Bin workers in Birmingham are currently balloting for strike action against the council's attempts to remove the Waste and Recycling Collection Officer role. These workers are responsible for the safe operation of the lorries out on their rounds along with helping load the bins.
If the council get away with this attack, as well as putting the safety of the public and workers at risk, those WRCOs who carry on working for the bin service on the lower grade 2 could see their pay drop by up to £8000 a year.
The Socialist Party gives our full support to bin workers and all other sections of the council workforce fighting pay and job cuts. The following is the text of a bulletin we have produced to aid discussion on the way forward to win the dispute and defend council jobs and services.
BIN WORKERS DIDN’T CAUSE THE COUNCIL’S MESS - STRIKE TO KEEP THE GRADE 3
Here we go again. For the third time in seven years Birmingham City Council is planning to do battle with its bin workers. After already trying back in 2017 to delete the grade 3 Waste Recycling and Collection Officer the Labour council plans to downgrade this job which is critical to the safety of both bin workers and the public.
Most of the workers have been working in refuse for a long time and because of this some stand to lose as much as £8,000 a year. Unlike council bosses or the £1000-a-day commissioners, they simply cannot afford to lose this kind of money. Especially with how prices have rocketed since 2017!
Since the council declared itself bankrupt bin workers have bent over backwards to help them which has included accepting reductions to shift and overtime allowances. The council is rewarding them by putting the boot in.
Bin workers didn’t cause this crisis and shouldn't pay for it
This time, a whole range of other council workers are also in the firing line. The council plans mass cuts to libraries, 50% cuts to youth services and closure of four out of seven day centres.
The council and press have tried to blame the financial crisis and £350m cuts package on equal pay issues. But the answer to making sure women workers are paid fairly isn’t to make male workers poorer!
The “bankruptcy” at the council wasn’t caused by bin workers or any other frontline worker, but by a combination of government cuts, the refusal of council leaders to campaign for enough funding and the incompetence of senior management over the introduction of Oracle.
Unity is strength
The maximum unity of council workers from across the three unions is absolutely vital to cut across any divide and conquer tactics by senior management.
As well as securing a strong yes vote for strike action, Unite should call a council of war bringing reps together from across the council to plan against any attacks on pay, conditions and services.
The energy shown by the hundreds of GMB members working in Birmingham schools who took strike action twice this year and the campaigns set up to stop the closure of libraries and day centres shows the potential for building a mass campaign against all council cuts to demand the money from central government.
No trust in Starmer’s Labour
For years Birmingham and other Labour councils pushed through thousands of job cuts, blaming the Tory government in Westminster. Now Labour are in power nationally, nothing has changed for council workers!
When bin workers were on strike against Coventry City Council two years ago, Unite withdrew all funding and other support from Labour in the West Midlands. We can’t keep feeding the hand that bites – Unite, along with Unison and GMB, should take the same approach in Brum, and be ready to sponsor candidates against cuts councillors when their seats come up for election.
We say:
For a co-ordinated fightback - call a council of war bringing together union reps from across the council to plan a strategy to beat all cuts to jobs and pay
Build a mass movement to fight further cuts and council tax hikes
For a transparent and union-led review into pay and grading at BCC with workers given the final say
No to unelected commissioners running our city - defend local democracy!
The council must set a no-cuts needs budget and demand the money and resources our city needs from the Labour government
For a workers’ inquiry into the financial crisis at the council
Not a penny more of union money for Starmer’s Labour!
We need a new workers’ party to stand up against establishment politicians
Take the wealth off the 1% - we need socialist change!