Birmingham Socialist Party members
With the strike staying solid a month in, Birmingham bin workers have increased the number of strike days to three per week. As rubbish piles up and the bill for agency crews to try to cover the rounds increases, so does the pressure on the Labour council to reverse the scrapping of Grade 3.
Meanwhile, Birmingham’s councillors voted a 5.7% increase in their allowances, citing an “increase in emotional and financial pressure”. Try telling that to bin workers facing an £8,000 pay cut and their job becoming more dangerous!
At the same time they are preparing to sign off a further £148 million in cuts to services, alongside a 7.49% increase in council tax. The cuts will be voted on at a council meeting on 25 February. Mass protests outside the council house in the run-up to this, bringing together the bin workers, other council workers and service users, could force the council to use its powers to fund services, and be the start of a campaign to force central government to cough up the funds our city needs. Strikers talked about how they would like to see council-wide coordinated strike action,
At the gate meeting at the Atlas depot in Tyseley, one picket said: “We’re the ones who keep this city running. Without us, businesses, schools and homes would be drowning in rubbish!”
Workers at Lifford Lane told us: “It’s about standing strong and keeping what you’ve got. They’re coming for us first then it will be the rest of the council.”
