Inside ‘disgusting’ streets in Birmingham as bins strike milestone reached

But also dotted around particular roads are many vivid blue signs with a clear message to the city council: “Labour, end the bin strike.”

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As the industrial action hit a bleak milestone this week, striking bin workers and union members were out in force in the area to put boards up outside the homes of supportive residents.

Wednesday marked one year since the strike went all-out after it was initially triggered by a dispute between Unite and the council at the start of 2025.

What followed were huge heaps of rubbish piling up across the city during the height of strike; escalating fears over rats and unwanted headlines about Birmingham appeared across the world.

And while the enormous backlog of waste was cleared by the council last year, frustration over the year-long strike and the state of certain areas has continued to linger over Brum.

As Unite members went on a spree of erecting signs in Selly Oak, resident Catherine Zinetti told me she was embarrassed to live in the area.

“There’s rats – they’re bigger than the cats,” the 66-year-old said. “Why should we have to pay petrol money to take the rubbish to the skip when we’re paying our council tax?

“It’s horrible, you sit here and all you can see are rats going across the road.

“We’re meant to be the second biggest city in England, it’s a disgrace – absolutely disgusting.

“If I walk up there, I’ve got to walk in the road because of all the rubbish in the way.”

“We’re suffering,” she went on to tell me from outside her home. “You walk down and it stinks, I’m embarrassed to live around here.”

She added that she cannot have her grandchildren visit due to the state of her street, adding: “That hurts me to the core.

“Anyone who comes to see me, it’s absolutely embarrassing and no fault of my own.”

Henry Hudson, a student and a member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, showed up to support the striking workers and described the impact of industrial action in Selly Oak as “catastrophic”.

“The streets have been littered with garbage, it’s very unclean, it’s not a good place for a student to live in,” he said. “We need to fight back against the council who are completely shameful.”

He told me that he was reminded of the Winter of Discontent in the 1970s when the rubbish was piling up last spring.

“But even now the effects are still showing, my bins don’t get taken every week, there’s litter I’ve sort of memorised on my walk to and from school,” he said.

“It’s completely disgusting and no student should have to live in this.”

Asked about fears over rats in the area, he said: “Of course, it’s almost been kind of secondary though – we’ve got used to it.

“But it’s completely the council’s fault, I want to say shame on them and pay your bin workers a fair wage.”

Alex, a second year student, also backed the striking bin workers and suggested Selly Oak had been hit hard over the past year or so.

“The houses are all very densely put together and I don’t think they’re collecting the bins quite enough,” he said.

“It’s a bit disgusting to be honest. You’re there dodging rats and ripped open bags from the foxes.”

‘We’re sorry the city is looking like this’

The bins strike dispute between the council and Unite was sparked by the loss of the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer role, with striking workers claiming that they face a pay cut of £8,000.

But Birmingham City Council has disputed this figure and repeatedly insisted that a fair offer had been made before negotiations came to an end last summer amid equal pay ‘red lines’.

Dean Harris, a striking bin worker at the Atlas depot, acknowledged there was both “good and bad” reaction on the doorstep with the dispute now in its second year.

“'[Residents] support us but at the same time you look around and there is still rubbish everywhere,” he told me. “Unfortunately it’s not just here, it’s everywhere.

“Obviously we don’t want that, they don’t want that but we’ve got to carry on doing what we’re doing.”

Looking ahead to the future of the strike, he said: “Everyone that’s out on the picket lines are willing to carry on until the end, until [it’s resolved].

“And the sooner the better actually because we want to get back to work.

“We’re sorry the city is looking like this, we do apologise, but as you can see today with all the boards that are up, people do support us still.

“We’d go back to work tomorrow if there was a reasonable and fair offer on the table but there isn’t.”

Mr Harris went on to urge the city council to get back to the negotiating table so “talks can continue again”.

The bins strike is set to be a major talking point in the upcoming local elections, which will decide which party or coalition runs Birmingham Council over the next four years.

Bins strike protesters have already issued a warning to Birmingham Labour, arguing it faces paying a heavy price if the situation is not resolved by the time voters head to the polls.

But Labour council leader John Cotton was optimistic about the elections earlier this year despite the strike turmoil.

“I’m having lots of conversations on doorsteps in my own patch and across the city,” Coun Cotton said.

“And I think people do understand that we’ve had to do some difficult things to turn the council around and they understand that if you’re in power, you sometimes have to take tough decisions.

“You take those decisions because you know it’s the right thing to do for the long-term stability of the council.

“We are now in a position where we’re able to say having done that hard work, we’re now able to look to the future and look at how we collaborate with a Labour Mayor and Labour government.”