Refat, Birmingham Socialist Party
On 1 December, a historic moment took place in the Birmingham strike, as agency workers, brought in by the Labour council to try to break the action, joined the strike. Unite the Union marked the strike day with a rally.
Bin workers are facing huge emotional and financial stress caused by a pay cut of up to £8,000 a year, when the cost of living is already sky-high. It has a drastic effect on families.
The council is doing everything it can to make industrial action ineffective so they can get away with fire and rehire, using union-busting tactics and the courts to fight against workers’ rights.
The bin workers are still standing strong after almost a year.
But agency workers joining the strike is a huge boost. Those who the council intended to replace the workers are tired of being treated badly. The agency workers are recognising the common struggle.
In the run-up to the busy Christmas period, more agency workers joining the picket lines can help build up pressure on the council, as rubbish builds up on the doorsteps. Added to this is the possibility of more blockades of scab bin depots by supporters, as Socialist Party members have helped organise.
Despite the lies and bluster of Labour’s Birmingham City Council bosses over the last year, support for the strike stays strong among working-class Brummies and the trade union movement.
This can be turned into more than just words. Unite bin reps going and making an appeal in person to other union workers in bus garages, mail depots, railway stations etc for all practical support possible can help build the momentum that is going in the bin workers’ direction again.
Birmingham is the blueprint that other councils will use against public sector workers. No one is safe from exploitation. Unite has been looking to set up a ‘combine’ of bin workers across different employers, and a national meeting could be an important forum to build solidarity.
On top of that, bringing together workers from other departments and unions of the council can be the best possible preparation for the attacks on other workers, and stop them in their tracks.
Bin workers march through Birmingham
Allegra Kefford reports
Monday 1 December saw a mass rally of picketing bin workers, joined by the newly striking agency workers. Socialists, including the Socialist Party, and speakers such as MP Zarah Sultana showed support for the movement.
Before marching from the Smithfield Depot to the Council House, we heard a few words from these speakers emphasising the importance of unions like Unite to prevent the stripping of workers’ rights.
Unite Lead Officer and Socialist Party member Onay Kasab said that he would “expect nothing less from a government and a council that’s crapping on workers. They promised they’d ban fire and rehire but it’s happening here.”
Furthermore, the strike action led the council to suspend operations across Birmingham depots for the day while still paying the agency workers, ultimately making the rally a success.
