UK
CITY BIN WORKERS STRIKE
Birmingham City Council seek to ban ‘megapickets’ – Strike Map
By Strike Map
Birmingham City Council has applied to the High Court for an injunction against “persons unknown” in response to growing disruption on picket lines during the city’s long-running bin strike.
The move would effectively ban protesters from delaying refuse lorries from leaving depots and comes just days after the largest Megapicket of the dispute. Over the last year, Megapickets have been organised by Strike Map, a worker-funded organisation that tracks and supports industrial action across Britain and Ireland, and have been backed by trade unions, trade union leaders, politicians, and community activists.
Strike Map co-founder Henry Fowler said:
“This is an act of pure cowardice by Birmingham City Council, backed by their unelected commissioners. The council’s continued escalation of this dispute has already cost taxpayers £34 million. Seeking this sweeping injunction shows they are more interested in wasting public money and hiding behind the courts than in resolving the strike.
“This council’s contempt for its own workforce and the people of Birmingham could not be clearer. With elections coming this May, Labour councillors should start thinking about new jobs. We and our supporters will not end our solidarity with Birmingham’s bin workers. You cannot ban solidarity.”
The injunction application, issued on 3 February 2026, seeks to prohibit for six months any protesting activity by persons unknown, without the council’s consent, in support of strikes organised by Unite the Union. This includes entering, occupying, remaining on, or blocking access to the following council depots:
- Atlas Depot, 70/72 Kings Road, Tyseley, Birmingham, B11 2AS
- Lifford Lane Depot, Ebury Road, Kings Norton, Birmingham, B30 3JJ
- Perry Barr Depot, Holford Drive, Birmingham, B42 2TU
- Smithfield Depot, Sherlock Street, Birmingham, B5 6HX
National trade unions, including the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), a Labour Party affiliate, have pledged full support to the Birmingham bin workers and have attended all three mega-pickets held over the past year. FBU General Secretary Steve Wright has called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to intervene and bring the dispute to an end.
Wright said:
“Solidarity is a fundamental cornerstone of the trade union movement. Throughout history, employers have tried—and failed—to ban effective strikes and protests because they are powerful.
“By seeking this injunction, Birmingham City Council has confirmed it is more interested in crushing this strike than resolving it, and is showing disregard for its own workforce. As a Labour-affiliated union, we will not stand by while a Labour council abandons the principles it claims to represent. We will be calling on other Labour-affiliated unions to express their grave concern over how this dispute has been handled.
“It is now clear that the council and its commissioners are incapable of negotiating a settlement. That is why we are calling on the Prime Minister to step in and end this long-running dispute.”
ASLEF, the train drivers’ union, has also pledged large-scale support for the striking workers. Dave Calfe, ASLEF General Secretary, added:
“Let us be absolutely clear: standing with workers in struggle is not a crime. Solidarity cannot be banned by an injunction.
“We are deeply disappointed by the actions of Labour’s Birmingham City Council, which risk damaging the Labour Party both locally and nationally. This Labour government was elected to bring hope and deliver change for working people. Every day this dispute continues, that promise rings increasingly hollow.
“The trade union movement will stand with Birmingham’s bin workers. We call on the council to return to negotiations and abandon these shameful tactics.”
- You can find out more about Strike Map here, and follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X and YouTube.
- This article is a published version of a Strike Map press release sent on 4 February 2026.
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