Birmingham Bin Workers Vote To Continue Action Following Rally

Several hundred supporters, including a large contingent of bin workers, assembled on  17 September outside the very building in Birmingham where the decision to issue 113 redundancy notices and deprive some workers of up to £5,000 a year was made by the Labour council.  

- Clive Walder

The rally was followed by the announcement that the bin workers voted overwhelmingly to continue the strike with a 92% vote on a 72% turnout.

From the start there was a carnival atmosphere with a local band playing. In addition to local trade unionists there were workers from Gloucestershire, Mansfield, Greenwich Unite and a delegation of Southampton bin workers.

There were supporting speakers from civil servants’ union PCS, the National Education Union, Bromley Unite who are battling against the complete privatisation of every council service, and the local Asian community.

Lee Barron, regional TUC secretary, also spoke attacking the Labour council for issuing compulsory redundancy notices by parodying Neil Kinnock’s attack on the social-ist-led Liverpool council at the 1985 Labour Party conference.