BIRMINGHAM, England — “Stand up, fight back!” striking bin workers chanted outside the Atlas refuse depot here to mark one year on the picket line. Members of Unite the Union walked out March 11, 2025, after Birmingham City Council cut their wages by up to 8,000 pounds ($10,590) a year — equivalent to a quarter of their pay — through lowering job grades and eliminating a safety-critical role.
The attack was one of a series of measures taken by the Labour Party-controlled council to make workers pay for the city’s budget crisis and debt burden. They’ve also cut special education needs and closed libraries.
Backed to the hilt by the Labour government in London, the council broke off talks with the union last July, sent in police against strikers and got injunctions against pickets.
“They’re not backing off,” striker Matt Reid told the Militant. “Twenty vehicles provided by Tom White Waste in Coventry are coming daily to collect rubbish to supplement work done by agency workers in Birmingham.” That’s a wholly owned subsidiary of the Labour-controlled City Council in nearby Coventry, set up to break a refuse workers strike there in 2022.
“The council has spent millions of pounds on such moves. It shows that what’s really at stake is their attempt to break the union. But over the 12 months, we’ve got stronger,” Reid said. He pointed out that the vote in the most recent ballot strikers are obliged to take for legal protection was 100% in favor of staying out. “In addition to the 260 striking workers employed by the council, 52 agency workers there have joined the strike.”
“No way are we going to be rolled over,” said Mike Masters, a shop steward at the Perry Barr depot. He pointed to the support the strikers have received from workers across the country, who’ve invited them to speak at meetings, joined their picket lines and protests and contributed to their strike fund. “A year out on our strike and you learn how important such solidarity is.”
“We’re outraged, we’re angry,” striking Perry Barr depot worker Penny Robbins said, “but we’re not just fighting for ourselves but for all workers.”
“Councils across the U.K. are all looking at this dispute,” co-worker Paul Jackson said. “If Birmingham Council gets its way, thousands of other workers will be in the firing line.” Councils across the country are facing 4 billion pounds of debt. A quarter of all local authorities are on the verge of bankruptcy, and eight went bankrupt between 2018 and 2023. Other major cities facing crisis include Leicester, Sheffield, Nottingham, Liverpool and Leeds.
Unite has announced that it’s cutting funding to the Labour Party by 40%, and consulting union members over ending its affiliation with Labour.