The second megapicket arose from the proposed plans by Birmingham City Council to cut the pay of refuse workers by £8,000. In March, the council declared a “major incident” after months of strikes. In early July, they pulled out of negotiations with Unite, saying they had reached the “absolute limit” for what they could offer. And just before the event, the council applied for contempt of court proceedings against Unite over blocking refuse collection vehicles.
The first megapicket was held in May at Kings Norton, also with people and organisations from up and down the country. Here at Perry Barr, the size only increased. These strikes by refuse workers have been going on since the end of 2024, being the largest in not just Birmingham’s but the UK’s history.
The megapicket crowds gather: music, placards and flags
It was early in the morning, the summer sun burning through an overcast sky to the point I was regretting wearing a big, black coat. I made my way to Perry Barr’s recycling centre, one of five sites that Unite’s second megapicket was taking place.
A few refuse workers passed by bantering with some colleagues. Many cars had already parked on the double yellow lines. As I got closer, the sound of a UB40 song was playing, accompanied by about a hundred strikers and activists on both sides of Holford Drive. I could see flags and banners of socialists, communists, members of the National Education Union and the Public and Commercial Services Union.
The pickets’ placards all said similar things: “Dump the cuts”, “Pay cuts are rubbish”, “Victory to the bin workers”. Some offered me Socialist Worker newspapers. One was selling Palestine badges for a pound and another had been showing people a photo of a starving Palestinian from the Daily Express, saying that this right-wing newspaper was more left than the government.
Pickets and scabs in opposition at the gates
Only a few police officers were present; reportedly there had been more earlier on. Many had been protesting since 4am, others since 6am. Several security guards were at the open gates and those still working were openly heckled by the striking workers.
“I’d rather be on a picket than a scab,” was chanted. When I asked, the term ‘scab’ referred to refuse workers on zero-hour contracts. One activist outside the entrance, Kim Taylor, said: “Zero-hour contracts is another issue in itself. Basically, they wouldn’t be getting much work if the strikes wasn’t (sic) happening. But with them happening, obviously they’re getting more work.” I had come across Kim at nearly every major Birmingham protest in the last few months, often giving speeches or designing placards.
I also spoke to a Green Party member. He told me that the pay cuts were “completely unsustainable and will completely ruin their lives.” He added that it was costing the city council “quite a lot of money. Someone was just saying £400,000 today just for not having any work done. This huge amount of public support is really key and lots of council staff know that they’re next.”
The megapicket is not about the money, it’s about government support
At one end of the gates, someone was cooking sausages. Placards and belongings were propped up by the fences. There was a wasp, possibly a bee, flying about disturbing just about everyone, including me.
I came across Karen Trench, Perry Barr’s former councillor. She used to be Chair for the Transportation and Street Services Committee which covered waste collection, and now advocates for a settlement to end the dispute. “It’s not about people getting the pay rise,” she remarked, “it’s about the money they’re going to be losing. The bin men do a really important job and we’re taking them for granted. They do a massive service for us in Birmingham and they just want to get back to work.”
Another man was wearing a sticker-covered miner’s helmet. Before speaking to him, the wasp returned to bother us and he was swinging the picket around. His name is Steve, and he came from Leeds to support the megapicket. He used to be a coal miner before leaving to take care of his mother. He said: “Birmingham City Council, like a lot of Labour councils – living in Leeds, I know what that’s like – they really haven’t shown any support for a very long time. And the fact they are taking Unite to court over this just shows the disconnect between the Labour Party itself and the electorate.”
Ayoub Khan: the council has failed, the workers are scapegoats
It was known beforehand that Jeremy Corbyn was set to join the megapicket at some point. Once two black cars approached, chants of “Ohh Jeremy Corbyn,” to the tune of ‘Seven Nation Army’ broke out. The two cars were a false alarm and the chants died down. But five minutes later, he did arrive. Corbyn walked in next to Perry Barr’s MP, Ayoub Khan.
Khan was first to speak. “It’s a great shame,” he said, “that the Labour council here are using bin workers as scapegoats for their failure. We know that in the last two years, more than £200mn has been wasted on an IT system, and more than £50mn on consultants. And we’ve learned this week that £8mn has been spent on agency staff.
“It’s an absolutely outrageous thing to do when we know they could’ve settled this months ago. But these are political decisions, and politicians that ultimately make the decisions. And when I tell the Prime Minister that the government should intervene, they turn around and say ‘it’s got nothing to do with us’.”
Jeremy Corbyn: workers victims of council’s poor management
It was Corbyn’s turn to speak. He praised Ayoub Khan for being “the only MP that consistently raised the issue in parliament.” He went on to criticise calls from the government for refuse workers to take up the city council’s offer, which still included pay cuts. He added that a Secretary of State said it was an equal pay dispute.
“Equal pay was never meant to be about reducing men’s wages to the level women were meant to be paid at,” he went on. “And so the Birmingham bin workers are being asked to take these huge cuts in pay and take responsibility for the financial problems of Birmingham City Council.
“It wasn’t the bin workers that wasted all that money on the Commonwealth Games; it wasn’t the bin workers that sold off places that are lost; it wasn’t the bin workers that created this financial problem of Birmingham. It was Birmingham City Council and the government together that have done that.”
Near the end of his speech, he made his first public announcement that membership for his new Your Party had “just gone over 200,000.” There was a cheer, followed with a round of applause. “That’s 200,000 people that want to see an alternative. And you know what? That number can only grow, and I can’t wait to be on the road campaigning for that alternative.”
We’re here to hold the line
After the speech, there was further chanting: “Together. United. We’ll never be defeated.” Both MPs then stood for photos. At one point Corbyn held up a placard saying “Dump the cuts” and some groups managed to place their banner into the frame next to him.
I briefly spoke to him afterwards and I found that the former Labour leader was perhaps not so different to how he was portrayed on television: blunt, reserved, quite patient too. He told me that “if the council gets away with it [pay cuts] here, they’ll do it everywhere, and we’re here to hold the line. Birmingham City Council is spending lots of money on contractors, wasting lots of money on other things. They could and should settle with the bin workers.”
The gathering dissolved not long after. People went home. The rest of the day was still ahead. The strikes, with all its members and supporters, were already ‘mega’. And they were only going to get bigger.
