Barnoldswick strike saves jobs

Submitted by AWL on 19 January, 2021 - 6:02 Author: Gerry Bates
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Sustained strikes by Rolls Royce workers at the company’s Barnoldswick plant have secured a settlement that will save jobs at the site, which Rolls Royce had planned to cut. Workers voted to accept the company’s proposal, following the suspension of their latest strikes, due to run from 4-22 January.

The settlement includes:

• A 10-year manufacturing guarantee for the site

• A guaranteed minimum headcount of 350 workers

• The creation of a “centre of excellence”, supporting the development and manufacture of zero-carbon technologies

• A two-year no compulsory redundancies agreement

The provisions in the deal for a transition to zero-carbon, green manufacturing are particularly significant, providing a possible basis for similar agreements elsewhere in the aerospace and manufacturing industry.

Barnoldswick workers began their strikes on 6 November, taking sustained and escalating action, and faced a lockout over Christmas. In November, Ross Quinn, one of the Unite organisers involved in the strike, toldSolidarity: “This strike is not a protest. It’s not about taking tokenistic action to say we don’t like what the company is doing, it’s about forcing them to change their decision. And the only way we’re going to do that is by putting the maximum pressure on the employer.”

The Barnoldswick workers’ success in securing a settlement that saves jobs at the plant should be an inspiration to other workers facing job cuts and lay-offs.

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