BIRMINGHAM, England — Hundreds of striking refuse workers, members of Unite the Union, and other trade unionists marched through the city center and rallied here Sept. 20. The demonstration marked the six-month anniversary of the start of their strike against the Labour Party-run Birmingham City Council’s drive to cut pay and axe jobs.
Council bosses are imposing pay cuts of 8,000 pounds ($10,730) a year, by removing team leaders’ responsibilities from refuse drivers. Refuse loaders, who had extra safety responsibilities, will also face pay cuts.
At the heart of the battle is the strikers’ determination to defend their union and gains won in strikes in 2017 and 2018.
“They don’t want us back,” shop steward Danny Taylor, who’s worked for the council for 25 years, told the rally.
“They want a workforce made up of agency workers,” he said. “When workers stand together — with solidarity — we will not be pushed back,” he added. Taylor paid tribute to members of the Fire Brigades Union, who rejected calls by some councilors for firefighters to participate in the bosses’ strikebreaking efforts.
This government-backed operation, which utilizes temp agencies, has escalated since the summer.
“I’m impressed by the resolve of the strikers,” Jake Lomax, a member of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union, told the Militant. He joined the rally with a group of rail workers from Manchester who came to show their support. “They won’t be trodden on. They know their fight means a lot for other council workers and the unions.”
In July, Prime Minster Keir Starmer’s Labour government amended a law that restricted bosses from using agency workers to break strikes, allowing local councils to do so if they had racked up heavy debts. The move was backed up by calls from senior government ministers for the strikers to call off their fight. The council also got court orders to prevent effective picketing, Taylor reminded the rally.
Birmingham City Council leader John Cotton has ended negotiations with Unite, and issued an edict that workers have to accept the employer demands or face losing their jobs. Over 100 workers have been pushed into accepting “voluntary redundancy” as a result.
But the remaining 300 strikers are determined to see the fight through. Earlier this month they voted overwhelmingly to continue striking. That mandate will expire next March.
“We are not going to give up,” Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham told the rally. “This is a fight for all workers.”
Contributions to the strike fund can made at the Unite website.