Coventry bin strike continues in face of Labour council’s stunts and lies

Coventry bin workers on strike, January 2022, photo Dave Nellist

Coventry bin workers on strike, January 2022, photo Dave Nellist   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Michael Morgan, Coventry Socialist Party

Socialist Party members have continued to show support for striking bin workers in Coventry as the Labour council continues its campaign of disinformation and lies about bin workers’ pay. The union has also agreed to go ‘all out’ from 31 January, meaning there won’t be any collections during February and March unless the council offers a fair deal to the workers.

The public have continued to show support for the strike, with plenty of honking cars and kind words passing by the picket. On a Socialist Party stall, we talked to the public about the strike, with many seeing how the council was at fault in the dispute. Many found the council’s suggestion to take your black bags to their drop-off points by bike if you can’t drive ridiculous and offensive. Many of the public also wonder what their council tax pays for, and the workers have been right to point out that council taxpayers in Coventry are paying more, for less, now.

One van was sent to collect bin bags from a care home to opportunistically paint management in a good light in the local press. Workers pointed out that the total salary of those in the van would be more than £500,000. Surely if they can afford that for a photo opportunity, they can afford to give the bin workers more than a poverty wage!

Many on the picket line feel that the Labour council is ‘Labour by name, Tory by policy’, and see the need for an alternative beyond Labour. This is why we will work as part of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) and stand against right-wing Labour councils, and we would encourage bin workers to vote for and stand as anti-cuts candidates in the local elections.