On Thursday, September 11, 2025, Birmingham marked a somber milestone: six months since refuse collection workers, represented by the Unite union, walked out in an all-out strike that has left the city grappling with mounting rubbish, plummeting recycling rates, and a bitter standoff between workers and the city council. What began as a dispute over job roles and pay cuts has spiraled into a protracted conflict with no end in sight, affecting daily life for hundreds of thousands of residents and exposing deep rifts in local governance and labor relations.
The roots of the dispute stretch back to late 2024, when more than 350 bin workers voted for industrial action. Occasional strikes started in January 2025, but it was on March 11 that the situation escalated into an indefinite, all-out strike. Since then, Birmingham’s streets have become a battleground—not just for the striking workers, but for residents forced to navigate overflowing bins, disrupted collections, and a public health risk that shows no signs of abating. As reported by BBC and Birmingham Live, rubbish has piled up in black bin bags across the city, with residents complaining of vermin, foul smells, and a general sense of neglect.
At the heart of the dispute lies the council’s decision to eliminate the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) role, a move Unite says will leave around 170 workers £8,000 worse off annually. The council disputes these figures, claiming only 17 employees will be significantly affected and that the changes are necessary to bring Birmingham’s waste operations in line with national standards and improve efficiency. According to council officials, all affected staff have been offered redeployment at the same pay or voluntary redundancy. Nevertheless, the union contends that the council’s promises of retraining and alternative roles have not materialized, with Unite national lead officer Onay Kasab describing the situation as “brutal council cuts” and accusing politicians of “lies about no one losing pay and broken promises about being able to retrain in driving roles that are now nowhere to be seen.”
Negotiations between the two sides broke down in early July. Since then, the rift has only deepened. The council says it has “reached the absolute limit of what we can offer,” warning that acceding to union demands could trigger another equal pay crisis like the one that led to Birmingham’s bankruptcy in 2023. In a statement to Sky News, council leader John Cotton insisted, “We want to see this dispute end, we understand residents’ frustration and appreciate their patience over the last few months.” Yet, the council has also pressed ahead with legal action, accusing Unite of breaching court orders related to picketing and obstructing waste vehicles—claims the union denies, stating it has complied with the injunction since May.
For residents, the impact has been both visible and visceral. Pensioner Lorraine Boyce, from Kings Norton, told the BBC she’s been forced to store months’ worth of recycling in her hallway because she refuses to mix it with general waste and has no means to take it to a tip. “It’s bad for our reputation and our morale,” she said. “I think it’s depressing. People are feeling that they don’t matter.” In South Yardley, Carolyn Bauer has taken to cleaning her front drive herself, while in Aston, residents like Rob Brough and Naomi Clooney have documented scenes of rubbish-strewn apartment complexes and wildlife feasting on torn bin bags. Clooney, who has resorted to taking her recycling to Wales when visiting family, lamented, “It [has] marred the perspective of the city. I had family over from Ireland and it was really quite embarrassing.”
Despite the council’s claims that its contingency plan is “working,” the reality is a patchwork of partial solutions. General waste is collected once a week from each property, but recycling and garden waste collections remain suspended. Street cleaning crews are dispatched daily to the worst-affected areas, but picket lines and staff shortages have made it difficult to stick to schedules, resulting in uneven service. The council says it has collected an average of 1,330 tonnes of kerbside waste daily over the past six months—more than before the strike began—but recycling rates have plummeted from 22.9% to just 15.4%, with most waste now sent to landfill or incinerated. According to Birmingham Live, thousands of tonnes of recyclables have ended up being burned, and the environmental toll has been severe.
The public health implications have not gone unnoticed. Rotting food has attracted foxes, cockroaches, and rats, leading the council to suspend most pest control services except for rat treatments, which are now offered free of charge. Residents have been told to leave uncollected rubbish out or take it to one of several household recycling centers—an option not available to everyone, especially those without cars or with mobility issues. Meanwhile, community groups like the Pioneer Housing Association have stepped in to help keep neighborhoods clean. Irfan Mehboob, head of community facilities at the Pioneer group, told the BBC his estates team has been “going above and beyond” to maintain cleanliness in Castle Vale, Stechford, and Stockland Green. “The residents are very grateful for the work we’re doing,” he said. “We receive a lot of compliments about the team.”
As the dispute drags on, political and legal tensions have intensified. Unite has accused the Labour-led council and the national government of colluding to undermine workers’ rights, blaming amendments to the Employment Rights Bill that allow indebted councils to fire and rehire staff. The union has also warned that if it is fined as a result of legal action, the money will be paid from its Labour affiliation fund—a move that could strain its longstanding ties with the party. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham told the PA news agency, “Our members are resolute in their determination to win this dispute and are disgusted at the behaviour of the Labour council and the Labour Government.”
On September 2, Unite members voted “overwhelmingly” to extend their strike mandate to March 2026, raising the prospect that bins could remain uncollected over Christmas and well into next spring. The union has also announced a rally in support of the strikers, set for September 20. Meanwhile, the local government ministry has called on Unite to “urgently end this strike,” citing the “untold misery and disruption to the people of Birmingham.”
With formal redundancy consultations now underway and both sides entrenched, the prospect of a negotiated settlement appears remote. Press Association industrial correspondent Alan Jones observed, “There has to be a compromise, probably on both sides. There has to be talks, they have to get back together again, either with or without the conciliation service Acas, and reach some kind of deal. I don’t think there’ll be an outright winner from this. Unless something happens, unless there’s a breakthrough, unless there’s a deal I think it’s virtually certain that this dispute will just carry on and on.”
As Birmingham braces for the possibility of a year-long strike, the city’s residents, workers, and leaders find themselves caught in a standoff that has become about much more than rubbish—it’s a test of resilience, trust, and the future of public services in Britain’s second-largest city.
