The Birmingham Mail are at it again with lies about the salaries taken home by Birmingham bin men. Their article can be viewed here and we urge all readers to email them to complain:

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/how-much-binmen-paid-birmingham-13344349

Birmingham Mail lies

Duping the masses is, of course, an essential component of the ruling class’s programme to maintain its power at home and to pursue war abroad. It’s class against class. The Birmingham Mail working on behalf of the city council is spreading lies about the wages of bin men so as to assist in turning public opinion against the striking workers. But messages of support from the street show that this isn’t working.

The real facts about wages are reported by Communists, Socialists and trade unionists. A campaign on 38 Degrees says:

When we had a black bag service each refuse wagon had 5 workers; when the new wheelie bins were introduced this went down to 3. One is the driver of the wagon; who has to hold a HGV licence and they manoeuvre those large vehicles in Birmingham’s tightest spaces. A driver depending on an appraisal system can earn between £25,000-£31,000 Grade 4. There is then a Leading Hand, their job is to make sure that they are all kept safe. They are the driver’s eyes at the back and side of the vehicle; they are in charge of talking to the public and making sure that people stay away from the back of the vehicle. They also collect the bins and empty them in the vehicle and are Grade 3 earning between £19,000 and £24,500. Then there is the loader whose job it is to collect bins and load them. Their pay is between £15,000 and £18,500. Since 2008 these workers have all had their pay cut twice.

Please support the petition and sign it here: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/support-birmingham-s-fleet-and-waste-workers-strike