{"id":485791,"date":"2026-03-20T12:17:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T12:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/485791\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T12:17:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T12:17:07","slug":"labour-will-be-decimated-in-may-local-elections-unite-leader-says-unite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/485791\/","title":{"rendered":"Labour will be decimated in May local elections, Unite leader says | Unite"},"content":{"rendered":"

Labour will be \u201cdecimated\u201d in the upcoming local elections and should \u201chang their heads in shame\u201d over the handling of the Birmingham<\/a> bin strike, Unite\u2019s general secretary has said.<\/p>\n

In a speech to refuse workers near a waste depot in Tyseley on Thursday, Sharon Graham said working people were moving away from Labour<\/a> in droves and called on the party to \u201cwake up and smell the coffee\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in one of the most significant strikes in decades,\u201d she said. \u201cAn attack from a Labour council under a Labour government. Labour should hang their heads in shame. They are an absolute disgrace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Refuse workers in Birmingham began their industrial action over pay and conditions in January last year, and it escalated into an indefinite all-out strike two months later. Unite<\/a> argued changes to the city\u2019s waste collection service would cost some members \u00a38,000 a year, a figure the council has disputed.<\/p>\n

The strikes, which could last beyond September, will be a key issue in Birmingham in the May local elections, when all 101 council seats are up for grabs.<\/p>\n

Graham said: \u201cIn May, the polls tell us that Labour will be decimated. And it\u2019s not hard to see why. This is England\u2019s second city \u2026 Look at the mountains of waste and recycling still piling up,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the Guardian, she added: \u201cI think it would be impossible to see a situation where this didn\u2019t have an effect on the May elections \u2026 It\u2019s a lot less tribal the way that people vote.\u201d<\/p>\n

One year on from the start of the all-out strike, Unite announced it had voted to cut its affiliation fee to Labour by 40%, or \u00a3580,000, over its handling of the bin strikes.<\/p>\n

The union was fined \u00a3265,000 earlier this week<\/a> after its members were found to have breached an injunction which prohibited blockades of waste lorries at depots. Graham said the fine would be paid for by the cut to Labour\u2019s affiliation fee.<\/p>\n

Formal negotiations between the council and Unite broke down in July last year and have not resumed.<\/p>\n

The council said it had \u201creached the absolute limit of what we can offer\u201d, citing the risk of further equal pay claims being made if it acceded to the union\u2019s demands.<\/p>\n

Unite, however, claimed government-appointed commissioners \u2013 who were brought in to oversee the council\u2019s financial recovery after it declared bankruptcy<\/a> in 2023 \u2013 had blocked an agreement between the union and the council that would have resolved the dispute.<\/p>\n

Graham said she had spoken to Keir Starmer on Wednesday about the dispute and acknowledged \u201cthere is a willingness for this to be resolved\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously saying it and doing it are two different things,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the protest, Wendy Yarnold, 52, who has been working in Birmingham\u2019s refuse collection service for 10 years, said she had joined the strike because she was facing a pay cut of \u00a38,000 a year.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of us can afford it, not with the cost of living, the bills going up, council tax going up,\u201d she said. \u201cPotentially they\u2019re going to make me homeless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jimmy, an agency worker, said had been stressful to be on strike for such a long time. He said he had previously been a Labour supporter, but would be voting Reform in the local elections. \u201cLabour, they don\u2019t stand up for the working person any more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The council\u2019s leader, John Cotton, said it had been in contact with the union to \u201cend this stalemate\u201d and that he wanted to \u201cget round the table with Unite as soon as possible\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut they need to be realistic,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

The council had \u201coffered pay protection, new roles and training opportunities\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy message to the waste workforce is simple. We want you to join us in delivering a new, better service for the people of Birmingham.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Labour spokesperson said: \u201cThe Labour party is proud to be funded by our dedicated party members, affiliated supporters, trade union members and party donors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Labour government is delivering the biggest upgrade to workers\u2019 rights in a generation to address low pay, insecure work and poor working conditions, which will benefit 15 million workers across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Labour will be \u201cdecimated\u201d in the upcoming local elections and should \u201chang their heads in shame\u201d over the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485792,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-485791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}