On the back of what the ruling Tory group on Thurrock Council somehow think is a positive post election mandate from the borough’s residents, the new portfolio for environmental services, Cllr. Andrew Jefferies, has lost no time in putting the boot into striking bin workers and the Unite union: Council and portfolio holder pour scorn on union for extending strike and accuse it of lies as tit-for-tat war of words goes on. Briefly, on the issue of the ‘mandate’ from the electorate, this is what we had to say: Turnout…the elephant in the room…

The thing about Thurrock Council – ruling group Tories and senior officers alike, is that they have a habit of believing their own bullshit. They don’t cynically issue statements knowing that they are little more than propaganda, they actually believe what they come out with! So, we have a situation where the Tories genuinely think that getting 53% of the vote on a turnout of less that 30% is a mandate for them to get really tough with the strikers. This couldn’t be further from the truth…

The strikers response to Cllr. Jefferies getting on his high horse was this: Thurrock bin strike set to run until 18 June as workers show resolve against ‘brutal attack’ by bosses. That Cllr. Jeffries is what you get for a display of arrogance and bullshit! Anecdotal evidence suggests that despite the growing inconvenience of the rubbish starting to pile up, public support for the strikers is still pretty high across the borough. As we’ve mentioned before, a lot of this is down to residents wanting to see an arrogant but also incompetent council get a well deserved bloody nose.

Onto the incompetence – something that Thurrock Council seems to excel at… They’ve been setting up waste collection points across the borough with outside contractors brought in to cart it away. The council use the term ‘waste collection points’ – anyone who lives in close proximity to one would describe what they see (and smell) as fly tipping. When these points are created, it would appear there is little or no consultation with local residents: Bags of controversy: Rural drop offs draw differing opinions – Utter madness or a great idea! One of the rural collection points is the car park at Coalhouse Fort (a local heritage site), at the end of a long, narrow road that goes through the village of East Tilbury. You couldn’t make this up if you tried!

The morale of the strikers is high. The pickets have played a significant part in building that, enabling crews normally isolated from each other to mix, mingle, discuss and plot. Also from what we’ve seen, to enjoy a bit of a party vibe as well:) All of which is invaluable in building the solidarity that’s needed to see the strike through to victory. Which would explain why Thurrock Council have been trying in various underhand ways to disrupt the pickets…

What are the strikers up against? A council that believes its own bullshit. A council that seems to be divorced from the reality of what actually goes in the the borough they run. A council that manages to be simultaneously arrogant and incompetent. A council that is tone deaf to the views of many of their residents and all of their frontline workers. A council that is digging itself into an ever deeper hole. Our advice to Thurrock Council is this – drop the fecking shovel and stop digging NOW!

If you want to join us in showing solidarity with the striking bin workers, highway maintenance crews and street cleaners across Thurrock, we have an A4 poster you can download, print off and put up.

You can download a PDF of this poster from here