Stinking piles of waste, furious protests and a giant rat costume: How Birmingham bins strike unfolded in 2025
Stinking piles of waste, furious protests and a giant rat costume are among the dramatic scenes Birmingham saw this year amid the ongoing bins strike.
2025 in Brum was marked by a strike which attracted unwanted headlines for a city council which was already dealing with the fallout from declaring itself effectively bankrupt.
The industrial action was initially triggered by a dispute between the council and Unite the union over the loss of the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer role.
Throughout the year, striking workers have raised concerns about pay while the leadership at the Labour-run council has insisted that a “fair and reasonable” offer had been made and that it cannot cross equal pay ‘red lines’.
While progress was made by the council in clearing uncollected waste, disruption and tensions continue as the strike rumbles on into the winter.
With the bins strike saga looking set to drag into 2026, here’s a look at how it’s unfolded and the key moments so far.
1) Bins strike gets under way
With a resolution unable to be reached between the council and Unite, the industrial action began in early January 2025.
Residents across the city soon began feeling the impacts of the disruption in the following weeks, particularly when recycling collections were suspended by the council.
The industrial action escalated into an “indefinite” all-out strike from March 11 – a move which contributed to heaps of rubbish piling up on street corners and heightened concerns over rats.
2) ‘I don’t think the reputation of Birmingham has taken a hit’
There were growing fears over Birmingham’s reputation as images of uncollected rubbish in city streets and tales of ‘cat-sized’ rats started drawing attention from the rest of the country and beyond.
“So many did so much to change Brum’s perception, and now that’s all being undone,” Andy Street, former Conservative West Midlands Mayor, wrote on X.
But when Coun Majid Mahmood, the council’s cabinet member for environment, was asked about this issue by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), he said: “I don’t think the reputation of Birmingham has taken a hit.
“Yes, we’ve got industrial action and we’re dealing with it.
“My ask of Unite is come to the table, talk to us and let’s work together to resolve this for the betterment of the people of the city and bring Birmingham to the reputation we want which is the cleanest, safest and greenest city in the country.”
The response sparked a fresh wave of anger and calls for resignations.
3) Major incident declared to tackle ‘harm and distress’
Cast your mind back to the spring, when small mountains of big bags were blighting neighbourhoods across Brum and attracting negative headlines from across the world.
On the last day of March, the council was forced to declare a major incident as around 17,000 tonnes of waste remained uncollected.
“It’s regrettable we have had to take this step but we cannot tolerate a situation that is causing harm and distress to communities across Birmingham,” Labour council leader John Cotton said.
“Unless we declare a major incident and deploy the waste service’s contingency plan, we would be unable to clear the backlog of waste on the streets or improve the frequency of collections.”
The council made progress in clearing the backlog in the following weeks but rubbish was still seen piling up in some streets.
4) ‘It’s hell’
One day after the major incident was declared, Balsall Heath residents spoke to the LDRS about what it was like living next to an enormous pile of bin bags.
“It’s hell,” one man simply responded.
“[The rubbish heap] shouldn’t be there – it’s getting bigger each couple of days.
He said he had not had any problems with rats in his property but added: “The little rodents in there [the pile] are growing in size.”
One woman, who lives near the huge rubbish heap, said it was “getting bigger, wider and higher”.
“The smell is disgusting and getting worse because of the weather,” she said.
5) ‘I’m not sure we’re going to need tanks on the ground’
With Birmingham once again at the centre of unwanted attention, Labour government ministers soon found themselves facing questions over the bins strike saga.
It’s been raised a number of times in the House of Commons in 2025, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer condemning the all-out strike as “completely unacceptable” at Prime Minister’s Questions.
During a visit to Birmingham, former chief secretary to the treasury Darren Jones downplayed the idea that the Army would clean Birmingham’s streets – despite calls to consider this option.
“Look, the government is in conversations with the council – I’m not sure we’re going to need tanks on the ground to get the bins collected,” Mr Jones told the LDRS.
“I’d be surprised if that was the case but clearly we’ll do whatever we can to make sure we can help the council get a grip of the situation.”
6) ‘Giant rat’ quizzes council bins boss
There was an unexpected appearance at a council meeting in April – a man dressed in a giant rat costume.
Speaking to the LDRS, he remained in character and said: “They [the council] have done this for the rats – it’s amazing.
“Selly Oak has a huge amount of rubbish especially from students and it means that all my relatives can feed in a way that means we can go around and rampage in the streets.”
Coun Mahmood responded in good humour, saying: “Can I say I’m impressed by your costume but you are lucky that Brummie the cat is no longer in residence at the council house.”
He said he understood and sympathised with residents’ frustrations, adding that’s why a major incident was declared and why police were helping to ensure trucks were leaving depots “unhindered”.
7) First ‘megapicket’
Despite the waste situation improving due to the major incident being declared, there was fresh disruption in May due to a ‘megapicket’ being organised.
A crowd of protesters from various unions gathered at Lifford Lane depot, one of the three main council depots in the city, to show support for the striking workers.
Those behind the demonstration, which featured a giant inflatable rat, proclaimed they had ‘shut down’ the depot while the council confirmed it had “revised operational deployment plans”.
“An attack on one worker is an attack on all, so that’s why we’re showing solidarity,” Adam Taylor, from the Fire Brigades Union, told the LDRS.
8) Court injunction
Later in May, the council was granted an interim injunction by the High Court to ensure the “picketing and protesting behaviour” outside its three depots was in “accordance with legal provisions”.
The injunction set out expected behaviour from pickets and aimed to prevent the obstruction of vehicles leaving the depots, the authority said.
“The council must now work to resume weekly collections and reduce the recent build up of waste experienced in the city,” it added.
Around a week later, the council confirmed it had been decided the injunction would continue on an indefinite basis.
Unite said at the time it would consult lawyers to refer the matter back to the court for a “thorough review” on a later date.
9) Heated scenes in council house
Angry protests and interruptions disrupted a number of council meetings in 2025 – including a prestigious ceremony to mark the election of Birmingham’s new Lord Mayor.
During another tense moment in June, one man yelled from the public gallery: “I’m asking you directly John [Cotton] – would you take a £8,000 pay cut?
“That’s what you’re expecting hardworking bin workers to take.”
As he was guided from the public gallery, he shouted “p*** off you “d*******” before being escorted through the doors.
In November, chanting and alarms from outside could be heard as councillors paid tribute to and held minute’s silences for former colleagues who had recently died.
“It’s a pity that the colleagues outside don’t appreciate what we are doing in the first half hour of this meeting,” councillor Paul Tilsley said.
“Because we are paying tribute for colleagues that have given a great deal of service to this city in an effort to try and make it a better place.
“I hope that the message will go outside that please show some respect for the first half hour of the council meeting.”
10) ‘We must press ahead’
In July, Birmingham Council said it had ‘reached the absolute limit of what we can offer’ through negotiations and would notify staff and unions of its intention to enter consultation with affected workers.
It added it would keep the door open to those wanting to accept offers to retrain or be redeployed.
Coun Cotton said: “We have negotiated in good faith but unfortunately Unite has rejected all offers so we must now press ahead to both address our equal pay risk and make much needed improvements to the waste service.
“This is a service that has not been good enough for a long time and we must improve it.
“Unite’s demands would leave us with another equal pay bill of hundreds of millions of pounds.”
11) Former Labour leader issues message
Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was among the speakers who addressed a crowd of protesters during the second ‘megapicket’ in July.
He told the LDRS that his message to the city council was: “Get a deal now, settle this dispute now and pledge yourself to genuine equal pay which means equal pay for work of equal value.”
Addressing the gathered union members earlier in the morning, he said: “It wasn’t the Birmingham bin workers who got the finances of Birmingham City Council into a mess.”
What happens next
Unite has said it is prepared to continue their strike into 2026, with a third ‘megapicket’ being planned for the end of January.
Meanwhile, the city council has said its planned transformation of the waste service – previously delayed due to the industrial action – will go ahead in June 2026 regardless of whether the strike is happening or not.
This transformation will involve collections of household rubbish becoming fortnightly and the reintroduction of recycling services.
But if the strike drags on into next May, that means residents in Birmingham could go around 15 months without their recycling being picked up.
The bins strike could also be a major talking point in the upcoming city council election in May, which will see all 101 seats up for grabs.
