A-Infos (en) UK, ACG, Jackdaw 26 - Birmingham Bin Strike: Not over! (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

The 18-month bin strike in Birmingham is far from over. Bin workers in 
Birmingham have been on strike since March 2025. When the Labour council 
in that city attacked bin workers' pay and conditions, walkouts started 
in January, leading on to an all-out strike from March 11th.  The 
council wanted savage cuts that would result in a pay cut of £8,000 a 
year. In addition, lorry drivers were downgraded by this vicious 
anti-working class council.
Birmingham Council admitted that the supposed deal promised by the 
former leader of the council, Labour's John Cotton, is far from 
official. Since the May elections, Labour has lost control of the 
council. Now a coalition of Liberal Democrats, Greens, and Better 
Birmingham Independents, led by Roger Harmer, has said that no official 
settlement was ever agreed by the council itself.
Harmer said that his minority coalition would not be rushed into a deal.
Cotton had said that compensatory payments to the hundreds of bin 
workers had been 'agreed'. This was just a pathetic attempt by Labour to 
save itself at the May elections-and it didn't work!
The Labour council paid scabs to break the strike. Police attacked 
picket lines and army officers were employed to help in the 
strike-breaking operation. Workers responded to the breaking up of 
picket lines by mounting mass pickets The Labour council used Section 14 
of the Public Order Act to attack pickets. However, the determination of 
the bin workers increased. The Unite bureaucracy could not think beyond 
a legal challenge, when the police began breaking up picket lines. It 
was workers themselves organising mass action that led to increasing 
confidence.
The council attempted to enlist firefighters to clear rubbish. However, 
firefighters responded with a categorical rejection of such action.
The Unite union, to which the 400 striking bin workers belong, failed to 
organise massively. In addition, Sharon Graham, leader of Unite, has 
sabotaged the demands of the bin workers by replacing them with a 
so-called "fair settlement" which involved payments of lump sums of 
between £14,000 and £20,000. This fails to compensate the bin workers 
for many thousands of pounds lost in future earnings, and to challenge 
the new conditions brought in by Labour. Whilst saying that Unite would 
give "unwavering support" to the strikers, she turned up on the picket 
lines just once in these long months of struggle.
All eyes should be on the Birmingham strike and how both the Liberal 
Democrats and the Greens react. As for the 'left' union chief, Sharon 
Graham, she cannot be trusted. She sent her emissaries to negotiate 
secretly with Reform, who were in danger of seizing Birmingham Council, 
before being blocked by Harmer's coalition. She did not consult with the 
striking bin workers over this squalid manoeuvre with the hard right 
party. To avoid defeat, the bin workers will need to increasingly look 
to their own independent organisation and to extend the fight to other 
council workers and beyond.

https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/jackdaw_low-res.pdf
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