{"id":117808,"date":"2025-05-20T19:09:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T19:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/117808\/"},"modified":"2025-05-20T19:09:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T19:09:10","slug":"birminghams-new-lord-mayor-elected-as-ceremony-interrupted-by-bin-strike-protesters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/117808\/","title":{"rendered":"Birmingham\u2019s new Lord Mayor elected as ceremony interrupted by bin strike protesters"},"content":{"rendered":"

The prestigious Birmingham Lord Mayor ceremony took a dramatic turn when protesters began to shout from the public galleryNew Lord Mayor Zafar Iqbal and Lady Mayoress Farooq Akhtar\/Birmingham bin strikes and supporters outside the council house(Image: Birmingham City Council\/Unite the union)<\/p>\n

A prestigious ceremony to mark the election of Birmingham\u2019s new Lord Mayor took a dramatic turn when protesters interrupted the event from the public gallery.<\/p>\n

Mayor Zafar Iqbal, who serves as a councillor<\/a> for the Tyseley and Hay Mills ward, took up the politically-neutral role at the lively meeting on Tuesday afternoon, May 20.<\/p>\n

The roles of the Lord Mayor include representing the Birmingham<\/a> community at formal ceremonies and on both joyous and tragic occasions; supporting charities; welcoming dignitaries and chairing council meetings.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>Birmingham \u2018so much bigger than city council\u2019 – departing Lord Mayor<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

But the grand ceremony was overshadowed at moments when those supporting striking bin workers began to shout from the public gallery.<\/p>\n

The Birmingham bins strike<\/a> dispute was triggered by the council\u2019s plans to scrap a Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) role, which Unite said would force \u201cdedicated workers onto pay levels barely above the minimum wage\u201d.<\/p>\n

But the council has insisted in the past that a \u201cfair and reasonable offer\u201d has been made, with council leader John Cotton adding it \u201ccannot and will not entertain anything that would re-open an equal pay liability\u201d.<\/p>\n

The tense situation continues to rumble on, with one woman angrily shouting during today\u2019s meeting: \u201cCould you take an \u00a38,000 pay cut?\u201d<\/p>\n

Another protester also yelled about workers \u2018losing their livelihoods, losing their homes\u2019 before whistles blared in the council chamber room.<\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer Birmingham Lord Mayor Ken Wood(Image: Nick Wilkinson\/Birmingham Live)<\/p>\n

\u201cSit down or be removed,\u201d departing Lord Mayor Ken Wood shouted in response, before he requested that the gallery be cleared.<\/p>\n

As Coun Zafar Iqbal was being named Lord Mayor, a shout of \u201cshame on you John Cotton\u201d could then be heard, prompting councillors to clap over the interruption.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday afternoon, Unite the union shared a picture of strikers and supporters outside the council house with a banner calling on Coun Cotton to ‘end the bin strike’.<\/p>\n

Addressing those attending the prestigious event later on, Mayor Iqbal appeared unfazed and spoke positively about Birmingham.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I was not born here, it has been home to me and my family for over 50 years,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is the most amazing place in the world, attracting people like me from every corner of the globe and turning them into Brummies.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>Top cop urged ‘police the picket line’ as bin collections crippled again by striking workers<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBrummies have played a vital role in shaping not only our city but also the world.”<\/p>\n

He continued that he planned to celebrate Birmingham in every neighbourhood and help inspire the next generation of the city\u2019s leaders over the next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The prestigious Birmingham Lord Mayor ceremony took a dramatic turn when protesters began to shout from the public…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117809,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,7831,984,748,393,4884,285,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-117808","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-birmingham-bin-strike","10":"tag-birmingham-city-council","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114541740936124769","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}