Not even the snow could keep away pickets and their supporters from demonstrating outside Birmingham City Council house this Saturday. Socialist Party and Socialist Students members joined over one hundred people gathered at Victoria Square to stand up to the latest council attacks against the Homecare workers, including redundancies and ridiculous shift changes that make workers lives more difficult, make the job unsustainable for many, and are therefore detrimental to the service users as well.
There were many different trade union speakers, with one woman saying how the home-care workers did not want redundancies, that they loved their job and the care they provided, however they demand fair pay and more practical and sociable working hours. The speakers were followed by a short march around the city centre.
When speaking to unison stewards and striking home-carers, many expressed how happy they were to see so much student support. There were calls for a ‘people’s budget’ and for the labour councils to finally reflect the labour leadership that gained so much support from workers and students over summer, and to stand up to the brutal tory austerity.
It’s time for the council to put their words into action and to defend our public services and workers. Our support and general anti-austerity message was well received and, despite the extreme weather, there was a positive and passionate vibe from strikers and supporters, all agree it’s time for our second city to stand up to the labour council who refuse to stand up for us!