An end to the Birmingham bin strike is ‘within sight’ after a bitter, year-long dispute which left mountains of rubbish piled on the city’s streets, the Labour leader of the council has confirmed.
The city’s Labour-run administration is understood to have bowed to demands from the Unite union on behalf of bin workers who walked out in March last year in a row over pay.
The breakthrough comes barely a week before voters go to the polls in a city-wide council election which is widely expected to bring an end to the party’s calamitous 14 years in power.
It will likely fuel accusations that Labour has rushed to broker an unfavourable agreement with union barons as a last-ditch effort to maintain its grip on the country’s second city.
The deal comes just weeks after Unite – Labour’s biggest union backer – slashed funding for the party by £580,000, specifically citing anger over the bin strikes in Birmingham.
John Cotton, Labour’s leader of the council, said in a statement: ‘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.
‘This has been a challenging and complex process, but after months of hard work, on the principles and parameters of a deal, I believe a new improved offer can be made and terms can be put in place that address the “ballpark issues” discussed at ACAS that Unite members can agree in order to end the strike once and for all.
‘A deal that would be good for the workforce, represent good value for money and would not repeat the mistakes of the past and risk creating new structural equal pay liabilities.’
Unite claimed in a statement that the external commissioners brought in to stabilise the council’s finances after it went bust had stopped the deal from being fully confirmed.
‘The reason the offer has not yet been completed and gone to our members is because at the eleventh hour the government backed commissioners attempted to stop it, which has led to today’s statement of intent by the leader of the council,’ the union said.
Unite revealed the deal would ensure workers get a two-year cushion from the impact of the job-evaluation process, guarantee those with more than a year of employment on their contract would be offered a path to permanent employment and quash disciplinary issues.
It will also mean the striking workers are treated as having been on ‘authorised absence’ for pension purposes and legal action on both sides is brought to an end.
Any agreement will still be subject to confirmation by the council and will not be resolved before the election.
Birmingham’s crisis-stricken Labour-run council is understood to have bowed to demands from the Unite union on behalf of bin workers who walked out in March last year
John Cotton, Labour’s leader of the council, said: ‘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’
Bin workers began an all-out strike out over proposals to scrap a role on collection teams last year
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘The move made today by the leader of the council is a vindication of the bin workers’ struggle for a decent deal.
‘Over the last few months, there have been intense negotiations to get the blocked “ballpark” deal back on the table, so that our members could vote on it.
‘The reason why we are not yet at that stage is purely down to the vindictive interference of the government backed commissioners who have attempted to block the deal again and clearly overstepped their remit.
‘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.’
Bin workers began an all-out strike over proposals to scrap a role on collection teams last year, inflicting misery on the city and fuelling fears of a public health crisis as more than 21,000 tonnes of foetid waste piled up on the pavements.
Residents in the worst-affected areas described ‘rats becoming the size of cats’ as a thriving rodent population feasted on discarded food.
Within weeks, the council was forced to declare a major incident over the uncollected rubbish and the Government called in army specialists to provide logistical support to ease the crisis.
Yet a breakthrough in the dispute has long seemed a remote prospect.
Birmingham City Council has repeatedly insisted it was unable to meet the demands of the striking binmen without risking a fresh raft of potentially ruinous equal pay claims – one of the key reasons the council was forced to declare effective bankruptcy in 2023.
It was a previous bin strike in 2017 that first exposed the council to £760 million of equal pay liabilities, after a flawed deal with Unite created higher-paid roles for predominantly male refuse workers.
The council had suggested it was determined not to make the same mistake again in resolving the latest bin strike.
Mr Cotton’s statement continued: ‘I want our workforce to be able to return to work and help us deliver the quality refuse and recycling services the people of this city deserve. That’s why throughout this dispute I have resisted those who would dismiss the striking workers instead of negotiating.
‘I have instructed officers to move forward with negotiations so that we can bring this matter to a close.
‘Whilst the pre-election period prevents the Council from making a final decision prior to May 7, a re-elected Labour administration under my leadership will work to get this deal approved as a matter of absolute priority. The council can then move forward and offer the people of Birmingham the services that they deserve.
‘I also want to re-emphasise my absolute determination to see through the agreement reached with the council’s unions last year that will deliver the pay justice that thousands of women workers were denied under previous leaderships.
‘I would like to thank the people of Birmingham for their patience during this challenging time. It’s now clear that whilst other parties have no plan, only Labour can end this dispute and deliver a refuse service that works for everyone in Birmingham.’
The row between union and council has been ill-tempered at times.
Unite was accused of ‘holding residents to ransom’ by Preet Kaur Gill, MP for Birmingham Edgaston, who said the union should have accepted a ‘fair deal on the table for the small number who are on strike’.
The council also claimed that only 17 workers would face the maximum financial loss of up to £6,000 per year under its pay restructuring plans. Unite disputed the figures, saying the strike was ‘about 150 workers suffering pay cuts of up to £8,000’.
