March and demonstration at Council Chambers, September 20 - Photo: Unite

In early September, Birmingham bin workers overwhelmingly voted to extend their strike action to March next year in face of proposed pay cuts of up to £8,000 and the elimination of the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) role [1]. According to Unite, a "ball-park" agreement had been negotiated at ACAS earlier in the year but was blocked by government-appointed commissioners overseeing the council.

Following the vote, a national demonstration was held on September 20 in Birmingham in support of the strikers [2]. The march and rally at Victoria Square showed the huge support for the bin workers within the city and the wider workers' movement. Speakers, including Unite general secretary Sharon Graham, linked the council's actions to the government, accusing Keir Starmer's administration of enabling "fire and rehire".

In the face of the workers' determination and wide support, the commissioner-run council is increasingly turning to open police powers.

In May, the Birmingham City Council was granted an interim High Court injunction to restrain picketing that obstructed vehicles leaving depots and blocking access. Subsequently, the interim injunction was extended indefinitely through a ratified consent order between the council and Unite. In July, the council initiated contempt of court proceedings against Unite, alleging a persistent breach of the court order.

Most recently, on October 12, the council formally brought Unite back to the High Court over allegations of further violations of the injunction, specifically concerning the blocking of depots and vehicles, with a hearing scheduled for October 13. The council's statements highlighted "persistent evidence" of repeated breaches, including protests involving individuals standing in front of or leaning against moving vehicles and blocking junctions, all in violation of the existing order [3]. What goes unsaid is that this action taken by the workers, who are increasingly asserting themselves, is in response to the council's using agency labour to undermine the strikes, itself an illegal practice.

Photo: Socialist Party

Meanwhile, the council itself stands accused of trying to break solidarity and intimidate participation. On October 8, Unite reported that an increasing number of agency staff were refusing to cross picket lines due to what they described as a "toxic workplace culture" and "unsustainable workloads" [4]. Many agency workers cited experiences of being bullied, victimized, and threatened with disciplinary action or dismissal in attempts to compel them to complete heavy rounds of work. One anonymous agency worker revealed that they had been employed for nine years without ever being considered for a full-time position. In response to the situation, Unite has pledged to support all bin workers, regardless of their employment status, and has vowed to continue striking until a fair deal is negotiated.

On October 14, a leaked video surfaced in which a manager instructed agency bin workers that those who participated in picketing activities would be disqualified from consideration for permanent jobs. Unite condemned this practice as "blacklisting" and called for accountability from the council. Sharon Graham characterised the council's actions as illegal and demanded that those responsible should face consequences. The manager recorded in the video, belonging to the agency Job and Talent, informed workers that refusal to cross picket lines would result in a ban from permanent roles. Graham further accused the council of harbouring "something rotten at the top," urging ministers to intervene to resolve the ongoing dispute, especially since many agency staff have reportedly worked for the council for over a decade without being offered permanent positions [5].

Photo: Mark Thomas

The public authority in Birmingham has been systematically wrecked in recent years, significantly including the effects of severe government funding cuts, culminating in its alleged "bankruptcy" in August 2023 [6]. How the council of Britain's second city can be declared financially bankrupt is the height of capital-centric irrationality. The massive value created by the services it provides could not be clearer as the effects of this strike unfold.

Rather, this so-called bankruptcy has been the excuse to appoint commissioners representing private interests, in what amounts to a coup at the level of local government. These commissioners were handed control of the council by the previous government in October 2023, which appointed six commissioners and two political advisors to oversee the council. The commissioners, led by Max Caller, effectively exercise control over the council via extensive powers, including amending budgets and appointing or dismissing senior staff, not to mention claiming fees and expenses which, according to figures on the Birmingham City Council website, are running at over £80,000 per month [7]. The commissioners' role is to guide the council through a "recovery" plan, which may involve selling assets, cutting services, and increasing council tax.

The strike then remains ongoing. The council's stance, expressed in its legal action, is simply to take a more forceful posture, a stance that will solve nothing and prolong the struggle.

The demand of all in Birmingham, after seven months of continuous bin strikes, is that the dispute must be resolved. The situation is intolerable. Enough Is Enough! The voice of the workers must prevail! No to the imposed commission!

Notes
1. "Birmingham Bin Strike Escalates as Union Votes to Extend Action Until 2026", Workers' Weekly, September 13, 2025
https://www.rcpbml.org.uk/wwie-25/ww25-21/ww25-21-02.htm
2. "Birmingham demo says 'Victory to the striking bin workers!'", National Shop Steward's Network newsletter 741, September 24, 2025
https://www.shopstewards.net/2025/09/nssn-741-birmingham-demo-says-victory-to-the-striking-binworkers/
3. "Bin workers 'deliberately' breached order - lawyer", BBC News, October 14, 2025
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gprre0dezo
“Birmingham City Council takes Unite the Union to court over claims bin workers blocked depots”, ITV News, October 12, 2025
https://www.itv.com/news/central/2025-10-12/birmingham-city-council-takes-unite-to-court-claiming-bin-workers-blocked-depots
4. "Birmingham bin agency staff refusing to cross picket lines due to 'toxic workplace culture'", Unite the Union, October 8, 2025
https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2025/october/birmingham-bin-agency-staff-refusing-to-cross-picket-lines-due-to-toxic-workplace-culture
5. "Birmingham bin worker blacklisting scandal rocks council", Unite the Union, October 14, 2025
https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2025/october/birmingham-bin-worker-blacklisting-scandal-rocks-council
6. "Birmingham Bin Workers Militantly Strike", Workers' Weekly, March 23, 2025
https://www.rcpbml.org.uk/wwie-25/ww25-07/ww25-07-06.htm
7. "Cost of commissioners and expenses", Birmingham City Council, August 8, 2025 (retrieved October 16, 2025)
https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/50306/commissioners_intervention_and_improvement/2768/intervention_and_commissioners/5

The website says: “The fees for commissioners are set by the Department for Levelling up Housing and Communities (DLUHC). The fees are: £1,200 per day for the Lead Commissioner; £1,100 per day for the other commissioners.”

A mass gymnastics and artistic performance "Long Live the Workers' Party of Korea" celebrating the
80th founding anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea, May Day Stadium, Pyongyang, October 9, 2025

The Co-ordinating Committee of Friends of Korea in Britain is to hold one in a series of occasional public meetings on the DPRK and the world situation. It will be a hybrid meeting taking place on Saturday, November 15, 2025.

The Friends of Korea say: "The DPRK and the Korean people have never wavered from defending their right to be and their own path of development, as well as striving for peace in the face of imperialist intervention by the US and its allies. This meeting discusses how, given the important geopolitical position of the country, the DPRK has adopted a militant and resolute approach towards defending its socialist path and maintaining political power in the people's hands. At the same time, the DPRK is making substantial progress in developing and consolidating its external relations. Contributions to the meeting from representatives of Friends of Korea will elaborate the DPRK's historic contribution to implementing the common cause of humanity for independence, justice and peace at this defining moment in history. There will also be ample opportunity for questions and discussion."

For further details, please contact the organisers via office@rcpbml.org.uk

80th Anniversary of the Founding of the Workers' Party of Korea, October 10, 1945

The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) was founded by leader of the Korean people Kim Il Sung on October 10, 1945. It is a Party forged in the crucible of the Korean people's struggle to liberate their country, first from the Japanese occupiers in the first decades of the 20th century and then from the US imperialists after WWII.

The founding of the WPK has enabled the Korean people to carve out their destiny themselves and usher in a new era of epochal changes by relying on their own vanguard force. Kim Il Sung's method of founding the WPK created a communist party capable of guiding the nation-building project of the DPRK despite very difficult conditions imposed by the US imperialists and its allies, including Britain. Today, this Party is advancing steadfastly along the road of accomplishing the cause of socialism, answering the call of history and overcoming all the difficulties which lie in its path.

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the WPK, RCPB(ML) sent a message of congratulations to Kim Jong Un, General Secretary of the WPK and President of the State Affairs of the DPRK, signed by National Leader Chris Coleman and General Secretary Michael Chant.

Excerpts from Kim Jong Un's Speech on the 80th Anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea

Dear Pyongyang citizens and overseas compatriots,

Dear foreign friends celebrating this holiday with us,

Comrades,

Kim Jong Un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and President of State Affairs of the DPRK

Today, as we mark the anniversary of our Party, we are celebrating this historic holiday with a grand meeting and looking back once again upon the sacred years. This is an expression of a sublime and sincere tribute our generation pays to the great Party-founding generation who brought about an epochal change in shaping the destiny of our country and people.

In the midst of the struggle to truthfully carry forward and develop the original ideals and spirit of the Party, a dignified and powerful socialist state, faithful to the dreams and ideals of the people, has been built on this land; great miracles and changes have been made decade after decade and century after century to the admiration of the world. This is the history of modern Korea under the leadership of the Party, which spans 80 years. [...]

I extend sincere congratulations and encouragement to all the Party members, other people and service personnel of our army, who are sending best wishes to this meeting from all parts of the country.

My warm congratulations go to congratulatory groups of Koreans in Japan, the General Federation of Koreans in China and the International Social Federation of Koreans, and to the delegates of other overseas organisations visiting their homeland and, through you, to all the overseas compatriots.

Also present at today's meeting are the heads of party and government and figures of several countries and delegates from international democratic organisations who are on a visit to Pyongyang with feelings of support to our Party and warm friendship with the Korean people.

I welcome you, dear friends, who are celebrating our Party's holiday with us and deepening the feelings of friendship, and extend my heartfelt thanks to you.

Comrades and friends,

The 80th anniversary of the WPK is a glorious milestone thanks to the immortal achievements it has made over the long years for the country and the people and for the times and history.

The founding of our Party did not simply mean the birth of a political party in a country; it was a political event that signalled the emergence on the stage of history of a new-type revolutionary party that would verify the righteousness of socialism and demonstrate its unique superiority and might.

From the days of building democracy, which coincided with its founding and the start of its leadership over the overall state and social life, to this day, the WPK has remained faithful to its responsibility and role as an engine of the revolution and guiding force of state administration and, in the course of this, has performed truly remarkable historic exploits.

By successfully leading the social transformation processes of several stages under the uplifted banner of the Juche idea, it has built on this land a genuine people's country with absolute prestige and national strength, a powerful country that comprehensively embodies the socialist ideas and ideals; it also has rendered a significant contribution to implementing the international cause for independence and justice. [...]

Following the establishment of the socialist system in our country, we found ourselves standing at the forefront of the most acute confrontation between the progressive and the reactionary and between socialism and imperialism. Given the geopolitical position of the country, our Party had to adopt a more resolute approach towards performing its mission of defending socialism; it had to give a strong impetus to implementing the cause of building the country's self-reliant defence capabilities. As the vicious schemes for isolating and stifling the country economically persisted from one century into the next, it had to cope with these schemes pro-actively and aggressively while pushing forward with the gigantic projects for socialist construction.

Particularly, amidst worldwide political upheaval in the 1990s, it had to defend our ideology and social system, and entering the new century, in order to cope with the growing nuclear war threats by the US imperialists, it had to lead the people to make a new leap forward in socialist construction while simultaneously carrying on economic construction and build-up of the nuclear forces. [...]

In fact, maintaining the political power and defending the social system was a miracle itself, but our Party has taken on all those important tasks [...]

In every period and at every stage of the revolution and construction it has put forth scientific lines and policies to overcome manifold challenges and advanced along the unchangeable track of socialism. On this road, it has propelled the historic cause of building an independent and powerful state.

The significant events that have been recorded in history, as well as the amazing transformations that have been achieved by racing against time, testify to the scientific accuracy and vitality of our Party's revolutionary ideology and lines. As we can clearly see, they constitute a key factor in making substantial and rapid progress in the political, military, economic and cultural fields, particularly in external relations.

For its imperishable exploits the WPK has earned the envious prestige of being a revolutionary party providing seasoned and sophisticated leadership, a steel-strong party that achieves one victory after another, and a genuine people's party that faithfully serves them. [...]

To ensure that the ranks of the Party and the revolution achieve ideological oneness and organisational unity - this was what our Party defined as a major key to advancing the revolutionary cause along the road of victory. [...]

Not only in the initial period of nation building but also during the war and in the post-war years, our Party prioritised establishing the Juche orientation in ideology and equipping Party members and all the people with the Party's guiding ideology and revolutionary lines. At the same time, it directed primary efforts to strengthening its grass-roots organisations, building up Party ranks as an elite force and improving the fighting efficiency and vitality of its organisations at all levels.[...]

In the course of solving the problems arising in the revolution and construction and overcoming difficulties, our Party has proactively explored and applied proper approaches and styles of work for making the most of the people's revolutionary zeal and creativity.

Many revolutionary methods of guidance and people-oriented styles of work developed by our Party have been effective in uniting the masses under a single banner, giving full play to their revolutionary and patriotic enthusiasm, and bringing about uninterrupted innovations and amazing miracles on the strength of collectivism and mass heroism while overcoming all sorts of obstacles.

Always aware of and guarding against the possible budding of authoritarianism and a number of other problems which are likely to separate the Party from the masses as its ruling years get longer and one generation is replaced by another, we have made sure that an absolute spirit of serving the people prevails across the Party. [...]

Our Party has struggled under the uplifted banner of independence and socialism against every adversity; this has made an enormous historic contribution to implementing the common cause of mankind for justice and peace. [...]

Our Party and government are still coping with our adversaries' ferocious many political and military pressures by pursuing harder-line policies, holding fast to firm principles and employing brave, unflinching countermeasures. This is powerfully propelling the growth of the progressive camp against war and hegemony, and the international prestige of our Republic as a faithful member of the socialist forces and a bulwark for independence and justice that is further increasing with each passing day.

Comrades and friends,

There is a key to the cause of a victorious party.

It, in a nutshell, is that the party has shared everything with a great people.

The history of working for the people, the history of relying on the strength of the people, is precisely the factor behind all victory and glory our Party has won.

The 80-year history of our Party can be most accurately represented only when it is based on the history of the people; the history of its energetic guidance and the imperishable achievements it has made can identify its secret fairly and squarely only when it is explained by the great, immortal aphorism of "Together with the people." [...]

As it has led the advance of history on the strength of the people's commitment and efforts, all projects, which our Party has planned for the revolution and construction, have turned into the affairs of the people themselves and reached successful completion.

Those who have brought about all the important events guaranteeing victory and success in our cause for all ages are all the people of this country, the great Korean people, including our heroic working class, agricultural workers and intellectuals. [...]

A party that is among the people, not standing above them, a party that shares with them aspirations and ambitions, wisdom and strength, and weal and woe, can never disintegrate and does not lose vigour and vitality. [...]

I would like to offer thanks once again to our great people who have always injected strength and wisdom into our Party and devoted pure minds and diligent efforts with belief in victory as well as in the Party, while pioneering the arduous and yet sacred socialist cause for as long as 80 years. [...]

Comrades,

The glorious 80-year history of our Party is encouraging us to wage a more gigantic and fulfilling struggle.

Let us advance with redoubled courage and confidence for the review of a great history which will be filled with greater glory and pride than the great 80 years which the Party and the people pioneered with one mind and body and glorified with victories, and for the final accomplishment of the socialist cause when the dreams and ideals of our people will be realised.

Concluding my speech, I offer my humble wishes for peace and well-being of our beloved people.

I extend my sincere wishes for cordial harmony and happiness to all the families in the country.

Long live the great Workers' Party of Korea and the great Korean people!

(KCNA)