Agency workers covering for Birmingham bin strikers vote to JOIN industrial action

The Unite union claimed agency staff had refused to cross the picket line, citing "unsustainable workloads" and a bullying workplace culture at the council's refuse department.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "This is a real escalation in the dispute with agency workers now joining picket lines due to the terrible way they have been treated by Job and Talent and Birmingham council.

She continued: "Birmingham council is spending a fortune it doesn’t have on a dispute that could easily be resolved by agreeing a fair deal for workers."

"Unite does what it says on the trade union tin we are totally committed to fighting for the jobs, pay and conditions of all its members.

"Agency and directly employed workers alike in Birmingham council’s refuse service have the union’s complete and utter support."

Workers from the agency will be able to join the picket line from December 1.

A Birmingham City Council spokesman previously said: "We strongly refute Unite’s claims of a 'toxic workplace culture' at our waste depots which are unfounded.

"Our agency workforce have been crucial to delivering a consistent waste service during this strike, with improved reliability for residents.

"Transformation of the city’s waste service began in 2024. Part of this transformation includes initiatives to enhance our waste colleagues’ progression and training opportunities alongside work to foster a positive and collaborative working environment.

"Managers regularly engage with workforce through ‘check-ins’ and one-to-ones, and we have also invested in new welfare facilities for our agency workforce."

The council spokesman continued: "Our crews’ and contractors’ workloads are in line with industry standards, with crew performance monitored to ensure collection standards are met.

"Crews are supported throughout their employment, and the management team work in partnership with the agency and the collection crews to jointly review targets."

Unite said its members have overwhelmingly voted to extend their industrial action mandate to March 2026.

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 is one of a number of unions which are affiliated with the Labour Party, and pay hundreds of thousands of pounds towards it each year, as well as making donations to individual Labour MPs.

However, at their conference in Brighton, Unite members also voted to "re-examine" their relationship with Sir Keir Starmer's party.

Ms Graham told the BBC that re-examining the union’s relationship with Labour could mean disaffiliation, potentially leaving the party without a major donor it has previously relied upon.

Unite members have to see that the fee to affiliate with Labour is "worth something" she said.

Ms Graham added: "At this present moment in time, it is hard to justify it, if I’m being honest. Would that money be better spent on frontline services for my members?

"But the decision will be a serious decision. It’s not a rash decision."