Mobilise solidarity with Birmingham bin workers
Birmingham Socialist Party members
Just as Labour Birmingham City Council proposed what Unite the Union calls a ‘watered down’ offer to striking bin workers, the High Court approved an injunction brought by the council against the workers, who face pay cuts of thousands of pounds a year.
Strikers, who have been out for thirteen weeks, will now be threatened with arrest for blocking the entrances to depots, walking in front of bin lorries, or congregating outside designated areas.
This shows who the justice system works for. The council bosses’ arguments were listened to over those of the workforce and the union. This ‘double-whammy’ – legal action at the same time as reneging on offers reportedly previously discussed at ACAS – clearly shows how the courts back up attacks on workers.
This follows in the footsteps of previous court rulings against trade unions, including the ban on posties striking in 2019. Labour pledged to reverse some of the Tory anti-union laws within 100 days of coming to power, as well as a ban on the use of zero-hour contracts, which Birmingham council has taken full advantage of. Eleven months later and we’re still waiting!
Unite is making plans to challenge the injunction. But if it’s not overturned, other tactics can stop the scabs and put the pressure back on the council. On the picket lines each day and in our latest strike bulletin, Socialist Party members have been discussing this with Unite members.
Bin workers might be banned from standing in the way of depot gates, but what about other trade union members? Down the road from each of the bin depots there are bus garages, with plenty of Unite members with experience of blocking vehicles from their own successful strike in 2023.
Union members at other workplaces
A direct approach to union members at these workplaces and other large groups of unionised shift workers could bring out groups to help prevent agency crews leaving. And that’s not to mention approaching other Birmingham City Council workers who could be next in line for cuts!
In Coventry, a handful of supporters and union organisers, including Socialist Party members, have managed to shut down the scab company Tom White Waste when they have picketed the depot.
Despite the council’s best efforts, the strike has stayed solid, with more joining the strike than going back to work. A mass meeting of Unite members could debate and decide together what tactics can be used to delay and stop scab collections, and discuss what the union’s red lines should be in negotiations, as well as how to respond to the voluntary redundancy offers that have been made to drivers.
Electing a strike committee that can support the reps in getting information out to members and feeding back to the union from the pickets can help keep the workforce united against the council’s attacks, and get a resolution to the strike that all workers can accept.
Close to £1 million has so far been spent policing the strike. And that’s to say nothing of money the council has spent on legal fees, private security and overtime payments to agency crews, rather than settling the dispute! As the council’s running tab becomes clear, it should be broadcast across the city, so that Brummies can see who is really responsible for the strike dragging on.
Battleground against Starmer’s cuts
If Birmingham is the main battleground against Starmer’s cuts, then Unite needs to bring the fight here by calling a national demonstration to demand a fair deal for Birmingham bin workers and all in the public sector struggling for fair pay.
It’s clear this dispute is being used as a testbed for further cuts to be carried out by Labour councils and the government. Unite should appeal to other unions to join them in a mass demonstration – as a step towards joining them in a mass strike.
A wider political campaign with bin workers at its head could shift Angela Rayner, secretary of state for local government, and the other Labour ministers and government commissioners who are helping to impose a huge pay cut on the bin workers.
But if Unite continues to fund Labour, by default it will feeding the hand that bites it. Trade unions should support only genuinely anti-cuts and pro-worker candidates as a step towards building the working-class party we need.
