In their latest ballot, 400 striking bin workers in Birmingham (UK), organized within the Unite union, voted by an overwhelming 97%, out of a 75% turn out, to continue their strike action in the face of the latest derisory offer from the employers, Birmingham City Council. The way is now open for the strike to continue to the end of the year.

Unite’s general secretary, Sarah Graham, muses over whether it was the government commissioners brought in to oversee the council (after it had declared itself effectively bankrupt in 2023) who were indirectly responsible for watering down the ‘ballpark offer’, that had arisen out of discussions held in May; but here we have to interject: has there ever been any strike in which employers said they could ‘afford’ to improve workers’ terms and conditions?

The dispute began back in January after Birmingham City Council announced plans to scrap the role of the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO). The union says the upshot is that 170 former WRCOs and 200 drivers face losing up to £8,000 a year under the council’s current proposals.

The strikers have certainly shown the essential nature of their work and are making a significant impact by withdrawing their labor: as huge piles of rubbish build up in the streets of Birmingham, with a corresponding influx of rats, huge queues have been forming at mobile collection points around the city. Obviously the inconvenience to residents is not something the strikers relish, but they don’t intend to back down as a result of it either.

Indeed, the dispute would escalate in March to an indefinite walkout, and on May 9 at the Lifford Lane depot there would be a “mega-picket”, attended by – along with a gigantic inflatable rat – hundreds of workers and supporters from across the trade union movement, including from the Public and Commercial Services Union. This resulted in the waste depot being entirely shut down in what was a very significant day for the strike.

The mass industrial action by pickets led to 12,000 tonnes of uncollected waste accumulating on the streets, particularly in areas where the police had scaled down their presence. So it was not long before the council would be granted a court order to stop waste vehicles being stopped from leaving depots by those on the picket line. This has obviously had an impact, but workers in these kinds of situations have an almost ingrained talent at finding their way round these obstacles!

So as it stands there will be another round of negotiations, but ones crucially backed by ongoing strike action, fully supported by an overwhelming majority of bin workers in Birmingham.

The above short summary of the bin worker’s dispute is certainly not comprehensive, and there is clearly more we could learn about this important dispute which, as an important bedrock of ongoing and determined workers’ struggle, might boost the morale of other sectors, such as the doctors, nurses and teachers, where disputes around pay and conditions are currently threatening to re-erupt.

We will conclude by highlighting one of the most memorable aspects of the “megapicket” on May 9, which was its international character, with a memorable speech delivered by Khalid Sidahmed from the MENA solidarity editorial board, on behalf of the Sudanese Workers Alliance for the Restoration of Trade Unions (SWARTU) and the Demands-Based Campaigns (TAM), and issued on behalf of Sudanese bin workers.

This expression of solidarity, from a group of workers facing not only attacks on their livelihood in an economic sense, but with their very lives threatened through having to conduct their struggle in the middle of a war zone, is truly humbling.

Their leaflet, distributed at the “mega-picket”, which encapsulates the message of solidarity from the Sudanese bin workers is certainly worth printing in full:

Solidarity Statement from Sudanese Workers and Demands-Based Campaigns to Bin Workers in Britain

Greetings to you as you raise the banner of workers’ dignity in the face of repression and impoverishment.

We address you today on behalf of the bin workers in Sudan, who have fought their just battles in the streets and squares of our capital, Khartoum. We send our militant greetings and full, unconditional solidarity with your legitimate strike against attempts to reduce wages and dismantle your gains under the guise of restructuring and hidden austerity.

We have followed with admiration your resilience in the face of the City Council’s attempts, under the Labour government, to abolish the role of "Waste Recycling and Collection Officer" — a decision your union, Unite the Union, rightly recognises as merely a step to cut wages and undermine working conditions. We know very well that when the authorities fail to confront organised workers, they resort to their old tools: the police, defamation, oppressive laws, or even talk of military intervention to collect waste. We have witnessed the same in Sudan when the police were called to break our strikes, and we were replaced by private companies to break our unity — desperate attempts by the state to sow fear and division.

We know this kind of class war all too well: an undeclared war waged through hunger, arbitrary deductions, dismissals, and discrimination against women workers — denying them maternity and caregiving leave. We have seen how the authorities strip us of our rights to contracts, insurance, and workplace safety, even as we clean the very streets through which the state boasts of its “civilised” image — built on our sweat and broken bodies.

We must also highlight how the ongoing war in Sudan has deepened the suffering of bin workers and worsened already dire conditions. Many of them have lost contact, and their whereabouts and living conditions are unknown. Fears are growing over their fate amid reports of brutal killings in areas that witnessed intense fighting. The complete absence of information about them in the chaos and destruction makes their cause not only a labour demand but also a humanitarian and moral priority.

The solidarity between bin workers in the Global South and Global North is not just an emotional act — it is a necessary step in a shared struggle. Austerity, racism, and union-busting are global policies aimed at weakening the power of the working class.

The fightback begins with organisation, coordination, consciousness, and the tearing down of artificial borders between workers here and there.

We stand with you, and we say: there is no going back. You are not alone. Your voices reach us. Just as bin workers in Sudan — without an official union — organised their own committees by hand and seized their right to organise, we see you continuing on this path with resilience and awareness.

Long live your struggle - Long live international solidarity - Glory to the workers everywhere, at all times - On behalf of the Bin Workers’ Strike and Negotiation.