‘There must be 300 here today easily and that is replicated at the other four sites. There are no wagons going out at all today.’
Striking Birmingham bin worker David Callaghan told News Line he was speaking at the Atlas site in Tyesley on the megapicket called by the striking Birmingham binworkers yesterday.
The five Birmingham bin depots have been on all-out strike since April against pay cuts of between £8,000 and £12,000.
Trade unionists from all over the country joined the strikers on their megapicket yesterday.
Martin Kavanagh, PCS union officer, told the rally at the Atlas site: ‘You have inspired the UK working class. This is an abhorrent Labour government which is defending a broken capitalist system.’
CWU Regional Secretary Mark Harper said: ‘Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said she started off as a union rep as a single mother on a council estate, now she’s stabbing you in the back. Disgrace!’
Jordan Rivera, Unison rep from Homerton Hospital, received a huge response when she called for a big cheer for the striking resident doctors.
She told the rally: ‘The way you are being treated, its the same in the NHS. Labour are an utter disappointment. We must bring in sanctions against Israel now; keep going, don’t give up. I’m bringing a £500 donation from Homerton Hospital.’
Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn toured all of the picket lines of the megapicket yesterday.
He told the Atlas strikers: ‘It wasn’t the Birmingham binworkers who got the finances of Birmingham in a mess, they are the ones who keep the city clean.
‘If we win in Birmingham its a huge victory. But if we lose, just think of what will happen across the UK.’
After the rally, striking birmingham bin worker Kevin Thompson told News Line: ‘We’ve had brilliant speeches to support our strike. It’s like a domino effect, Birmingham is the biggest council in Europe. If we go down they’ll cut workers wages around the country.
‘I’d welcome a national strike. It would have to be a joint thing with all the unions.’
Striker Jim Jones said: ‘The vast majority of the public supports us, let’s have a general strike.’
