Striking bin workers and their supporters blockaded the Smithfield depot in central Birmingham in January. Photograph: Guy Smallman/Getty ImagesStriking bin workers and their supporters blockaded the Smithfield depot in central Birmingham in January. Photograph: Guy Smallman/Getty ImagesBirmingham council leader says end of city’s bin strike ‘within sight’Long-running dispute could be resolved as improved offer is made to workers, who first began strike in January 2025
The end of the year-long Birmingham bin strike is now “within sight”, the city council leader has said after committing to an improved offer for refuse workers.
On Monday, John Cotton, the Labour leader of Birmingham city council, said a new, improved offer could be made to workers that he hoped would “end the strike once and for all”.
“After months of frustration and delay, for the first time in over 12 months, a negotiated settlement to end the bin strike is now within sight,” he said.
Bin workers in Birmingham began striking in January 2025, and stopped working completely in March that year, in a dispute over proposed pay cuts and role changes. It led to the council declaring a major incident when 17,000 tonnes of uncollected rubbish built up across the city.
Sharon Graham, Unite’s general secretary, said: “The move made today by the leader of the council is a vindication of the bin workers’ struggle for a decent deal.
“I salute the fortitude of my members who have needlessly been forced to endure months of attacks and hardship to get us to this point.”
Graham blamed the “vindictive interference” of the government commissioners who were sent to run the council after it in effect went bankrupt in 2023 for blocking the deal to date.
“Their lack of both experience and industrial relations competence has been a major factor in this dispute, and their malevolent game-playing has been an absolute disgrace,” she said.
Unite said the full details of the deal would remain confidential until the council submits a detailed offer, and would need to be voted on by bin workers.
The union said the broad outline of the deal would mean workers get a two-month cushion from any salary reduction resulting from a job evaluation process, and agency workers who had worked for more than 12 months would be offered permanent employment.
It also said disciplinary issues would be quashed, gross misconduct issues reviewed, and legal action on both sides would end.
The strike – one of the biggest industrial disputes in recent years – stemmed from a council decision to scrap the role of waste recycling and collection officer, claiming it did not exist in other areas and that it could make the authority liable to equal pay claims.
Striking workers disputed this, and Unite said it would cost some of its members £8,000 a year – a figure the council has disputed.
The council’s announcement on Monday comes a week before local elections that could see a dramatic political shake-up in the Labour-run city.
Robert Alden, the leader of Birmingham Conservatives, said council leaders “want residents to believe they have a deal 10 days before an election that is set to see them booted out”.
“Labour are committing to yet another equal pay bill and running off to leave everyone else to pay for it,” he said.
In 2024, Birmingham city council reached an agreement to settle historical equal pay claims that left the authority with liabilities estimated at £760m that in effect pushed it into bankruptcy.
Explore more on these topicsShareReuse this content
