The magnificent success of the Birmingham bin workers’ Mega Picket shows the power of solidarity as strikers and community force depots across the city to close 

The magnificent show of solidarity at the latest Mega Picket for the Birmingham bin workers was a great success after strikers and supporters closed down several of the scab depots. Such was the turnout that management instructed the strike breakers to go home as the gates remained firmly shut. All the depots were closed as well as the Coventry-based Tom White strike-busting outfit. No lorries or scab crews were on the city roads today. 

Trade unionists and campaign organisations from across the country came along to the pickets to protest against Birmingham City Council’s plan to downgrade safety operatives and drivers that would see them lose between £6-10k per year, a cut in earnings which renders the costs of living simply unaffordable and will mean missing rent and mortgage payments, driving them into poverty. 

At different sites, the pickets were addressed by several senior union officials from the British Medical Association (BMA) , The Communication Workers Union  (CWU), National Education Union (NEU), National Employees Union (NEU), Unison and General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU). Amongst others, they were joined by delegations from Unite Scotland and the Merseyside Pensioners Association who made the links between attacks on workers’ living standards and the government protecting the profits of billionaires. 

The loudest cheers of the day were reserved for Jeremy Corbyn who toured the various pickets. He emphasised the disgraceful role that the Labour Party, both locally and nationally, has played in creating this crisis. The huge surge of support for a new left-of-Labour party undoubtedly shows that millions of people will look to the new formation as a beacon of hope and a pole of opposition to the odious Reform of Farage. If it is to succeed, it must actively seek to link the progressive social movements over Palestine and welfare cuts to the trade-union struggles to become a genuine workers’ party that remains loyal and accountable to its base. 

This Friday’s action showed that there is a groundswell of support for this dispute which resonates throughout the movement and should provide a sound basis for further solidarity action. There is clearly an argument put forward to escalate the dispute beyond those immediately impacted, as a victory here would be a victory for workers everywhere – both in the public and private sectors.  

This success should not be squandered and it is imperative that Unite urgently pursues a strategy to win. That means spreading the dispute to other local-authority workers who will be next in line for the same treatment if this dispute goes down. It is not possible to win a dispute of this importance with one hand tied behind the back. If that means breaking the anti-trade union laws then so be it, as these are not going to be repealed anytime soon.  

Calling a mass picket every few months – the last and first one was in April – won’t cut it. As well as calling on other trade unionists to step up the action, there is a desperate need to call a city-centre demonstration and rally to galvanise the evident support and to build further solidarity action from other unions and members of the public. 

To date, the council have spent over £8 million on payments to the rogue operators on top of the fat-cat salaries paid to the unelected government-appointed Commissioners who are in control of the city’s management. They were put in post by the last Tory government and have remained in a place under Starmer’s and Rayners’ watch.  

The next general election is due in 2029. We can’t wait that long. Keir Starmer and his rotten cohort of toadies need to go. And the sooner the better.