What will finally put an end to the Birmingham bin strike?

As the industrial action rumbles on and the army is called in to assist, former trade union official Angela Rayner is left in the tricky position of taking on her comrades, explains Sean O’Grady

Days after the deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, called in the army to assist in the logistics side of the Birmingham bin strike (rather than collecting rubbish), after six weeks out, and even after an improved offer from the council, the Birmingham bin strike is to continue. The latest strike ballot is overwhelmingly – 97 per cent – in favour of further industrial action. The build-up of rubbish, increasingly unsanitary conditions and the onset of warmer weather have increased the pressure on all involved to reach a settlement. Even now, it will cost £200m for a clean-up. The situation is turning critical from a public health point of view…

Whose fault is the strike?

Hard to say. No one forced Unite at the point of a gun to call a strike, nor the workers to democratically vote for such a long dispute. They do, however, feel that the changes in the pay and conditions they were being asked to accept were intolerable – Unite has claimed a planned restructuring of Birmingham’s refuse service would see 50 workers lose £8,000 a year and about 20 lose £2,000 per annum, and put 170 jobs at stake. Now, it adds that the future of the drivers is also in jeopardy. The council denies this, saying only 17 workers would be affected and “no worker needed to lose a penny”. The latest offer included temporary pay protection and a compensatory lump sum for affected workers – but it’s not enough.

What’s behind it?

Birmingham is bust. It applied for the municipal equivalent of protective bankruptcy in 2023, as a result of which the then minister responsible appointed commissioners to take over and sort things out. The lead commissioner is Max Caller, with half a century of local government experience behind him. Like all local authorities, Birmingham has had its problems, but the immediate and principal cause of its financial stress was a back-dated equal pay claim that amounted to £760m, way beyond its resources even if it was the best-run organisation in the Western world. The costs of running the successful 2022 Commonwealth Games have also added to the strains.

Although Birmingham councillors are still running things and negotiating with Unite on the refuse workers’ pay, according to Sharon Graham, Caller is “the power behind the throne and pulling the strings in Birmingham. He, along with the council’s management and leadership, is responsible for the ongoing rubbish dispute. The commissioners and the council have had months to resolve this dispute but have singularly failed to do so. Birmingham residents need to be asking why they have to pay through the nose for this mess. They deserve better than this.”

Why send the army in?

It’s not that unusual for the military to find itself obliged to answer a call for “military aid for civilian authorities ”. The most long-lasting such exercise was the deployment of British troops in Northern Ireland as law and order was breaking down in 1969, “aid” being quickly converted into suppressing guerrilla warfare. Less lethal but high-profile deployments include acting as firefighters, ambulance drivers and Border Force officials. However, every government has been wary of asking the soldiers to do jobs they are sometimes untrained for, unduly dangerous, or where they risk becoming politicised – scabs and strike-breakers. Now, in the middle of a challenging round of local elections, Rayner must decide whether, in effect, to break the strike by asking troops or contract labour to remove the rotting rubbish – to avoid a serious public health disaster – rats, flies, and cockroaches at large with all that implies.

Rayner won’t enjoy taking on her comrades – but also can’t relish the prospect of the first child to be bitten and infected by an emboldened rat.

Who’s winning?

No one, except maybe some well-nourished Brummie rats.

The Conservatives are seeking to make some capital out of the “mess in Labour-run Birmingham”, but there are no elections there until next year (which will prove interesting) and the read-off in the other county councils more generally is weak. National issues are, as usual, more important, and the protest vote seems to be heading for Nigel Farage and Reform UK. Kemi Badenoch is having what she admits is a difficult campaign, so soon after the disaster of last year’s general election.

Will there be more of this?

Yes. Although not as dramatically as Birmingham, which happens to be the largest single local body outside the Greater London Authority, in the coming years, more local councils will find themselves in the hands of the commissioners and making radical cuts to jobs and services – with tough union resistance guaranteed. Rayner, herself a former trade union official, will be very busy just trying to sustain the very minimum functions of local authorities, run by all parties, that have run out of money.