Hero volunteers are labelled ‘scab army’
TO the residents of Birmingham they are heroes, stepping in to clear the mountain of rubbish left by the binmen strikes.
But a Muslim community group has been branded a ‘scab army’ by communist newspaper The Morning Star.
Using language that harks back to the industrial disputes of the 1980s, an opinion piece criticised the group for breaking the strike.
The volunteer group, called the Bearded Broz, have taken truckloads of rubbish to a tip on behalf of frustrated neighbours who had not seen a collection in six weeks.
But writing in the hard-Left newspaper, journalist Steve Sweeney said: ‘A dispute over in Birmingham continues to escalate after a “scab army” of volunteers has been clearing pile ups of rubbish.
‘The community group, known as Bearded Broz, are encouraging people to join their scab operation as they undermine the strike by Birmingham City Council refuse workers over job losses.’
‘Scab’ was a term of abuse frequently used during the miners strike, referring to workers who turned up, or were brought in, for work while their colleagues stayed away.
The attack on the volunteers has been met with outrage. Matt Bennett, a Conservative councillor for Edgbaston, wrote on social media: ‘What a disgusting way to refer to residents who don’t want to live in filth.
‘ The Bearded Broz are not paid workers, just people who wanted the dirt and filth removed from their neighbourhood.’
However, the Midlands Communist Party of Britain sought to defend the Morning Star, tweeting: ‘The criticism is not people cleaning streets, but a complete lack of understanding of the issues of the strike.’
Speaking to the Birmingham Mail, Naveed Sadiq, 42, of the Bearded Broz, expressed sympathy with the binmen’s situation, but said he did not believe the group’s actions were undermining the strike.
‘We’re on the binmen’s side,’ he said. ‘We’ve spoken to some of them. Having done their jobs, we realise what hard work it is. They are worth every penny. The council needs to sort this out.
‘But we will not stand by and do nothing with our streets in this state.
‘We don’t undermine [the binmen] at all, we don’t have a personal agenda or a personal grief with the binmen. If you want to call me a scab, that’s fine.’
‘Disgusting way to refer to residents’