Leeds refuse workers fight successfuly against Lib Dem attacks

If there is a campaign that sums-up for me the difference between the main political parties, it is the Leeds refuge workers campaign. A struggle that seems to be the choice between the Tory and Liberal Democrat view that the low paid, the poor, and working people, should pay for the economic crisis that the bankers and light-touch regulation has caused. This campaign was fought to prevent the council from cutting the already modest pay of refuse collectors from £18,000 to £13,000 a year.

In previous blogs, I have talked about UNISON's new initiative to show that the worker's have the power to change and improve their working lives and this dispute is evidence that it is needed.

The dispute in Leeds where the council is controlled by a Liberal Democrat/Tory coalition is a wake-up call to those that are thinking about not voting for Labour in Lewisham. The Liberal Democrat leader, Richard Brett, of Leeds City Council told the striking workers that they were 'lucky' to have a job at all owing to the current economic conditions. Who does he think he is? Well I can tell you, for his elected position he pockets £45,883 a year; Neil Evans, the Director of Environment and Neighbourhoods, the directorate responsible for the refuge workers, had his salary increased from £117,679 to £132,593 last year. Staggering isn't it. These people are the same people who fought to stop a "Leeds Living Wage" that a Labour and Green Party coalition tried to secure in December 2008. So when you hear the Lib Dems in Lewisham proclaiming that they support a "London Living Wage", then ask them "How come the Lib Dems in Leeds do not support a "Leeds Living Wage"?

The refuge workers dispute has lasted for 12 weeks and has finally been settled thanks to the rejection of the Lib Dem/Tory proposals by the workforce and public opinion. However, it is not without a price. Many of the workers were already struggling before the dispute started, now they have been without pay for twelve weeks. For them, it was a campaign they had to win and they have. Public opinion does not favour punishing hardworking people who have done nothing to cause the recession.

All of us are in this situation together and it is unacceptable that the low-paid pay to get us out of it. According to the Guardian, "We are now seeing groups of workers ready to stand up to oppose deteriorating wages and conditions. They feel 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."

With responsible and accurate journalism, toegther with the support from ordinary members of the public we can all fight and win against those politicians who claim to be on the side of the workers, while stripping them of every last penny. Leeds refuge workers did, we can too in Lewisham.