Defending jobs

older

Solidarity Swells Lindsey Pickets

Good local support boosted numbers at the demonstration called at Lindsey Oil Refinery this morning adding to the solid core of sacked workers at the site. Building from a slow start at 0630 the picket swelled to over 1500 by 0830. The picket line itself was very quiet, most of the sacked workers having already heard the news that Total had agreed to talks. Yesterdays dramatic burning of their letters informing them of the sack was matched today by a further defiant gesture as the picket moved off in an impromptu march along the road outside the refinery up towards the nearby motorway junction...

CAIC protest at Total HQ

The Campaign Against Immigration Controls organised a picket yesterday at Total HQ in Watford to coincide with the deadline for surrender that the bosses had set, stepping up their offensive against the unions in the engineering construction industry with the taunt of asking workers to betray the most militant among them by reapplying individually for their jobs rather than securing reinstatement en masse. None of us from London (including two children) joined three members of the Watford Trades Council. Victimised Colombian cleaner, Alberto Durango, was due to attend but had to stay in London...

CAIC protest at Total HQ

The Campaign Against Immigration Controls organised a picket yesterday at Total HQ in Watford to coincide with the deadline for surrender that the bosses had set, stepping up their offensive against the unions in the engineering construction industry with the taunt of asking workers to betray the most militant among them by reapplying individually for their jobs rather than securing reinstatement en masse. None of us from London (including two children) joined three members of the Watford Trades Council. Victimised Colombian cleaner, Alberto Durango, was due to attend but had to stay in London...

Construction: victory for the solidarity strikes!

29 June: the BBC reports - "Construction workers at the Lindsey oil refinery have voted to accept a deal that will see them return to work after weeks of strike action. "The deal is said to involve the reinstatement of 647 workers sacked for taking unofficial industrial action. Unions now say they have secured other jobs for the 51 workers [who were told early in June that they would be laid off] as well as reinstating 647 employees at the site who were on strike. Read more: 19 June : Construction contractors at the Lindsey Oil Refinery site in Lincolnshire have responded to strike action over...

New wave of solidarity strikes

New strikes over jobs and union agreements have broken out in engineering construction similar to those at the end of January and the start of February this year. According to Contract Journal (19 May), the dispute started with 50 laggers walking out at the South Hook Liquified Natural Gas terminal in Milford Haven. Utility Week reported (20 May) “around 200 workers... picketing the South Hook liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Milford Haven. They include some from the nearby Dragon LNG terminal.” Walk-outs in solidarity were reported from: • Laggers and thermal insulation engineers at...

New strikes in engineering construction

New strikes have broken out in engineering construction similar to those at the end of January and the start of February this year. According to Contract Journal (19 May), the dispute started with 50 laggers walking out at the South Hook Liquified Natural Gas terminal in Milford Haven. Utility Week reports (20 May) "around 200 workers... picketing the South Hook liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Milford Haven. They include some from the nearby Dragon LNG terminal". Walk-outs in solidarity are reported from: Laggers and thermal insulation engineers at Aberthaw power station in the Vale of...

Union News in Brief, UNITE, PCS, CWU and NUT

UNITE:  You might think the leaders of a union whose members occupied the Visteon factories and took wildcat strike action in engineering construction would be pre-occupied with struggle. Yet Derek Simpson, joint General Secretary of Unite and his supporters seem to spend much timein an unedifying turf war. The most telling part of this tussle was the leaking of details about Simpson obscene pay and perks to the bourgeois media. The red-faced Gen Sec responded not by giving up his bosses’ lifestyle but by starting a hunt for the leakers. Kevin Coyne, a candidate in the recent Joint General...

Higher Education: Build for strike on pay and job cuts

Lecturers at two thirds of higher education institutions face the real threat of losing their jobs. The Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) has said that 100 institutions are planning collective redundancies. While most of these 100 institutions have yet to go public, Liverpool University has announced eight of its forty five departments risk closure, Thames Valley has proposed shutting completely one of its four campuses, and one in four staff at London Metropolitan University face the sack. Reduced student funding in the area of health means nursing and health profession...

Visteon: Gains won, but pickets continue

Visteon workers who occupied or picketed their plants when they were sacked without notice on 31 March have won an important victory. Many of the workers at the three plants in Basildon, Belfast and Enfield had been on Ford mirror contracts, since the company was spun off from Ford in 2000, but when Visteon UK went into receivership the company claimed it did not need to honour the contracts, even though the international company is still solvent. Ford also tried to wash their hands of the affair, although the fortunes of Visteon remain heavily tied to those of Ford — and vice versa. Yet, in a...

Fight the cuts!

A survey of 129 council leaders by the Local Government Association shows that half the councils in England have axed jobs in the last few months and seven in ten anticipate further redundancies. In the south-west, 67% of councils have already made cuts in staff; in the the south-east, 57%; and so on down to Yorkshire and Humberside (37%). In some areas, councils are the largest employer, and across the UK they employ 2.2 million workers. Cuts in jobs mean cuts in services — at a time when the economic crisis means an increase in the need for housing benefit, council housing, debt advice...

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.