Thirty-five Labour MPs have written a letter in support of the striking Birmingham bin workers ahead of their MEGAPICKET on Friday.
Many hundreds of trade unionists and supporters from all over the country are joining the strikers on their five picket lines around the city from 5.30am tomorrow morning.
Several hundred refuse workers, Unite members, have been on strike for more than a year against the Labour Council’s cowardly attacks on the Birmingham working class and its attempt to cut their pay by over £8,000 a year.
The letter from the MPs said the dispute has ‘gone on far too long’ and reminded the council that Unite is reconsidering its links with Labour and will break with the party if the situation is not resolved.
The letter from the MPs made reference to the £8,000 pay cut and said: ‘This dispute is not about workers asking for more.’
It reminded Starmer: ‘Unite members voted for a Labour government with the cast iron guarantee of a new era of industrial relations, working hand in hand with the union movement.
‘Resolving this strike is an opportunity to see this pledge in action.
‘We must also acknowledge that at Unite’s policy conference this past summer, delegates overwhelmingly voted to reconsider the union’s link to the party unless this dispute is resolved.’
The signatures included Tahir Ali, the MP for Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley, and former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell.
The letter said the government has a ‘direct role to play’ as it is has been overseeing the running of the city council since it was effectively declared bankrupt in 2023.
The letter concluded by asking Starmer to meet them to discuss a possible resolution.
The massive support for the Birmingham strikers which exists across the country for their courageous year-long strike against vicious pay cuts which the Labour Council is trying to impose, with the support of the Starmer government, must now be mobilised into action.
A city-wide strike and a Unite national strike must be called to defeat the pay cutters and win this struggle now.
