Deal ‘within sight’ to end Birmingham bin strike

An end to the long-running Birmingham bin strike is “within sight” after a breakthrough in the bitter dispute over jobs and pay.

Council leader John Cotton said he believed a new offer could be made to the Unite union, whose members have been on all-out strike for more than a year. Onay Kasab, Unite national lead officer, said the offer, which has not yet been put to the union’s members, includes compensation of £16,000 for workers. Previous offers did not include compensation for drivers, Mr Kasab said on Monday, and this change helped bring the dispute close to a conclusion. The strike flared over council plans to remove a role in its waste recycling and collection service that it insisted was necessary to make improvements and bring the service in line with other local authorities. Unite said the move would lead to pay cuts of around £8,000 for hundreds of its members, a figure the council has always disputed. Rubbish piled up on Birmingham’s streets, leading to residents complaining about it being a health hazard. Speaking outside Birmingham City Council’s offices on Monday, Mr Cotton said: “After months of frustration and delay, for the first time in over 12 months, a negotiated settlement to end the bin strike is now within sight. “This has been a challenging and complex process, but after months of hard work, on the principles and parameters of a deal, I believe a new, improved offer can be made and terms can be put in place that addresses the ballpark issues discussed at Acas, that Unite members can agree in order to end the strike once and for all. “A deal that would be good for the workforce, represent good value for money and would not repeat the mistakes of the past and risk creating new structural equal pay liabilities. “I want our workforce to be able to return to work and help us deliver the quality refuse and recycling services the people of this city deserve. That’s why, throughout this dispute, I have resisted those who would dismiss the striking workers instead of negotiating. “I have instructed officers to move forward with negotiations so that we can bring this matter to a close.” The breakthrough was announced just over a week before the local council elections. Mr Cotton refused to answer any questions from the media about what was being put forward. Mr Cotton said: “Whilst the pre-election period prevents the council from making a final decision prior to May 7, a re-elected Labour administration under my leadership will work to get this deal approved as a matter of absolute priority. “The council can then move forward and offer the people of Birmingham the services that they deserve. “I also want to re-emphasise my absolute determination to see through the agreement reached with the council’s unions last year that will deliver the pay justice that thousands of women workers were denied under previous leaderships. “I would like to thank the people of Birmingham for their patience during this challenging time.” Unite said the council statement was a vindication of the bin workers’ struggle for a decent deal after their job evaluation regrading. “It is an absolute abhorrence that this deal has been blocked not just once but twice by unelected unaccountable commissioners and officers at Birmingham City Council, who enjoy eye-watering pay packets and no consequence for their actions,” the union said in a statement. “The commissioner model is a licence for a few unelected individuals to print money and play games. “The reason the offer has not yet been completed and gone to our members is because at the eleventh hour the Government-backed commissioners attempted to stop it, which has led to today’s statement of intent by the leader of the council.” Unite said negotiations had taken place over the last few months to get the original Acas deal back on track, facilitated by Lord Brendan Barber. The union said the full details of the deal will remain confidential, awaiting the detailed offer from the council that will have to be voted on by the workers. Unite said the broad outline of the ballpark deal included: – Workers receiving a minimum of two years “cushion” from the impact of the job evaluation process, rather than six months; – Striking agency workers with at least 12 months of employment on the contract will be offered a path to permanent jobs; – Disciplinary issues will be quashed and gross misconduct issues reviewed; – For pension purposes, the dispute will be treated as authorised absence; – Legal action on both sides will be ended. There will now be a series of meetings to complete the offer and the union warned it will escalate the dispute if it is reneged on in anyway. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The move made today by the leader of the council is a vindication of the bin workers’ struggle for a decent deal. “Over the last few months, there have been intense negotiations to get the blocked ‘ballpark’ deal back on the table, so that our members could vote on it. “The reason why we are not yet at that stage is purely down to the vindictive interference of the Government-backed commissioners who have attempted to block the deal again and clearly overstepped their remit. “Their lack of both experience and industrial relations competence has been a major factor in this dispute, and their malevolent game-playing has been an absolute disgrace. “The commissioner model is a licence for a few unelected individuals to print money and play games.” Speaking outside the council offices after Mr Cotton’s statement to the media, Mr Kasab said: “The reality is that we’re only where we are now because of our members being absolutely solid and determined on the picket line with the full 100% support of our general secretary Sharon Graham. “What we have got from them now, potentially, gives us an agreement. Obviously that has to go to all of our members first. “I think it is appalling that the commissioners up until now have been blocking a potential deal. I have been saying for some while now that this can be resolved. “There is a potential deal on the table. We have talked for sometime about a ballpark and what was reached at Acas, this takes us back to that.” Mr Kasab said whoever wins the May elections has to “stick with it”. He said: “What I want to see is a resolution to the dispute, I don’t care who I’m negotiating with. The importance here is they have made a statement, if they are re-elected alone or in coalition, they are going to have to stick with it. “We have been talking to other parties and we’ve been clear, if there’s a deal on the table and you are elected, we expect you to stick to that and not scupper the deal.” Mr Kasab said the inclusion of drivers in the deal is a “massive difference” to what was offered before. He said: “We said from the start, this is not about a handful of people. We said the drivers were going to be impacted, but it’s the point about the agency staff as well.” Labour MP Lucy Powell said: “I know how hard the Labour leader John Cotton and our Labour mayor Richard Parker have worked behind the scenes with Unite and others, to find a resolution which is in the interests of the city, its residents, its workers and its future.”

Published: 27/04/2026 by Radio NewsHub