Nick Hart, Birmingham Socialist Party
40 trade unionists and campaigners from across Birmingham gathered on Saturday 26 April at a meeting hosted by West Midlands NSSN (National Shop Stewards Network) to discuss how a victory for the ongoing bin strike could help turn the tide on council cuts as a whole.
Members of Unison, the National Education Union, PCS civil service union, Equity and students attended. Messages of support were received from Fire Brigades Union and Musicians’ Union branches, and members of the Communication Workers Union.
Kicking off the meeting were speakers from Unite, the union representing Birmingham’s striking bin workers.
A bin worker told us about the real reasons behind the strike. Pointing out that they’re in the same boat as many key workers, he said: “How can you justify taking £8,000 off people who keep society functioning? There’s doctors and teachers facing the same. The people who keep the wheels on the bus turning.”
Unite national lead officer Onay Kasab made it clear the union makes no apologies for bringing its members out on strike. “If defending working people makes you a militant, than we are proud to be called militants.” He explained how despite the ‘bankruptcy’ there’s money there, both on the council’s books and in wider society, to fund services. He told the meeting that Unite has a policy of calling on councils to set no-cuts budgets that meet the needs of working-class communities.
NSSN national chair Rob Williams underlined this. “What we need across the trade union movement now is that if we have Labour councils and a government that act like Tories, then we treat them like Tories.”
Representing actors’ union Equity, Tracy Biggs talked about the scale of arts cuts and what this means for jobs in the city, saying: “For the joy that the arts bring, it’s time to move from resilience to resistance. Arts jobs are real jobs.”
The meeting also heard from people involved in community campaigns against the planned ‘social cleansing’ of the Ladywood and Druids Heath housing estates, as well as local library campaigner and food project volunteer Ann Marie Gallagher, who told us that: “We are sick of filling the holes in the social fabric”.
Independent councillor Martin Brooks sent greetings, after being kicked out of the Labour group on Birmingham City Council for voting against cuts to local libraries and day centres.
‘We have to fight’
Socialist former MP and councillor Dave Nellist made the point that councillors like Martin can’t be left to fight on their own. “Ahead of next year’s elections we have to find workers with the same guts as the bin workers to stand for the council and take on the commissioners”.
The meeting resolved to organise a further conference to begin preparations for next year’s council elections. We called on local trade union branches to invite council candidates to come and explain their positions on public service cuts. Specifically, whether they would be prepared to support a no-cuts ‘people’s’ budget and make campaigning to win back funding stolen by central government the number one issue in the run-up to and following these elections. We need a slate of genuinely anti-austerity working-class candidates on the ballot paper in every part of the city.
Stop Press: Birmingham council attacks bin drivers too
As we go to press, Labour-run Birmingham City Council has stepped up attacks on its bin workers. Already, 170 bin workers faced plans to downgrade their role, inflicting a pay cut worth thousands. Now around 200 bin drivers now face the same, an £8,000 pay cut.
All the council trade unions and the wider trade union movement have an important role to play, including organising solidarity mobilisations to bin worker picket lines.
