Unite announces cut to Labour membership fees by £580,000

Waste collection workers attend a mass picket and rally at a depot in Birmingham last year. Unite is cutting 40% of its membership fees to Labour over the industrial dispute. Photograph: Guy Smallman/Getty Images

One of Britain’s largest trade unions is cutting membership fees to Labour by more than half a million pounds over the Birmingham bin strike.

The move by Unite, one of the three largest unions affiliated to Labour and a key financial donor to it, comes ahead of a conference next year when members will consider whether they want to maintain ties to the party.