Update and Implications for the Wider Workers’ Movement in the UK

In TICP 64 we wrote a short article about the strike action taken by the bin workers in Birmingham and the appeal for international solidarity made by an exiled Sudanese worker at the ‘mega-picket’ on May 9th.

Since then, there have been further developments which we will discuss after first highlighting a feature of the strike that reveals - yet again - the problems that often arise in the UK due to the trade union movement being so tightly bound to the reformist Labour Party (which famously declared itself to be ‘the party of business’ in the run-up to the last election).

The Unite union, which the striking workers belong to is, in its own words: ‘a general trade union, representing workers across various industries in the UK and Ireland. It was formed in 2007 by the merger of Amicus and the Transport and General Workers’ Union. Unite is known for its diverse membership and its commitment to fighting for workers’ rights, fair pay, and safe working (…) It represents workers from a broad range of sectors, including manufacturing, public services, transport, and more.’ A lot of potential for bringing together workers in different sectors then.

It is also the largest union affiliated to the Labour Party, and in the case of the current strike, it is in an excruciatingly contradictory position, because: 1/ it is also one of the biggest donors to the Labour Party through its ‘political fund’, 2/ the Deputy prime minister and secretary of State for communities & local government, Angela Rayner, is a member of the union, 3/ the employers of the bin workers are in fact the Labour Party led Birmingham City Council, some of whose councillors are also members of Unite.

How has it dealt with these contradictions?

At its recent conference in the middle of July, Unite voted overwhelmingly to re-examine the relationship with the Labour Party, and to suspend Angela Rayner from Unite membership for “bringing the union into dispute”. This will be followed by an investigation into their behaviour with a “view to expelling them from the union”.

And as part of their investigation into their behaviour the union might do well to consider the observations made by bin worker Danny Taylor, made in his speech to the conference: ‘instead of visiting the picket lines’ he said,’[Angela Rayner] met with scab agency strike breakers and congratulated them on a job well done’. And she apparently also insisted that the strikers should accept a deal that would see their wages slashed.

The Birmingham council leader and fellow Unite members on the council, acting in similar fashion, have also had their memberships suspended due to threats they made to effectively fire and rehire workers on pain of redundancy.

A report by Ray M. on the rs21 [Revolutionary Socialism in the 21st Century] website, gives further voice to Danny Taylor “[who] addressed the conference to explain the background to the dispute and the need for solidarity. He reminded delegates that during the pandemic, bin workers didn’t get to work from home – they put their health at risk doing collections that kept the city going. Yet Birmingham Council had just announced a manoeuvre to threaten the sack for striking workers who refuse to accept pay cuts. This is ‘fire and ‘rehire’ by another name.

(…) Councils across the country face a financial crisis. If management wins in Birmingham it gives a green light to attacks on workers across local government. ‘If they get away with this here’, Danny told the conference, ‘other councils will follow. Every worker in local government will feel the impact’.

In her closing remarks to the conference, Sharon Graham, the Unite union leader, said that following the news of Unite’s motion to re-examine its relationship with the Labour Party, and expel the deputy prime minister and Birmingham councillors from the Union, [the veiled threat being that the union would stop funding the Labour Party] she’d received a text from Downing Street, ten minutes after the news of the motion became public!

Apparently Unite has never before taken a step like this, and the Labour Party knows that waiting in the wings is a new, ‘left labour’ party, as yet unnamed, that could take its place: the one led by Jeremy Corben, ex-leader of the Labour party and most visible representative of those leftists who believe the apparatus of State can somehow be taken over and wielded in the interests of the working class.

But having the UK’s biggest union cut off the Labour Party’s funding – leaving aside the question, if they actually do it, whether they would financially back some other party – would be a significant move insofar as the link between the Union and the Labour Party would be weakened if not entirely broken. Evidently the very thought of it is giving the Labour Party the jitters!

Another interesting aspect of the strike is that the union also suspects that the commissioners appointed by the government to address the council’s difficulties managing the waste management services, have a financial interest in prolonging the strike. Since the 6 commissioners originally appointed by the Conservative government) arrived in Birmingham, they have apparently raked in around £2,000,000 in fees and expenses and are paid between £1,100 and £1,200 per day. [Nice gig if you can get it!!].

The Unite general secretary Sharon Graham stated a few days before the conference that: “The commissioners have stood in the way of a deal that could and should have been reached months ago. Despite never attending negotiations, they have obstructed every effort to bring these strikes to an end - wasting millions upon millions of public funds in the process.

Meanwhile, with all this in the background, 100 street scene operators (a designation that includes refuse workers as well as those working on parks, gardens and highways) at Wrexham council have balloted for industrial action over changes to working patterns.

A posting of 17 July on the Unite website explains that previously this group of workers were given additional days off over Christmas and could volunteer to work overtime. “However, the council forced through changes without any consultation with workers or Unite, which means they now have to compulsorily work Saturdays and are threatened with disciplinary action if they do not attend. This is a choice by the employer to extend the working week without agreement and means every worker would lose half a day’s pay. The ballot closes on 5 August and industrial action could take place in late August. Unite members are also considering any potential strike action to take place over Christmas, when households usually have more rubbish needing to be removed than usual”.

And other sectors are now entering the fray, perhaps inspired by the resoluteness of the Birmingham bin workers.

Under the auspices of their union, the BMA, the resident doctors [formerly known as junior doctors] have just rejected the government’s 5.4 % pay offer and are in the middle of a five day strike for a 29% rise, on the basis that they have seen a 20 per cent pay erosion in their salaries since 2008. This twelfth strike in their long running dispute will run to July 30th with further strikes threatened until January unless demands are met.

The BMA is now taking an increasingly hard approach in the matter of ‘derogations’, a system where the NHS can ask a doctor to cross the picket line where patient safety is at risk, and as of the evening of the 27th July, out of 25 requests for derogations 18 were rejected. Perhaps the announcement by the leader of the Conservative Party that they would make strikes by doctors illegal is making the BMA even more determined to press forward their demands!

And the nurses are gearing up for action as well. On the 28th July the nurses’ union, the RCN, held a consultative vote on the 3.6% pay offer, having previously described it as ”grotesque” to offer nurses a lower increase than doctors, teachers, prison officers and the armed forces. The result of the vote is expected later this week but the union thinks the deal will be overwhelmingly rejected with the possibility of strikes following later in the year.

And finally,an update on the Birmingham bin strike:

In our report on the Birmingham bin strike in TICP 64, readers will recall that Birmingham Council was granted a court order, in May, to stop waste vehicles being stopped from leaving depots by those on the picket line, and we talked about workers having an almost ingrained talent in finding its way round such obstacles.

Well, on 25 July, coinciding with ‘mega-picket 2’ which was called to rally further support for the ongoing strike, it was welcome to see on the BBC website the headline “Bin lorry blocking row send council back to court”.

We read that Birmingham City Council has applied for contempt of court proceedings against the Unite union over striking bin workers blocking refuse collection vehicles.

The BBC article goes on to quote a city council spokesman, and there seems to be a certain note of desperation and frustration in his voice when he says?

"Despite writing repeatedly to Unite for several weeks to highlight what we believe to be clear breaches of the injunction, the situation has worsened".

"Since the injunction was granted, vehicles have been blockaded on roads to and from our depots, with Unite representatives and members stepping in front of, and even leaning against, moving heavy vehicles and blocking road junctions.”

It appears the struggle continues!