Refuse workers at Veolia’s Lumley Street Depot are now entering the eleventh month of indefinite strike action for union recognition. The media won’t tell you this, but the Sheffield bin strike has lasted nearly as long as the 1984/5 Miners’ Strike!
By Joel Mayfield, Sheffield striker
Veolia has violated basic democratic rights by intransigently refusing to allow its workers to be represented by the union of their choice. Terms and conditions have been degraded for too long: average real terms pay at Veolia’s Sheffield subsidiary has fallen by 22% this decade. That’s why the strikers want to be represented at the negotiating table by Unite.
This dispute is easily resolved, because all Veolia has to do is reinstate their own recognition agreement which they put to the workers in December – only to withdraw it at the last minute!
There’s widespread support for the strikers’ demands. A petition circulated among all workers at the depot has collected nearly 150 signatories calling on Veolia to recognise Unite. When the Central Arbitration Committee refused to help resolve the situation in early April, a decision was taken to escalate this dispute and bring it to a satisfactory conclusion. From April to June, this consisted of ‘slow walking’ picketing, similar to the tactics seen in Birmingham. However this was stopped by Veolia, who complained to the High Court, in a blatant effort to prevent effective protests. The bosses prefer to drag people through law courts rather than talk reasonably – but many will rightly ask, why seek injunctions instead of negotiations?
We’ve come too far to back down now – the only way is forwards to victory! Last week’s re-ballot showed 96% in favour of carrying on the fight on an 83% turnout. Now is the right time to build broader solidarity from the wider movement beyond what we can mobilise in Sheffield and South Yorkshire alone.
On 9 May, a delegation of Sheffield bin workers and supporters attended the ‘mega-picket’ in Birmingham. This points in the right direction and is something the movement is gearing up to do here. Through our local Trades Council, the labour movement in Sheffield is calling for a massive display of trade union solidarity on Wednesday 9 July.
Please join our mass picket at Lumley Street Depot (S4 7ZJ) from 6am. This mass picket will be the start of a day of action culminating in a huge demonstration to lobby a meeting of the City Council to debate our petition about the strike.
