The Unite Union has dealt a fresh blow to Angela Rayner as they announce their Birmingham bin strike will now continue until 2026. In a statement this afternoon, the top union said its members have voted overwhelmingly to extend the crippling industrial action until March 2026, amid claims some staff could lose up to £8,000 as part of the council’s proposed reforms.
Workers walked out on 11 March 2025, meaning the bin strike could run for an astonishing 12 months before being resolved. The dispute has led to misery in Britain’s second largest city, sparking widespread public health concerns.
Announcing their continued industrial action, Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Throughout this dispute the government has denied any involvement. It is now clear that commissioners reporting to 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.”
She blasted: “There is no point at this stage negotiating further with the council as they do not have authority to resolve the dispute.
“If Labour cannot see what is happening in Birmingham is wrong, it is little wonder workers are turning away from them in droves.”
The walkout proved a huge headache for Labour at the last local elections, with the Tories pointing to the bin chaos as proof of Labour’s record at local government.
Birmingham’s bin workers voted 99.5 per cent in favour of strike action with a turnout of 72 per cent.
In July Unite said it had suspended Angela Rayner’s membership of the union, warning it could also cut all financial ties with the Labour Party.
General secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite is crystal clear it will call out bad employers regardless of the colour of their rosette. Angela Rayner has had every opportunity to intervene and resolve this dispute but has instead backed a rogue council that has peddled lies and smeared its workers fighting huge pay cuts.
“The disgraceful actions of the government and a so-called Labour council, is essentially fire and rehire and makes a joke of the Employment Relations Act promises.”
However a source close to Ms Rayner, who is Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary, said she had already resigned membership of the union some earlier.
At its conference, a motion passed condemning Labour-run Birmingham City Council for its “threat to effectively fire and rehire” bin staff.
The ongoing strike has led to warnings that the current refuse crisis is sparking a “public health emergency” amid sightings of giant rats.
The then-shadow Local Government Secretary Kevin Hollinrake said the Birmingham bin strike had brought Victorian diseases back to Britain.
He warned: “Diseases like rat-bite fever, Weil’s disease and Ricketts are no longer distant threats — they’re real, and they’re on Birmingham’s doorstep. Forget taking us back to the 1970s — this Labour government is dragging Birmingham back to the Victorian era.”
