High Court rules that bin trucks driven by scab labor must be allowed to enter and leave garbage collection centers in defiance of the right to collective bargaining on the part of the Unite union

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Bin workers in England’s second largest municipality of Birmingham remain on strike despite a British High Court injunction against picketing which blocks trucks from leaving to pick up garbage.

The full-scale strike which began on March 11 over wage cuts to employees has resulted in thousands of tons of garbage lying in the streets creating a public health crisis.

Even prior to March 11, periodic work stoppages had taken place since January. The Unite union went out on strike due to a pay cut of 8,000 British pounds in the salaries of a number of the 350 bin workers.

The Birmingham City Council has attempted to minimize the impact of the reduction in pay while claiming that they have made reasonable offers to the union to end the industrial action.

City Council members in Birmingham have failed to negotiate an acceptable resolution to the strike. Rather than focus on providing a decent pay agreement for the workers belonging to the Unite union, the municipality has resorted to coercive measures aimed at breaking the strike.

In an article published by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) during late May it said of the situation:

“A court order preventing striking bin workers from delaying bin lorries leaving depots in Birmingham will continue indefinitely, it has been confirmed. An interim injunction had been granted by the High Court on 23 May, after collections were said to have been disrupted by striking workers. Responding to the latest ruling, Birmingham City Council said it was pleased the court had ratified the order agreed with Unite, leaving the injunction in place without a need for a court hearing. Unite the Union had said it was preparing to challenge the court order, but added it had agreed to abide by the law on picketing and would continue to conduct a lawful, peaceful protest.” 

Strike May Last Until December

Nonetheless, the leadership of the Unite labor union has said that the strike could last until the end of the year. The inability of the Birmingham City Council to negotiate a deal to conclude the strike has created a public health crisis.

Thousands of tons of garbage lying for extended periods in the streets has resulted in an overpopulation of rodents, foxes and cockroaches. Images of piles of garbage with rats streaming through them have become a symbol of the decline of the western capitalist system.

The Unite union Secretary General Sharon Graham has stated:

“After smearing these workers in public since January and telling them to accept a fair and reasonable offer that never existed, the council finally put a proposal in writing last week. True to form, the proposal came weeks late and was not in line with the ballpark offer discussed during Acas talks in May. It had been watered down by the government commissioners and the leader of the council despite them never having been in the negotiations. It is beggars’ belief that a Labor government and Labor council is treating these workers so disgracefully. It is hardly surprising that so many working people are asking whose side Labor is on. The decision-makers at Birmingham council need to get in the room and put forward an acceptable offer. Unite will not allow these workers to be financially ruined – the strikes will continue for as long as it takes. Unite calls on the decision-makers to let common sense prevail in upcoming negotiations.” 

In the latest vote on the City Council offer, Unite workers rejected it by 97 percent in opposition to what was being proposed. The declining real wages of workers in the UK has resulted in numerous strikes over the last two years.

It remains to be seen if other municipalities will have similar industrial actions. Since 2023, strikes within broad sectors of the labor market involving healthcare, public transportation, education, etc. are a clear reflection of the economic and political crisis which has extended from both Conservative and Labor governments.

Budget Priorities Leave Working People at a Lost

Even though the Labor Party was able to politically benefit from the deteriorating conditions prevailing among working people under successive Conservative governments, after winning overwhelmingly in the 2024 national elections, the Labor Party-dominated parliament and Prime Minister Keir Starmer began to impose a domestic policy of austerity measures to address the national deficit. Proposals were presented to parliament to drastically reduce winter heating subsidies for senior citizens and other cuts to social benefits for the poor and marginalized.

Political pressure from within the Labor Party and among community activists brought about a reversal of the scaling back of winter heating subsidies for retirees. However, inflation remains a problem for working people while the Labor government has not presented an economic program to address the declining social conditions of the British people.

There are also problems within the National Health Services (NHS) in the UK where inadequate staff and beds have created overcrowding and backlogs for treatment. In the area of mental health, the crisis is also apparent.

In a report during June, Sky News reported:

“Patients in a mental health crisis and attending hospital are stuck between two failing systems.

A shortage of specialist beds means they are left untreated in a hospital not designed to help them. And they are failed by a social care network overwhelmed by demand and unable to provide the early intervention care needed…. For these patients, waits of 12 hours or more for a mental health bed have increased by more than 380%. Over the last decade, the number of overnight beds in mental health units declined by almost 3,700. That’s around 17%. The Department for Health and Social Care told Sky News: ‘We know people with mental health issues are not always getting the support or care they deserve and incidents like this are unacceptable.’” 

While the state apparatus and local municipalities even under Labor control do not have the political will to repair decades of damage done to working and oppressed peoples in the UK, they are responding to the imperatives of the United States administration of President Donald Trump which has demanded that allies within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) spend substantially higher percentages of their national budgets on defense.

These efforts to comply with the demands of U.S. imperialism at this stage will negatively affect working people throughout the UK and Western Europe. To abide by the imperialist-militarism of Washington and Wall Street, the British government has issued a new document which calls for greater production of weapons and troop mobilizations for possible direct military engagements with the Russian Federation.

Known as the “Strategic Defense Review”, the 144-page document says in its introduction:

“We are in a new era of threat, which demands a new era for UK Defense. The Strategic Defense Review will make Britain safer—secure at home and strong abroad. It signifies a landmark shift in our deterrence and defense: moving to warfighting readiness to deter threats and strengthen security in the Euro-Atlantic. As the UK steps up to take on more responsibility for European security, we must have a ‘NATO first’ defense policy and lead within the Alliance. The UK will become the leading edge of innovation in NATO.” 

In the view of the current administration in London, the security of the state is not contingent upon the status and well-being of the working class such as those represented by the Unite union in Birmingham. Government intervention in resolving their losses in real income and a deteriorating set of working conditions does not warrant an official paper and subsequent pledges to increase the expenditures for municipal employees.

However, the posture of the UK and other imperialist states are not an indication of their growing power. Quite to the contrary, the western capitalist ruling classes are in grave danger of global economic downturn and the threats of another world war.

Working and oppressed peoples in the industrialized states must demonstrate maximum solidarity with the aspirations of the Global South. The victories for the workers and oppressed anywhere today represent advances for all struggling peoples throughout the world.

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Abayomi Azikiwe is the editor of the Pan-African News Wire. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.  

Featured image: British Unite Secretary General Sharon Graham (Source: Abayomi Azikiwe)

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