Birmingham City Council's response to the long-running bin strike is an example of democracy in action - elected politicians representing their citizens.
Rubbish building up on the streets of Birmingham. Photo: Peter Lopeman/Alamy Live News
Something rather dramatic happened in Birmingham, UK, on the 9th July 2025. This was an example of democracy in action. More importantly, this was an example of elected politicians representing the long-term interests of all living and working in Birmingham. Birmingham City Council’s leader, John Cotton, should be congratulated.
On 9th July Birmingham City Council announced that it was “walking away” from the on-going negotiations with Unite, the trade union, as the council had “reached the absolute limit” of what it was able to offer in talks with the union.
There are many ways of reading this outcome. To Unite, this is an example of a Labour council applying a “fire and rehire” policy, and that such an action should not be associated with Labour politicians. On 10 July, Onay Kasab, Unite’s national lead officer, noted that “The way his council [John Cotton] under his leadership has mishandled this dispute and with yesterday's appalling announcement, as a Labour councillor he really needs to be considering his position". Really!
An alternative reading is that Unite failed its trade union members. It is important to reflect on this failure and for Unite’s officers and officials to acknowledge that they failed. In any negotiation, there are always at least two parties to any failure. Evidently, the union went too far in its demands and expectations. Perhaps Unite assumed that a Labour council, with a Labour Government in office, would rapidly cave in to union demands.
It is worth reflecting on the nature of democracy. In his Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. president, used the phrase ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’. Birmingham City Council’s dramatic decision to walk away from further negotiations involving the bin strike is an excellent example of this process in action. Birmingham’s elected councillors held firm in these negotiations as they sought to make a decision that reflected the interests of all the people rather than a small minority group of council employees.
It is always important to stand back from the outcome of a set of negotiations and reflect on those involved and the interests they represent. There is no question that Unite has failed to negotiate an outcome that represents the interests of its members, but also an outcome that takes account of the interests of all living and working in Birmingham.
Unite is currently blaming everyone else for its failure. The latest Unite action has been to suspend Angela Rayner’s membership of the union. This is a strange decision as Rayner’s first and only responsibility is to represent the interests of all living in the UK rather than a small cohort of Unite members who are employed by Birmingham City Council. Unite’s reaction to its failure has also involved threatening the Labour Party as the union is now going to re-examine its relationship with Labour if Birmingham makes any of its members redundant. All this is strange behaviour, and it would seem that here is union that is experiencing a temper tantrum.
It is important to remember that councillors are elected to oversee the governance of Birmingham by representing the interests of their constituents. They are not elected to represent the interests of any one group of workers, trade union or even business. They are accountable not to the Labour Government, a union or business, but to the Birmingham electorate. This is a key point. Birmingham's councillors must ensure that tax payers’ money is spent with due care and attention to value for money. This requires Birmingham City Council to make decisions regarding pay grades, recruitment, performance monitoring, and restructuring. These are all critical decisions that support the effective delivery of public services.
Birmingham City Council could have agreed the terms set by Unite, but this would have worked against the interests of all living and working in the city. Any such agreement would have delighted the union and its members, but this would have been poor governance.
This is a complex process. All Unite needs to do is to represent the interests of a small group of its members. Birmingham City Council must consider multiple trade-offs. These include the impacts of any increase in salaries and terms of employment for one group of employees on other job categories across the council. The danger was that agreeing to Unite’s terms would have required alterations to the pay and conditions of other job categories across the council. Birmingham City Council’s budget would not support this increase, and the outcome would be restructuring, redundancies and a reduction in public service quality.
All this means that the people of Birmingham should be delighted that they have a council that is willing to stand up for the interests of all living and working in Birmingham. All living in Birmingham have experienced major problems because of this bin strike. It is time for Birmingham City Council to focus on developing a waste management service that meets the needs of residents.
It is worth reflecting on the nature of democracy. In his Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. president, used the phrase ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’. Birmingham City Council’s dramatic decision to walk away from further negotiations involving the bin strike is an excellent example of this process in action. Birmingham’s elected councillors held firm in these negotiations as they sought to make a decision that reflected the interests of all the people rather than a small minority group of council employees.
Chair in Enterprise and Economic Geography
Professor John Bryson is Chair in Enterprise and Economic Geography at the University of Birmingham, UK.
