the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Jun 9, 2025
This article is excerpted from the May 21 issue, #2964 of Lutte Ouvrière (Workers Struggle), the paper of the Trotskyist group of that name active in France.
In Birmingham, Great Britain, more than 350 garbage collectors have been on strike since March 11 against a reorganization that would cause nearly 200 of them to lose up to over $10,800 (9,500 euros) in annual pay.
More than two months already: this is a record length for a garbage collectors’ strike in Great Britain. The strikers are facing a Labour-led city council that, on paper, claims to represent the working class. But in reality, it is waging war on its municipal workers—with the support of the Starmer government, which is also Labour. The pretext for the pay cuts is the municipality’s bankruptcy two years ago.
…. In their fight, the garbage collectors have the support of the population, despite the inconvenience caused by the accumulation of garbage in the streets. The residents of Birmingham are well aware that their wages are not astronomical. And they themselves have been suffering for years from drastic cuts in municipal services.
The Unite union is leading the strike, but it is managing it as a separate struggle, without seeking to involve other municipal employees. It has certainly called for support rallies, which have been well attended. But its leaders believe that it is enough to bring the issue into the public arena and then negotiate well, and that this will make the local authorities back down. Clearly, this is not working.
Yet it would be possible to expand the movement. Municipal workers have been under attack for years, well beyond Birmingham. And in the region, many industrial workers, such as those at the Jaguar Land Rover plant in Solihull, would also have reasons to fight for their wages, with the added advantage that they could hit the bosses where it hurts.
The striking garbage collectors, now approaching three months on strike, are not lacking in tenacity. Successfully mobilizing workers around them who, like them, are fed up with austerity and pro-business policies would be a decisive weapon.