Union Unite predictably went into bat for its members and when talks over job roles and pay broke down, January 2025 saw waste collection services disrupted by work to rule and intermittent industrial action. Proposed council restructuring would see the role of Waste Recycling and Collection Officer abolished which the union said would result in the pay cuts of up to £8,000 for around 170 workers.

Telling someone they are going to lose £8,000 of their salary is never going to end well, even if it is from a council that has shown it is financially incompetent. As negotiations went nowhere, March saw an all-out strike and the council was forced to declare the situation a Major Incident due to growing fears of rodents and public health. Images of rotting rubbish and reports of rat infestations made the national headlines with politicians and commentators observing how a once great city looked like it was in decay.

At one point, the council was forced to secure an interim High Court injunction to stop the obstruction of refuse vehicles and to ensure that depots could remain open and in operation. A giant rat was spotted in attendance at a full council meeting, but it turned out to be a man in a costume protesting at the ongoing farce.

Laughably, as rubbish remained piled on streets, Councillor Majid Mahmood, Birmingham’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport – the man responsible for waste collection in the city – insisted he did not think the reputation of Birmingham had taken ‘a hit’ over the ongoing strikes.

Clearly, he lives in a parallel universe compared to the rest of us. Aside from the reputational damage to Birmingham and a situation that has left residents in despair, one of the glaring omissions of the last 12 months has been the lack of resignations as a result of not ending this ongoing crisis.

If failure to solve a year-long industrial dispute was impacting on the delivery of services to customers of a private business, then heads would have rolled by now and rightly so. Aside from the lack of decent accountability, a recent report from the finance director of Birmingham City Council revealed that the strikes had cost the council £14million so far. This figure is made up of costs of street cleaning, extended tip opening times and using companies to help reduce the refuse backlog.

We must remember, this is not council money, but the cash of hardworking local taxpayers that is being used to pick up the tab as the council and Unite the Union remain at loggerheads.

As we enter a new year, this stalemate shows no signs of breaking. The council remains adamant its planned changes to the waste service – which were the trigger for these strikes – will still go ahead in June. For residents, this means household rubbish being collected fortnightly and the reintroduction of recycling services.

Unite the Union say they are fully prepared to continue their strike well into 2026 with a third ‘megapicket’ planned later this month. The last year has shown all involved in the worst possible light, with the people of the once great city of Birmingham bearing the brunt of poor leadership and ego – both in the council and the union.

In the case of the councillors that make up Birmingham City Council, the day of reckoning is imminent. With upcoming council elections currently scheduled for May 7, local voters will be able to have their say at the ballot box as all 101 council seats are up for grabs.

The Labour leadership of the council should be petrified of the results as I suspect the people of Birmingham will send them a clear message about their handling of the bin strikes as they unbelievably enter a second year.