'Our doors are open', Birmingham councillors tell striking bin workers one year since walkouts began
Birmingham City Council said its doors remain open to striking bin workers as it marks one year since union members began industrial action.
Last updated 6th Jan 2026
Councillors in Birmingham say their doors remain open to striking bin workers as they hope to come to a negotiation to end industrial action.
Today marks a year since council refuse staff first walked out over pay and conditions. They said changes in the department would result in pay cuts of up to £8,000.
Bin workers have been on picket lines this morning. This staff members at Perry Barr told us: "We were expecting the council to come to some sort of resolution with Unite and, obviously, it's gone on this far. It's causing a lot of stress on families, myself, and we've just had enough basically.
"I love my job, I want to get back to work, but with everything going on...you don't know from one day to the next what's going to happen, and we're just asking and begging the council to come to the table, come to negotiations, so we can get on with our lives."
Cllr Majid Mahmood, cabinet member of environment and transport at Birmingham City Council said: “We are now forging ahead with the transformation of the waste service, a service that has been poor for too long.
“The transformed service will bring Birmingham into line with other councils, improve recycling rates and provide a service our residents need and deserve.
“The council has engaged in negotiations with Unite for the past 12 months. Whilst we remain committed to reaching a negotiated settlement, Unite has rejected our fair and reasonable offers.
“We have also invited Unite on multiple occasions to make a proposal to end the strike, which we would fully and carefully consider, but they have declined to do so thus far. Our doors remain open for Unite to put forward constructive suggestions to resolve this dispute, and we want those taking strike action to return to work so we can continue delivering the waste services that the people of Birmingham expect and deserve.
“Despite the ongoing industrial action and the initial disruption, the contingency plan is working and productivity has improved, with fewer complaints than prior to the strike; there has been a 52% improvement rate on missed collections and a 22% improvement on tonnage collected per employee.
“We know residents are frustrated and we are sorry for the inconvenience and appreciate their patience.”
In November, the agency workers who were brought in to cover striking workers also joined them on the picket lines over claims about bullying and harassment at the council, which the authority denied.