Christmas hangovers, and their eyes are all on one thing: the May council elections. Labour knows they’re deep in the proverbial. Across Birmingham, they’re out canvassing now every day, running around trying to save their seats. And they’re rightly worried.

Read the Unite Action Newsletter #06.

Unite Action Newsletter #5

Agency strike begins… and Job&Talent shut down all 3 depots for us! On Monday 1st December, Job&Talent workers came out on official strike. So now we have two official  strikes. Drivers and loaders employed by the council, still fighting cuts to pay. And now joined by Job&Talent employees, who are sick and tired of bullying, unsafe conditions, and blacklisting. And of waiting years on empty promises of permanent jobs.

Read the Unite Action Newsletter #05.

Unite Action Newsletter #4

First they tried to take £8,000 a year from WRCOs’ wages. Then they did the same to the drivers. Then they bullied and overworked the agency workers they relied on to keep collecting the bins. Now we’ve all had enough! Join the rally on Monday 1 December 2025 from 08:30 at Smithfield (B5 6HX). The strength and determination of council workers, and now agency workers,  means that management has nowhere left to hide. Enough is Enough. It’s time to stand together and win permanent jobs and good conditions.

Download and share the Unite Action Newsletter #04 and join us on the morning of 1 December. 

Unite Action Newsletter #3

As momentum builds … management is already backing down! More agency staff are joining Unite every day. You can join the union, and the strike, at any time. It doesn’t matter whether you voted in the ballot or not: you will still have full legal protection. 

Collective action works! Managers are desperate because  they can’t cover routes, so they are ready to make  concessions. We shouldn’t have to strike to get better  treatment, but clearly the ballot is having an effect. Read the Unite Action Newsletter #03.

Unite Action Newsletter #2

Every day, more agency workers are joining the union! The council is having to cancel more routes. The pressure is building. It’s building in the media too. Our ballot hit the headlines last week, including the BBC and ITV, local and national newspapers. And the campaign is growing in our communities. Unite organisers have knocked on over 15,000 doors and talked to over 6,000 Birmingham households. Over 90% support striking bin workers. Everyday mosques, churches, community groups, and businesses are signing Unite’s “Pledge” to support the strike. Now we’ll be campaigning for agency workers too. Because, for the first time, agency workers are coming out to fight for their rights. The managers are running scared: we can win this. Job security comes from sticking together. Join the union! Read the Unite Action Newsletter #02.

Unite Action Newsletter #1

It’s time to end the bullying and insecurity. This is our moment. The blacklisting scandal has put the spotlight on the horrendous conditions in our depots. The community is on our side. Over 90% support the bin strikes. If we come out on strike, when our in-house colleagues are already on strike, our power will multiply and the council will have to listen. It’s time to stand together and win permanent jobs and good conditions. Read the Unite Action Newsletter #01. 

Download and share the campaign flyer - Stand up to the bullies (PDF)

Thanks for joining the rally for Birmingham bin workers

Time to stop this rubbish – end the bin strike with a fair deal now!

Birmingham’s bin workers have been threatened with pay cuts of up to £8,000 a year. These cuts would threaten workers’ mortgages, rents, and the security of their families.

The council, commissioners and the UK Labour government decision-makers have refused to get around the negotiating table and instead, a “bankrupt” Birmingham city council have spent £8m+ breaking the strike with agency labour. Thousands of Birmingham residents joined the Brum bin workers and Unite general secretary Sharon Graham march through Birmingham city centre to the Council Chambers on Saturday 20 September 2025. Show your solidarity by signing the message below ↓ 

SIGN: Labour stop attacking Brum bin workers!

Tell Labour | Stop Attacking Workers

It’s time to get in the room and deliver.

What is happening? Hundreds of Birmingham refuse workers are on strike against pay cuts of up to £8,000. They are now being threatened with tactics like “fire and rehire”.

Following Angela Rayner's resignation, Labour’s Steve Reed is the minister responsible and Unite has been told that her government commissioners are blocking a deal. It’s time to get in the room and deliver.

Download the flyer and take action today – send a message to Stop Attacking Workers

Donate to the Birmingham Bin workers Strike Fund

Unite members sent messages of solidarity and support at  Unite's Policy Conference in Brighton. 

Donate today to the workers that have been taking action for months and months: Send funds to:

Unite Solidarity Fund
60-83-01 | 20502672
Ref: BCC strike donation | 

Thank you for your support.

Strikes by over 350 Birmingham bin workers to intensify

Since the council effectively declared bankruptcy in September 2023, refuse workers have accepted cuts to their pay and terms and conditions and worked with management in good faith to ensure services continued.

But now strikes by 350 workers will intensify

This dispute was sparked by the council’s decision to abolish the safety critical Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) role - resulting in pay cuts of up £8,000 for 150 workers – as well as a catalogue of cuts across a service that is already on its knees. 

The service is also facing greater pressures from ageing vehicles and the lack of staff with no new full time hires. With an increasing reliance on agency staff, although many have worked for the refuse service for years, service pressures are increasing, recycling rates are below average and public abuse and anger has been amplified. 

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite will not stand by and allow the council and this Labour government to inflict these savage  pay cuts on workers. It is completely unjustified and a clear escalation of the dispute. It  will not be accepted. No worker should be expected to lose these eye-watering amounts of money from their pay packet."

Unite regional officer Zoe Mayou said: “Unite’s door remains open to meaningful discussions with the council to resolving this dispute. It is the council that bears the responsibility … its behaviour towards its directly employed staff is vindictive and does nothing to solve the operational problems that are staring it in the face.”

Download a model motion for Trade Union and Labour party branches

We believe that the whole trade union movement is behind the Birmingham bin workers, striking back against £8,000 a year pay cuts. We also think the vast majority of Labour party members are on their side. Trade union branches can send messages of solidarity and can donate to the strike fund. Loads of trade union branches doing this helps strengthen the resolve of our members and isolates the council leadership and the government commissioners.

And masses of Labour party members speaking up on the side of these striking workers can put the council leadership under real pressure to negotiate a deal that is fair by Birmingham’s workers and residents.

Download a model motion for your branch here [PDF version] (or Word version) and please tell us when you pass the motion by emailing the team.

Are you in a union? If not, then join Unite today

Time to #TellOscar

Sadly the council and commissioners are refusing to listen to the workers. As the dispute continues, and the rubbish piles up - contrary to the claims of the council - the workers want you to highlight your rubbish story, what you spot at the end of your road, the streets that are swept or not. This map shows spots where rubbish has been piling up, have you seen something, then share away. 

Submit your snaps

Post your images and submit your stories with Unite's team on the ground via email or share on social media with the hashtag #TellOscar.

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