Rayner must back workers to end bin strike, says union

Ministers “have their fingers in their ears” over the ongoing Birmingham bin strikes, the boss of one of Britain’s biggest unions has said.

- ARCHIE MITCHELL

The prime minister and Angela Rayner must “get in the room, sort it out and stop letting this continue for no reason”, Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, has warned. She said she is not the prime minister’s “favourite trade union leader ... probably because I call things out”.

But, with the bin strikes running since January, Ms Graham called for Sir Keir Starmer and his deputy to resolve the dispute. The strikes have resulted in huge piles of rubbish across Birmingham as well as rat infestations and unsanitary conditions.

The union leader has been increasingly critical of Labour’s time in government in recent weeks, and Unite is reexamining its relationship with the Labour Party with disaffiliation a real prospect.