Union bosses behind strikes which have left the streets of Birmingham piled high with rotting waste are directing the action from outside of the city – in leafy suburbs with regular bin collections.
None of the Unite leaders spearheading the industrial action actually live in England’s second city – sparking anger from residents who say they are being forced to ‘live like animals’ among rats the size of cats while bosses remain unscathed.
Sharon Graham, Unite’s general secretary, has been the most prominent voice of the strikes, which are now in their sixth week.
Announcing the result of Monday’s ballot – which was rejected by workers – the left-wing firebrand slammed the Labour government for ‘peddling untruths’ ‘and focusing on winning a media war’.
But despite her central role in the dispute, she lives some 130 miles away from Birmingham in west London – and has been accused of sidelining local union figures in the West Midlands.
The 56-year-old is said to have split opinion in the union movement with her hardline approach to the strike, with reports it could have been resolved earlier this year if it was not for the influence of ‘national figures’.
Unite leader Sharon Graham, pictured at a protest in 2024, has been the most prominent voice of the strikes in Birmingham – but lives in West London
West Midlands Regional Secretary for Unite Annmarie Kilcline lives 50 miles away from the strikes
Leafy suburb which is home to Unite regional secretary Annmarie Kilcline
Onay Kasab, Unite National leader, who said the Birmingham strikes could spread around the country
Unite’s national lead officer Onay Kasab’s bins are emptied regularly at his home in London
Even Unite’s regional officer doesn’t live in Birmingham, but 30 miles away in Nuneaton
Zoe Mayou, Unite’s regional officer for the West Midlands, sought to play down Birmingham’s vermin problem
Unite regional secretary Annmarie Kilcline, 61, lives 50 miles away in a smart Victorian detached home in a leafy street in Beeston, Nottingham.
Last week, her husband, Mark Labbett, was seen putting out the couple’s bins ahead of their collection the following day.
The former Transport and General Workers Union worker has travelled to Birmingham to join striking bin men on the picket line in Birmingham declaring: ‘Your fight is our fight, and we will not back down’.
Clare Keogh, Unite’s local government spokeswoman, lists her home as Kingston upon Thames – some 130 miles from Birmingham – and where bins and recycling are collected fortnightly and food waste is removed once a week.
Unite national lead Onay Kasab, 58, who yesterday warned the strikes crippling Birmingham could spread around the country, lives in a three-bedroom semi-detached house on a tidy tree-lined avenue in Welling in Kent – 150 miles away from Birmingham.
His recycling and household waste bins are collected every fortnight on a Tuesday. As is his brown bin for garden waste.
Asked about the fact that none of the main Unite organisers live in the city, Mr Kasab said: ‘Where I live, not so long ago, there was a dispute involving refuse workers and my bins didn’t get emptied.
‘It didn’t mean that I stopped supporting those refuse workers.’
Zoe Mayou is Unite’s regional officer for the West Midlands who has warned in media interviews that the strike could go on for months – but even she doesn’t live in Birmingham.
Instead, the union official owns a neat new build red brick semi detached house in Nuneaton, Warwickshire – 30 miles from the city.
Asked why Birmingham should have rats the size of cats when she lives on a nice clean street, she sought to play down the city’s vermin problem.
Speaking on her doorstep, she said: ‘There have always been rats, don’t they say you’re always only six feet away from a rat?’
A huge mountain of rubbish bags and other waste block an avenue to a street of terraced housing on Primrose Avenue in the Sparkbrook area of Birmingham as refuse workers continue to strike
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham, pictured at Grangemouth oil refinery demonstration
The bin strikes in Birmingham are now in their sixth week – leading to rubbish piling up in the streets
Bins overflowing on the streets of Birmingham following six weeks of strikes
Birmingham resident Muhammed Amin, 52, said he was annoyed his area was being ruined while the union leaders were unaffected.
Mr Amin said: ‘They should endure a week here, amongst this rubbish. We’ve got people with rats in their homes. Rubbish piled up outside their homes.
‘But these people in Nottingham and London don’t see this. They’re don’t smell it, why do we want to keep this going. Their bins are collected normally, why can’t ours. It’s a disgrace. We live like animals.’
Engineer Fyke Rehman, 55, said: ‘The leaders aren’t seeing this are they. The union leaders aren’t part of this, they don’t see this. They’re unaffected.’
Care worker Farah, 39, says her children are too scared to play outside due to the rats.
‘I’ve just paid my council tax and what’s the point. It’s gone up, too,’ she added.
On Tuesday, Labour-run Birmingham city council urged Unite once again to reconsider and put a stop to the strikes, now in their sixth week.
Craig Cooper said: ‘My message to Unite is that we have put a very, very fair offer on the table. I urge Unite to come to the table as swiftly as possible and for us to resolve this, and return the services to where they should be, and to do the transformation that we aspire to deliver.’
Asked about the fact leaders live outside of the city, a Unite spokesman said: ‘Unite makes no apologies for defending our members from these horrific attacks on their pay. Some of these low paid workers face losing up to a quarter of their wages – that’s the real story here.’
