Steve Score, Leicester Socialist Party
On their second of weekly one-day strikes, refuse collection and ground maintenance staff, GMB members, at Blaby District Council in Leicestershire, voted to escalate their action at a picket line meeting.
The picket line was large and lively. This week had more supporters in solidarity, from other GMB branches, the Leicester trades council, Socialist Party members and others.
Not enough
The strikers concluded that one day a week wasn’t enough, as management was ordering staff to cover that work over the course of the following week.
Management had learned from last week’s blocking-in of bin lorries at the depot by the pickets (See ‘Bosses call police on bin strikers’) and had moved some lorries offsite the previous night, in an attempt to get round the picket line.
The strikers then played a cat-and-mouse game with the small number of workers that were trying to get to wherever the lorries were.
One of the pickets told the Socialist: “Today we successfully disrupted the attempt to run scab operations. They were running them offsite. They had four drivers, being directed by management to go to various meet-up points. We would turn up, then they would disperse; that happened numerous times over the course of the morning.
“Eventually, we spoke to a couple of them who stopped and had a chat with us. They said that whatever the plan was, it wasn’t working, and they had enough of it.
“They’re also running a scab operation out of the Biffa depot in Beaumont Leys to pick up the garden waste.”
Come to the senses
Dave Warwick, GMB organiser, said: “The members have decided that we’re going to serve notice for two weeks of continuous industrial action.
“We are going to close the depot for two weeks solid. Hopefully that will bring the council to their senses, and they’ll come to discuss and put an offer on the table for our members.”
