The \u201cmega-picket\u201d held Wednesday at Veolia\u2019s Lumley Street depot in Sheffield, marking 11 months of strike action by refuse workers for recognition of Unite the union, confirmed warnings made by the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS). Far from breaking the isolation of the dispute, the event was a stage-managed display of performative solidarity by the union bureaucracy.<\/p>\n
Attendance was around 150. Outside of 30 Veolia strikers, Unite brought only a delegation of around 20 from the 400 striking Birmingham bin workers. Most of those present were trade union officials with banners, or affiliated with one or another pseudo-left group.<\/p>\n
The “mega-picket” outside Veolia depot in Lumley Street, Sheffield, July 9, 2025<\/p>\n
Veolia breached regulations by organising for refuse lorries to be parked up side streets ready to deploy, rather than from the depot, bypassing the picket to maximise operations.<\/p>\n
The Socialist Worker promoted the event\u2014modelled on the May 9 \u201cmega-picket\u201d in Birmingham\u2014as putting \u201cworkers back on the front foot,\u201d with another planned for Birmingham on July 25.<\/p>\n
National unions including the University and College Union, National Education Union, Public and Commercial Services Union, several Trades Councils (Sheffield, Barnsley, Leeds, Liverpool), \u201cWe Demand Change\u201d linked to Jeremy Corbyn, and the Socialist Party\u2019s National Shop Stewards Network sponsored the \u201cMass Picket\u201d. The leaflet declared, \u201cThe strike has reached a critical stage and needs our support.\u201d<\/p>\n
The low turnout exposed the hollowness of such declarations. The event was a choreographed exercise to shore up Unite\u2019s leadership and the trade union apparatus. Sheffield and Birmingham refuse workers have shown real determination, and their action can galvanise broader working-class opposition. But this is something the bureaucracy dreads as it would mean direct confrontation with the Labour government and its locally controlled authorities.<\/p>\n
In Sheffield, the Labour-led council, in alliance with transnational corporation Veolia, has denied workers representation by the union of their choice\u2014Unite\u2014to protect its sweetheart company deal with the GMB. In Birmingham, the Labour council, backed by Starmer\u2019s government, has waged an unprecedented strikebreaking operation against workers who are resisting job losses and pay cuts of \u00a38,000\u2013\u00a310,000.<\/p>\n
The WSWS campaign team covered the picket with the article, \u201cSupport striking Veolia bin workers in Sheffield: Build a rank-and-file committee!\u201d It stated:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Socialist Equality Party unconditionally supports the right of Veolia workers to choose which union represents them. But Unite has shown after nearly a year that it cannot wage the required struggle to prevent a major confrontation with the Starmer government and the corporate elite.\u201d<\/p>\n