Unite boss to join Birmingham bin strike rally

The leader of union Unite will join striking Birmingham bin workers for a rally at one of the depots where the union was fined for obstructing waste lorries.

The union must pay £265,000 for contempt of court after "slow walking" in front of waste lorries in the city during the long-running dispute.

Ahead of the rally at Atlas depot in Tyseley on Thursday, the union's general secretary, Sharon Graham said: "Our members taking industrial action have Unite's unwavering support."

Birmingham City Council said it needed to transform the service and had tabled multiple fair and reasonable offers.

Graham added: "The council should now honour the deal scoped out at [conciliation service] Acas and stop wasting millions of pounds of residents' money on failed attempts to break the strike."

Workers have been on strike since January last year, with all-out action ongoing since March 2025, over what the union said were pay cuts of up to £8,000.

Last week, Unite's executive council voted to cut its affiliation fee to Labour by £580,000 because of the bin dispute.

The general secretary said on Tuesday that "every single penny" of the contempt fine would come out of the money it previously paid to the UK's governing party.

Both striking council workers and agency workers employed by Job & Talent have recently voted to extend their industrial action mandate past May's local elections and into September.

Majid Mahmood, the council's cabinet member for environment and transport, said on Tuesday: "We are working to keep the city safe and clean and thanks to the injunction have maintained a weekly collection for Birmingham families.

"The fine of £265,000 (plus £170,000 interim payment in relation to the council's legal costs) was issued by the judge [and] will send a clear message about what is acceptable behaviour and what is not."

Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.