Labour’s £120k Industry Minister has told striking workers to take a pay cut. In other words: ‘Let them lose pay’ says Labour. Is it still the party of the workers?
Refuse workers in Birmingham are on strike – not for more money, not for perks, but because the city council wants to cut up to £8,000 a year from their pay by removing a vital role — the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO).
Unite the Union says 97 per cent of its members rejected the council’s so-called “offer.” Why? Because it doesn’t address the core issue: workers losing significant chunks of their wages for doing the same job under a different title.
It’s a classic austerity play — rebrand, restructure, reduce pay. It could even be branded “fire and rehire” – and Labour is supposed to be abolishing that!
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
And what’s Labour’s response? Not support, not solidarity, not even silence.
Instead, Labour’s Industry Minister Sarah Jones [pictured, inset], who earns more than £120,000 a year and has just received a 2.8 per cent pay rise, has demanded that Unite should call off the strike and accept the deal. In other words: “take the cut, clean the streets, and stop causing a fuss.”
It’s hard to square that with the idea of Labour as the “party of the workers.”
When low-paid employees are being asked to swallow thousands in lost income, while MPs collect safe pay rises and wag the finger at those who resist — that’s not representation. That’s condescension.
And let’s be clear: this crisis didn’t fall out of the sky.
Birmingham’s financial meltdown is rooted in a decade of political mismanagement, dating back to a Conservative-led failure to pay women properly, resulting in crippling equal pay claims.
Successive administrations have struggled to stay afloat — but instead of holding the powerful to account, Labour is leaning on the lowest-paid to make up the difference.
We’re now watching refuse collectors — people who kept cities moving during the pandemic — being scapegoated for a public health crisis that politicians created.
While vermin infestations and piles of waste mount, the solution being pushed isn’t negotiation. It’s capitulation.
So we have to ask: is this what Labour stands for now?
What’s on display here isn’t just bad judgement — it’s entitlement; a political class living comfortably, speaking down to workers, and expecting applause for doing it.
This isn’t solidarity.
It’s aristocracy in red rosettes.
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‘Let them lose pay’ says Labour. Is it still the party of the workers?
Labour’s £120k Industry Minister has told striking workers to take a pay cut. In other words: ‘Let them lose pay’ says Labour. Is it still the party of the workers?
Refuse workers in Birmingham are on strike – not for more money, not for perks, but because the city council wants to cut up to £8,000 a year from their pay by removing a vital role — the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO).
Unite the Union says 97 per cent of its members rejected the council’s so-called “offer.” Why? Because it doesn’t address the core issue: workers losing significant chunks of their wages for doing the same job under a different title.
It’s a classic austerity play — rebrand, restructure, reduce pay. It could even be branded “fire and rehire” – and Labour is supposed to be abolishing that!
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
And what’s Labour’s response? Not support, not solidarity, not even silence.
Instead, Labour’s Industry Minister Sarah Jones [pictured, inset], who earns more than £120,000 a year and has just received a 2.8 per cent pay rise, has demanded that Unite should call off the strike and accept the deal. In other words: “take the cut, clean the streets, and stop causing a fuss.”
It’s hard to square that with the idea of Labour as the “party of the workers.”
When low-paid employees are being asked to swallow thousands in lost income, while MPs collect safe pay rises and wag the finger at those who resist — that’s not representation. That’s condescension.
And let’s be clear: this crisis didn’t fall out of the sky.
Birmingham’s financial meltdown is rooted in a decade of political mismanagement, dating back to a Conservative-led failure to pay women properly, resulting in crippling equal pay claims.
Successive administrations have struggled to stay afloat — but instead of holding the powerful to account, Labour is leaning on the lowest-paid to make up the difference.
We’re now watching refuse collectors — people who kept cities moving during the pandemic — being scapegoated for a public health crisis that politicians created.
While vermin infestations and piles of waste mount, the solution being pushed isn’t negotiation. It’s capitulation.
So we have to ask: is this what Labour stands for now?
What’s on display here isn’t just bad judgement — it’s entitlement; a political class living comfortably, speaking down to workers, and expecting applause for doing it.
This isn’t solidarity.
It’s aristocracy in red rosettes.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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