Building the mass picket as big as possible is essential
The battle lines are being drawn in Birmingham in a major confrontation with the Labour government and council.
Trade unionists, students and campaigners will stage a mass picket in Birmingham on Friday in solidarity with bin workers on indefinite strike.
The Labour council sent police to break up picket lines and declared a “major incident” last month so it could use scab vehicles and labour to undermine the strike.
But the “mega picket” outside the Lifford Lane depot will be a show of strength against the strike-breaking operation.
Mass numbers can stop the vehicles going out and persuade workers not to work.
NEU education union general secretary Daniel Kebede and FBU firefighters’ union general secretary Steve Wright are supporting the mass picket.
Kebede told Socialist Worker, “Cuts in pay for workers of up to £8000 by a Labour council is grotesque.
“I’m joining the mega picket because what is happening to the Birmingham bin workers is what could happen to any worker if we let the employer get away with it.”
Striker Steeven told Socialist Worker, “Bin workers are the first domino in a long line of dominoes. Some workers know they are about to get hit so it’s important to support this dispute to stop those attacks.”
Steeven said it’s important that “people can come down and actually hear the truth from those who are directly affected”.
Steeven said that, if the mass picket is big enough, “it’ll put additional pressure on decision makers”.
He said trade unionists should repeat it and “get to all three yards” if it’s a success.
“I think it will go well—lots of trade unionists and people from workplaces have said they are coming,” he said.
Trade unionists are coming from outside of Birmingham to join the mass picket from 6am.
Andy, who’s coming from Leeds, told Socialist Worker, “Every strike is important, and every dispute needs our support.
A victory in Birmingham would show that the working class can, and will, push back against the Starmer government
“But sometimes there are key strikes that can affect the direction of class struggle. When a strike is victorious, that can have a positive impact and have an effect on the movement that can take us forwards.”
With a Labour government and council on the attack, Andy said it’s “down to trade unionists and workers to fight for better conditions”.
Andy remembers how socialists and trade unionists mobilised for mass pickets at the Timex factory in Dundee in 1993. He said, “There is something very different about being on a mass picket. These kinds of events radicalise people.
“As socialists, we argue that the working class has power—but lots of socialists have never seen it. A mass picket can be an inspiration to those people who then go to organise in their own workplace.
Andy added, “If this pushed the strike to be victorious, this can be a blueprint for fighting these kinds of cuts elsewhere.”
A victory in Birmingham would show that the working class can, and will, push back.
Everyone has to make sure the mass picket on Friday is as big and militant as possible to raise the level of resistance against Keir Starmer’s rotten government.
Birmingham council is trying to blame women workers who fought for pay equality for its attacks on bin workers’ pay.
The Labour council announced last week that it would slash refuse drivers pay by up to £8,000 a year.
A council spokesperson claimed, “This is a fair and transparent job evaluation process jointly agreed with trade unions. It is necessary to ensure the council complies with equal pay laws.”
In 2023, women workers in Birmingham won an equal pay claim. But, instead of levelling up women’s pay, the council wants to drive down workers’ pay across the local authority.
Jeremy, a Birmingham council worker and Unison union member, slammed the council for trying to “level down” pay.
He said, “There were glaring pay differentials between women and men. They were allowed to arise over many years between workers doing different, but equally demanding jobs, in different parts of the council.”
“Jobs such as refuse collection were mainly undertaken by men—it was an area with high union membership. It meant they won better pay and conditions than historically less organised workers doing equally demanding tasks.
Years of Tory austerity and outsourcing—and Labour refusing to stand up against it—have caused the crisis.
“These were typically done by women and the council took advantage of these workers and didn’t pay them enough.
“When this injustice became more widely known, the women got organised and there were demands for pay settlements.”
Jeremy added, “This is the wrong thing to do. It is completely right for low paid workers in other parts of the council to win equal pay, and be compensated for years of underpayment.
“There should be a ‘levelling up’ process not a levelling down.”
Equal pay claims aren’t to blame for the financial crisis in Birmingham. Years of Tory austerity and outsourcing—and Labour refusing to stand up against it—have caused the crisis.
The council is also facing financial pressures due to problems with the implementation of its Oracle IT system.
Originally budgeted at £19 million, the council has spent over £130 million on implementing it.
Jeremy said, “This is not just happening in Birmingham, it’s across the whole sector.
“Birmingham is the largest council in the country and refuse workers are in the forefront of resistance in this bitter dispute with the council.”
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