Council leader on when bins strike could end

The leader of Birmingham City Council has declined to give an indication of when the bins strike could end as it drags on with no resolution seemingly in sight.

The strike, triggered by a dispute between the Labour-run council and Unite the union, started back in January 2025 and is now into its second year.

The past 12 months or so have seen huge heaps of rubbish pile up during the height of the strike; unwanted headlines about the city and the suspension of recycling collections.

The bins dispute was initially sparked by the loss of the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer role, with striking workers claiming they face a pay cut of £8,000 – a figure the council has disputed.

The council has insisted a fair offer had been made before negotiations came to an end last summer, saying at the time it had ‘reached the absolute limit of what we can offer’ amid equal pay fears.

Amid this deadlock and Unite being prepared to continue industrial action beyond the local elections this May, council leader John Cotton was asked this week whether residents should brace themselves for more months of disruption to collections.

“I am really keen we find a solution to this,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service. “I really regret the fact we haven’t been able to reach a resolution with Unite and that it’s gone on for as long it has.

“No-one is more frustrated than me that we find ourselves in that position.

“What we’ll continue to do is ensure that we’re providing contingency collections; press on with the pilot of our food waste collection; continue to modernise the fleet and do all the other things we need to do to turn the service around.”

Cllr Cotton went on to say: “My message is we need to find a resolution to this. I want the workforce to be able to come back to work and work with us on the journey of improvement.

“But what we can’t do is settle this on the basis that Unite have been asking us to because that would literally upend all the work that’s been done to put this council back on an even keel.

“It would be irresponsible of me to even entertain doing something like that.”

Birmingham Council recently confirmed that the transformation of its waste service, which will include the return of recycling collections, is now set to take place from June onwards – regardless of whether the strike is still happening.

The council leader was pressed this week on whether residents could potentially have to wait until the summer to see a possible end to the bins strike.

“I would want to find a solution to this as soon as possible,” he said. “But I think to put timelines on it would be a foolish thing to do frankly.

“I’m absolutely committed to finding a resolution to this.”

Unite previously claimed that a “ballpark” deal had been agreed last year after hours of discussions but added this figure could not get past government-appointed commissioners at the council.

The union also claimed a new offer was much lower compared to the “ballpark” figure and therefore couldn’t be accepted.

Cllr Cotton was speaking to the media on Tuesday to discuss the budget for the next financial year, with the council saying it was no longer ‘bankrupt’ and that a £300 million budget gap had been closed.

“Thanks to the decisive, tough action we took to get the council back on track, the ‘bankrupt Birmingham’ tag is now a thing of the past,” the council leader said.

“This is a significant moment in the council’s recovery and is down to the sheer hard work that has been undertaken here in Birmingham by members and officers, supported by commissioners.”

Several issues contributed to the council’s financial turmoil, including equal pay woes and the disastrous implementation of an IT system.

The fallout of the crisis also saw Labour councillors partly blame funding cuts during the previous Conservative government.