BIRMINGHAM, England — Over 200 striking refuse workers and supporters rallied Dec. 1 at the Smithfield waste depot near the city center here to celebrate their reinforcement by dozens of workers employed by the Job & Talent temp agency.
Chanting “Workers strike, workers win — put Job & Talent in the bin!” they marched to the Birmingham Town Hall.
Hundreds of Unite-organized drivers and loaders, who collect waste for the Birmingham City Council, have been on strike since March against job losses and a wage cut of up to 8,000 pounds ($10,550) a year. The Labour Party-run City Council, backed by the Labour government, has continued waste collections using agency workers as strikebreakers. The union says, at least 42 of the temp workers are now on strike.
As agency workers, whom the bosses had relied on to break the strike, started reporting harassment by bosses and threats of blacklisting, Unite organized to ballot the agency workers who are union members to join the strike effective Dec. 1.
“The bosses have no idea about duty of care,” Andy Graham, an agency worker, told the Militant on the picket line at the Perry Barr Depot Nov. 4. “I once hurt my shoulder while maneuvering a container, but when I called the depot, they just asked ‘how much have you got left of your round?’”
“We had a low union membership before the strike, but people joined when the fight started,” said Luke Dalton, a shop steward at the Perry Barr Depot.
Speaking at the rally, Clare Keogh, Unite national officer for local government, congratulated strikers on the vote by the agency workers, as well as an earlier vote by directly-employed workers to continue the strike. “There is a reason why so many employers use agencies,” Keogh said. “It’s to pit workers against each other and keep us all down. But you’ve shown that your fight is the same fight.”
“The brave agency workers joining the strike say everything, about the courage of these workers and about how the council has messed things up,” Onay Kasab, Unite national lead officer, told the rally. “We are going to win.”
Kasab reported that Unite members had knocked on 17,000 doors in Birmingham “and nine out of 10 support the strike.” Unite says, 6,000 people have put stickers in their windows to show their support.
He pointed to remarks by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves when she raised taxes recently. “When Reeves says everyone must make ‘a bit of a contribution,’ does she mean workers losing thousands of pounds?”
Ahead of the rally, the Birmingham council announced all depots would be closed that day “because of expected mass picketing and protests.”
The day after the rally, shop steward Danny Taylor told the Militant they were back on the picket line, and seeking to win more agency workers to the fight. The council had brought in at least 10 more for the union to win over.