Birmingham City Council was forced to suspend bin collections this week amid an escalation of industrial action to hit the service.
The council cancelled the collections on Monday after agency workers joined striking refuse workers on picket lines in a separate dispute.
‘Due to expected mass pickets and protests across our waste depots we have taken the decision to suspend collections today,’ said the council in a statement.
It added that collections will resume today and will be completed by the end of the week.
The agency workers are employed by the council from agency Job & Talent and were brought in earlier this year to keep the service running amid a long running dispute by directly employed refuse workers that began in January.
Unite says the agency workers voted in favour of strike action last month amid claims of ‘bullying, harassment and the threat of blacklisting’ at Birmingham’s refuse department.
The union adds that many of the agency workers have worked in the refuse services ‘for more than a decade without job security or full employment rights’.
Unite warns that the industrial action by directly employed council bin workers over pay and job security concerns could continue beyond May 2026’s local elections.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘Instead of wasting millions more of council taxpayers’ money fighting a dispute it could settle justly for a fraction of the cost, the council needs to return to talks with Unite and put forward a fair deal for all bin workers. Strikes will not end until it does.’
