Bin protesters dramatically halt Birmingham Council meeting as strike tensions drag on

The council’s full meeting on Tuesday afternoon (November 4) had to be adjourned following an interruption from the public gallery.

Banners urging the council to return to the bins strike negotiations were unfurled from the gallery while the sound of whistles filled the room.

The industrial action, which has now dragged on for several months, was triggered by a dispute between the Labour-run council and Unite the union.

The meeting on Tuesday was promptly halted after the disruption, with the Lord Mayor leaving the council chamber as security attempted to control the situation.

The dramatic scenes came as members of Unite protested outside the council house in support of the bin workers.

Before the meeting was adjourned, chanting and alarms from the demonstration could be heard inside as councillors paid tribute to former colleagues who had recently died.

This is not the first time that council meetings have been disrupted due to tensions over the bins strike.

Back in June, council leader John Cotton was answering a question about the industrial action from a resident when another man began angrily questioning the councillor from the public gallery.

“Would you take an £8,000 pay cut Cotton?” the man shouted. “Would you? Come on?

“That’s what you’re expecting hard-working bin workers to take.”

There was a similarly dramatic moment the month before when a prestigious ceremony to mark the election of Birmingham’s new Lord Mayor was interrupted by protesters.

Mayor Zafar Iqbal, who serves as a councillor for the Tyseley and Hay Mills ward, took up the politically-neutral role at the lively meeting on May 20.

But the grand ceremony on that day was overshadowed at moments when those supporting striking bin workers began to shout from the public gallery, with one claiming that they faced losing ‘their livelihoods and homes’.

The industrial action was sparked by the loss of the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) role, with striking workers raising concerns about pay.

The Labour-run council’s leadership has repeatedly insisted a “fair and reasonable” offer had been made and has disputed the £8,000 figure.

The local authority confirmed in the summer that it was ending talks with Unite to resolve the bins crisis dispute – but there have been recent calls for negotiations to resume.

Council leader John Cotton said there have been “extensive attempts at negotiation under the umbrella of ACAS” (the independent arbitration service).

But he once again made clear that one issue has been the council’s equal pay “red lines” that it refuses to cross, adding that doing so would risk further financial pain.