‘IF the council take out an injunction we have to stand strong. They are trying to kill our spirit,’ striking Birmingham binworker Ali Chidodo told News Line yesterday afternoon.
He was condemning an attack by Birmingham Labour Council against 350 binworkers who have been on strike for over a year against £8,000 pay cuts.
The right wing Labour council has announced that it is seeking an injunction against the strike this Friday after a powerful Megapicket of hundreds of strikers and their supporters was held outside three of the council sites on Friday 30th January.
Ali continued: ‘We had a 100% successful Megapicket two weeks ago and the council is panicking now and going to the court. Everyone supports our strike. We are stronger than ever and we won’t back down.’
Fellow striker Zafar Iqbal said: ‘We had a meeting today and we are standing firm. There were lots of people at the meeting and everyone said we are fighting to win.’
This Friday, a court in Birmingham will hear the council’s application for an injunction against ‘persons unknown’.
In plain terms, this would make ‘Megapickets’ effectively illegal across Birmingham for the next six months, with anyone who defies it facing the threat of prison.
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 has 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.’
The injunction application, issued on 3rd 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.
Fire Brigades Union General Secretary Steve Wright said: ‘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.’
ASLEF train drivers’ union General Secretary Dave Calfe 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.’
- Striking Birmingham bin workers have voted to extend their industrial action mandate past local elections in May and into September, Unite said.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘Our members are more determined than ever to achieve a fair settlement and they have Unite’s unwavering support.’