Solidarity with GMB members on strike in Brighton and Hove

It is not often that Brighton and Hove gets a mention on the national evening news, but this evening - as industrial action (now set to escalate) by GMB members in refuse collection enters its second week we were mentioned by the BBC.

It’s not difficult to work out whose side to take. No workers lightly take strike action with all the sacrifices which this invariably entails. The GMB members are taking action pursuant to a democratic decision by one of the best organised groups of workers in the city.

The opposition Labour Group have sensibly called for an independent mediator to be brought in to bring the two sides together - an approach which helped to avert a dispute under the previous Labour administration (when, two years ago, we came to the brink of a dispute).

The Green leadership of the Council should take heed. It is unfortunate that - because the Council has lacked a stable political majority this century - a culture of officer domination of the Council has emerged. The senior officers of the Council either fail to understand, or actively resent, the collective power of the organised refuse workers.

Labour Party members should support our brothers and sisters in the GMB.