Industrial action in the waste service – one year on from start of all-out strike

This document sets out in one place the key issues, including –

• The council’s current position
• Data on waste collections and fly-tipping
• A timeline of events
• Responses to questions on the key issues raised during this time

 

Current position –

Cllr Majid Mahmood, cabinet member for environment and transport, said:

“The bin strike in Birmingham has gone on for too long. I'm sorry for the disruption this has caused, and I would hope Unite would also want to apologise. It isn't good enough and we want to end the dispute. But let us be clear, the council has made a series of offers to Unite to end the strike, but they have all been rejected.

  “We are moving ahead with the implementation of the improved waste service this summer, a service that has been poor for too long.  

“This will see the rollout of food waste collections from June this year on a phased basis, along with the return of improved recycling and green waste collection services.

“This will happen regardless of the situation with industrial action to give the people of Birmingham the waste service they deserve.

“My message to those still taking industrial action is simple: come back to work as I want you to be part of this new and improved service. Our door remains open.”

 

Responses on issues arising over the year (also attributable as quotes)

Why is the strike still ongoing?

It is hard to understand why, given the issues around the former WRCOs and former driver team leaders have been resolved, with workers taking alternative employment, redundancy or drivers accepting the new role. 

We have also invited Unite on multiple occasions to make a proposal to end the strike, which we would fully and carefully consider, but they have declined to do. Our door remains open to this.

Why not just settle at the figure Unite wants? 

The council has made several offers to Unite to end the dispute, all of which were rejected. The value of the lump sums being quoted as a ballpark deal by Unite has never been offered. Unite continue to demand significant lump sums which are simply unjustifiable and do not represent best value for the council and the citizens of Birmingham. We have to protect the public purse. 

Unite are asking you to return to negotiations – why won’t you do that?

Unite say they want us to ‘get back to negotiations’ but if they are not prepared to be reasonable and understand that we simply cannot give them whatever they demand, this is just words and will not actually resolve anything.

Are you using agency staff to cover for striking workers?

No. Birmingham City Council will always operate within the laws relating to the deployment of agency labour during industrial action. We are using the same level of agency staff as before the strike.

What impact has striking agency workers had?

A small number of Unite members in Jobs & Talent (J&T) are taking strike action in a separate dispute with their employer but this has not affected our contingency plan. We continue to utilise the same level of agency workers as we did before the Waste strike in BCC.

Issues at depots

Unfortunately, we have had to deal with repeated blockading of our waste vehicles during periods of the dispute. While we support the right to protest, those that want to work should be allowed to do so. We were therefore forced to apply for injunctions against both Unite and other protesters (‘persons unknown’) because of persistent blocking of our depots. When we are able to deploy our available resources we continue to provide one collection to every household every week, albeit we suspended recycling and garden waste in order to ensure general waste could be collected.

When will recycling and garden waste collections return?

The new improved service that will roll out in the summer will include the return of recycling.

Is rubbish piling up?

No big city is rubbish-free but our contingency plan ensures every household gets a weekly waste collection. It was only when our depots were being routinely blocked that we inevitably could not stick to our contingency plan and waste went uncollected; it was not the strike itself that caused this.

Despite the ongoing industrial action, we are collecting waste every week from households, with an average of around 1,370 tonnes collected from kerbside every day and over 200 tonnes on average at our recycling centres.

Our household recycling centres have had extended opening hours to support residents with recycling, and we have had extra deployments of the mobile waste centres.

Is fly-tipping worse? 

Fly-tipping is not unique to Birmingham; it's a growing national problem. Figures released last month showed that fly-tipping incidents across England increased by 9% in 2024/25 and have reached the highest level since current records began, with most offences continuing to involve household waste.

Unfortunately, like other big cities fly-tipping is an issue. Where there are hotspots we will aim to work in the local area to identify the root cause of the problems and to tackle the issue. Fly-tipping harms where we all have to live and work and is carried out by environmental criminals that have no regard for our neighbourhoods or their well-being.  

When fly-tipping occurs, we act as quickly as possible. Our crews clear hundreds of fly-tipping reports each week; this is in addition to the work our neighbourhood crews undertake to clean up across the city. Everyone needs to play their part in maintaining a clean environment. We have plenty of lawful options for people to responsibly dispose of waste or unwanted items. We are committed to prosecuting fly-tippers whenever possible, and we encourage residents to provide reports and evidence for us to do so. 

Unite has said there is bullying and blacklisting in J&T. 

We have addressed these false allegations many times, for which no evidence is provided. Our agency workforce has been crucial to delivering a consistent waste service during this strike, with improved reliability for residents. 

The council does not condone any actions which are contrary to legislation and good employment practice. Blacklisting will not be tolerated. A full investigation was immediately initiated and found that no blacklisting had taken place. 

What has happened to the WRCO role?

The former WRCO role which came about as a result of a previous bin strike, was withdrawn on 2 January 2025, following extensive consultation with the employees concerned and their representatives. No other council has this role, and if the council had conceded to retain it, then we would have risked creating future equal pay liability. All of the 170 former WRCOs were successfully redeployed or elected to take VR.

What is the position with the driver role?

The role of Driver/Team Leader (GR4) was withdrawn following an extensive period of consultation with the unions on 13 October 2025. The new role of driver was evaluated as a GR3. Existing Driver Team Leaders were given the opportunity to accept the new driver role as alternative employment or taking Voluntary Redundancy.

It’s important to stress that roles are evaluated using the nationally recognised Gauge Job Evaluation methodology - as agreed with our trade unions.

Of the 144 DTLs, the majority have agreed accept the new role with the standard 6 months’ pay protection, with others taking voluntary redundancy or other alternative roles within the service.

How many workers have been given compulsory redundancy?

Three former DTLs elected to take compulsory redundancy out of the 144 affected. We made every effort to support staff through this process, offering pay protection, alternative roles or VR.

 

Data

Despite a year of industrial action, our hard-working crews have delivered a more efficient service since the strike commenced and we thank them for the work they do every day in delivering an excellent service focused on the residents of the city.

We collect an average of around 1,370 tonnes from kerbside every day and over 200 tonnes on average per day at our recycling centres.

Data on improvements compared to the previous year –

KPI measure	June 2024	June 2025	Percentage improvement
Tonnes per FTE	54.48	66.87	+22.74%
Missed bins per 100,000 collections	659.69	311.46	+52.78%

   

We know fly-tipping is an issue, as it is in all major cities regardless of industrial action, and our crews clear hundreds of fly-tipping reports each week. We prosecute when we have evidence; between October 2024 and October 2025 we issued 2,020 fixed penalty notices for fly-tipping and commercial waste non-compliance.

Over the last 18 months there has been a sustained increase in waste enforcement interventions with a significant rise in the number of statutory fixed penalty notices issued for offences such as fly‑tipping, alongside an increase in the number of vehicles seized in connection with fly‑tipping activity. The council has also pursued more waste related prosecutions.

Waste enforcement unit activity:

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Timeline – key points during the past year

6 January 2025 - intermittent industrial action following withdrawal of WRCO role

February 2025 – first offer rejected

11 March 2025 - all-out strike begins

27 March 2025 - collective consultation on compulsory redundancy begins

31 March 2025 - major incident declared following persistent blockading of depots

April 2025 - job evaluation for driver team leader role moved from GR4 to GR3

23 May 2025 - council granted interim injunction against Unite

7 July 2025 – council decides to end negotiations due to reaching the limit of what can be offer and Unite rejecting all offers

27 July 2025 – announcement of application of contempt of court proceedings against Unite due to evidence of persistent breach of the injunction

14 October 2025 – contempt hearing for breach of injunction

December 2025 – cabinet report published on rollout of new service in summer of 2026

13 February 2026 – application for injunction against ‘persons unknown’ due to repeated blocking of depots

20 February 2026 – injunction granted

March 2026 – trial of food waste collection service

Ends