Birmingham council Unison members once again manned the picket lines on 21 September, for a second day of strike action against the Con-Dem council’s threat to impose ‘Martini’ contracts on the authority’s 26,000 workers.

  The contracts - which will mean workers can be ordered to work ‘anywhere, anytime, any place’ as well as the withdrawal of allowances - are set to be imposed on 1 November.  The withdrawal of allowances could see some workers lose up to 30 per cent of their pay.

  This is on top of the continual backdrop of trawls for voluntary redundancy, widespread cutbacks and various ‘money saving’ schemes that are leaving the authority in chaos. One such move in Adults and Communities  is the setting up of a pilot Social Enterprise amongst the Physical Disabilities Team.  Fifty per cent of the team are being asked to volunteer to take part in the two year pilot - it’s a ‘Hobson’s Choice’ for the staff: those who don’t volunteer will be ordered by management to back-fill for those who have - you could end up working on the other side of the city in a job you don’t like. Management are also trying to sell the scheme by saying working for a Social Enterprise will mean removal of all the bureaucracy we currently face. Our response to that is, if such bureaucracy is not necessary to deliver the service, then take it away from all of us.

  The DP Social Enterprise pilot is being seen for what it is - the first move towards outsourcing and privatisation of frontline social services.
  On the 21 September strike itself, there was a drop in the number of Unison members coming out on strike. There was some bad organisation on the union’s part, with thousands of newsletters that were meant to go out to all members rallying support for the strike, still at the printers while we were already on picket duty! Birmingham City Council is a Byzantine labyrinth of an organisation, and some sectors claimed they didn’t even know about the strike.

  A further weakness is that, although Unison is the largest union at the council, Unite and GMB have still not balloted their members for action.

  A further one day strike has been called for 11 October. The union leadership must not get complacent - workers cannot be turned on and off like a tap at their behest. Half-hearted leadership gets a half-hearted response. Organisation must be tightened up and the 11 October action fought hard for amongst the membership.

  One positive aspect of the day was increased support from the public - at our picket line, cars never stopped honking in support. Also pleasing is the support of some Labour MPs, who have joined picket lines and say they oppose the Martini contracts. Labour look set to regain control of Birmingham City Council next May, as the Con-Dem coalition has only a majority of seven. Unison must use its links to Labour to get a commitment from the Labour Party, to turn that vocal opposition into hard policy. If Labour does make it an election promise, there will be many council trade unionists who will be offering their services as enthusiastic canvassers.

The next day on 22 September, Unison members also came out at Shropshire unitary council, where the Tories there are too trying to impose new contracts which worsen pay and conditions. In the ballot, over 66 per cent voted for strike action.