Birmingham bin strikes could run into spring
Unite said its members have overwhelmingly voted to extend their industrial action mandate to March 2026.
Long-running strikes by Birmingham bin workers in a bitter dispute over pay could be extended past Christmas and into spring, it has been warned.
Unite said its members have overwhelmingly voted to extend their industrial action mandate to March 2026.
The workers have been on all-out strike since March, leading to rubbish piling up in streets across the city.
Unite claimed that Government-appointed commissioners in Birmingham scuppered a deal that would have ended the dispute, adding that the "ball is in the Government's court".
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Throughout this dispute the Government has denied any involvement. It is now clear that commissioners reporting to (Deputy Prime Minister) Angela Rayner blocked a ball-park deal thrashed out at Acas.
"The recent amendment by the Government to the Employment Rights Bill, that allows councils in debt to fire and rehire their workers, shows what is really going on here.
"Council workers are being lined up to pay the price for years of austerity."
A Birmingham council spokesperson said: "The ballot was not about any new negotiations or offers, but is part of Unite's practice of refreshing their mandates for industrial action at regular periods during a dispute."