A Rubbish Pay Dispute

The following article was sent to Workers Uniting Group by Colin Burgon MP

As always we are happy to publish this.

A rubbish pay dispute

In its failed attempt to cut refuse workers' pay by a third, Leeds council has cast itself as an enemy of the low-paid working class

Beyond television shots of piling rubbish and narrow Victorian terraces, a surprise victory for Leeds refuse workers will send national reverberations to elected politicians, employers and public sectors workers alike. Attempts by the Liberal Democrat/Conservative ruling coalition to cut the already modest pay of refuse collectors from £18,000 to £13,000 a year, all the while "modernising" the service they provide, were roundly rejected by the workforce and public opinion.

If any reader is unsure of what modernising would entail, imagine forward-thinking concepts such as more work and less pay; in the case of the Leeds bin workers, 33% less pay, at a time of economic hardship. This resonated with the public and attempts by the council to isolate the strike by employing an even more desperate and mistreated strata of our labour market – agency workers – only hardened the strikers' backbone.

As the dispute approached week 12, many suspected that talks were being deliberately stalled by the council as this staging post would mean it could sack the entire workforce under existing employment law. But gradually, aided by generally objective reporting on the part of the local media, the council PR machine found itself making no headway even as the rubbish accumulated on city streets.

Watching from the wings, councils such as Bradford, Wakefield and Kirklees quickly settled their pay and grading reviews without dispute and Brighton swiftly came to a deal with its workforce rather than risk the scenes of rubbish piling up on their own streets.

What lessons for all parties, locally and nationally? For local authorities, the hard ball, zero dialogue tactics with a group of low-paid workers deployed by Leeds City Council proved a singular failure; especially as the trade unions involved (GMB and Unison) were ready to talk from day one. This obstinacy stalled negotiations for a month and did little to mobilise public opinion against the refuse workers as council leaders had hoped. Only the public and many of the low-paid striking workers who were already in debt before this dispute started suffered.

This has cast Leeds council in a bad light, and other local authorities should take note. Public opinion does not favour punishing hardworking people who have done little to cause this recession. Within the Leeds Labour party there are now few echoing the calls of some of the London-based chattering classes for an alliance with progressive elements within Liberal Democrats, who regionally, have form.

Back in December 2008 when the recession began to bite hard, a Labour and Green coalition tried to secure a "Leeds Living Wage" to anyone directly or indirectly employed by the council.

The Liberal Democrat council leader, Richard Brett, strongly opposed the move, even telling the executive board that low-paid workers were "lucky" to have a job at all owing to the current economic conditions.

Later, Brett had the cheek to cite the example of students being paid badly in casual employment across the city to call into question any special treatment for the bin workers. Brett knew perfectly well that the student unions of Leeds Met and Leeds University both campaigned passionately for the "Leeds Living Wage" status that he and his party opposed and blocked.

Nationally, the workforce flexibility so admired by New Labour and the conservatives has increasingly left lower-paid workers vulnerable to the tumult of privatisation, the use of agency workers and the threat of dismissal after the 12-week period on strike is reached. It is patently obvious that this is very, very unpopular with marginalised working class voters.

And these disputes are as much about the future of the services as they are about a fair deal for the low paid. During the most bitter impasse in Leeds – in sentiments remarkably similar to implications briefed by Royal Mail and Lord Mandleson during the recent postal strikes – the leader of the council warned on record "if there's no resolution to this dispute, we may have to privatise". This naked preference to flog public services demonstrates that at this time of severe economic difficulty, ideological agendas overran the plight of the low paid.

We are now seeing groups of workers ready to stand up to oppose deteriorating wages and conditions. They feel that the economic crisis should not be solved at their expense and are showing a real combative attitude when attacked. The Leeds bin workers' stance and their ultimate victory under extremely difficult circumstances prove that working people are not willing to be turned over; their example will be followed by others.