Second strike
day at Remploy factories
Leeds
The second day of strike action at the Leeds Remploy factory saw
large numbers of pickets once again. A delegation from the PCS
DWP group executive came down early on to support the strike as
did members of other local trade unions. The pickets' anger
showed with chants of 'Maria Miller Factory Killer' directed at
the government minister in charge of factory closures.
Peter Williams who has worked here for 33 years said: "The
government are doing it all wrong, David Cameron has gone back
on his word. Before they came into power he said that he would
help disabled people and elderly people."
John Buttress who has worked at Remploy for 36 years added: "He
says we can all get jobs, but my two young able-bodied sons who
are 18 and 23 can't get jobs".
While a small picket was left on the factory, most of the
pickets went to a 100-strong lunchtime rally in Victoria Gardens
with delegations from PCS, Unison, CWU, Unite, NASUWT as well as
other members of local GMB branches.
Speakers giving support and solidarity to the workers on strike
included PCS union DWP president Fran Heathcote, Leeds TUC
president Sheila Banks, GMB regional secretary Tim Roache and
myself on behalf of the Socialist Party.
Despite the presence of Leeds West MP Rachel Reeves, who also
spoke at the rally, one GMB member spoke specifically to
highlight the fact that Labour oversaw the closure of 29 Remploy
factories in 2008 and demanded that if Labour wanted to really
show their support for Remploy workers they should commit
themselves to re-opening all closed Remploy factories.
That there is some frustration at the role of the Labour Party,
which GMB is affiliated to, should come as no surprise given
that 25% of the motions to the recent GMB conference criticised
this very link.
The NSSN's upcoming lobby of the TUC on 9th September calling
for a general strike against the government's austerity attacks
has received a warm reception amongst pickets, as did the
further strike action planned for 6th August.
Iain Dalton
Birkenhead
30 workers were present on the picket line in Birkenhead. The
government plan will force about 1,700 disabled workers out of
work. This announcement is at a time when unemployment is at its
highest since 1992, with the Birkenhead area being one of the
worst hit.
Jeanette Williams, the Unite shop steward, stated that the
Remploy factories were created "to help those who had been
heavily injured in World War II, but we are in a war now. How
are we going to help those who are coming back from the Middle
East and ease them back within society if this corrupt
government is closing these sites down?"
She then told me a story about an autistic man who had come to
Remploy through his school and who struggled to communicate with
other people. Yet through Remploy he gained the confidence and
skills to gain further employment. This is in stark contrast to
the assessment made by the secretary of state, Iain Duncan
Smith, who claimed that the workers 'don't do any work… simply
making coffee.'
Gareth Rees, GMB's shop steward, added: "The government are
going after those who can't defend themselves. The last time
they closed factories most of the workers didn't find work again
[95% of those axed in 2008 by Labour are still unemployed]. I've
got Cystic Fibrosis, who is going to employ me?"
Cameron Dunleavy
Newcastle and Gateshead
Striking Remploy workers from both Gateshead and Newcastle gave
us a warm welcome as we arrived on their picket lines armed with
our Socialist Party strike bulletin.
In Gateshead, van and lorry drivers pulled up to speak to and
support the strikers. One of them commented that "we must fight
back". Then he paraphrased Pastor Niemoller's poem, First They
Came for the Jews, he said that if we don't fight, "Then they
will come for me and there'll be nobody left to fight."
Colin Hogget, factory team leader and senior Unite factory rep,
commented: "The public around here have been absolutely
fantastic. We've had support from various local factories.
Everyone seems to agree that what this government is doing is
scandalous. The only people who can't see this is the government
itself."
Colin went on to say: "If they can do this to disabled people,
who is next on Cameron's hit list. The British public need to
fight now - before it is too late."
In Newcastle the strikers poured over our strike bulletin.
Andrew Chisholm, who has worked at Remploy for 33 years, told us
the difficulties he would have finding another job. Standing
close by, David Madden joked: "I've only been here for 22
years."
He went on to say that he loved his job at Remploy and in those
22 years he has never had a day's sick leave, and he's a good
time keeper. All the Remploy workers recognise the problem they
will have finding alternative work if they do not win the battle
against these factory closures.
John Harris, Remploy team leader and GMB member, commented:
"Everyone is united, everyone has turned out on the picket
line." John also set out his frustration that the government has
not been prepared to discuss the alternative strategy put
forward by the unions.
Many Remploy workers expressed the necessity to keep fighting in
order to keep Remploy for future generations. Ronnie Maddox told
us: "I'm blind in one eye and I lost nearly nine years of
schooling. What chance do I and others here have against fit
people with college degrees who are also struggling to find
work."
As we were leaving, Brian Guthrie expressed the fear many of the
Remploy workers are facing if they are thrown out of work. "The
banks aren't going to be lenient. Council tax, gas and electric
bills will have to be paid. We're worried about keeping the
wolves at bay."
At both Newcastle and Gateshead picket lines we also received an
excellent response regarding the National Shop Stewards Network
call for a 24-hour general strike.
Elaine Brunskill
Chesterfield
All union members were out on strike again at Chesterfield and
the majority took part in the picketing. All were angry at the
way Remploy has been run down - under both Labour and Con-Dem
governments.
Since 1995 the number of Remploy workers has fallen by nearly
three-quarters while the number of managers has doubled! And the
pay gap between the average shop-floor worker and average
manager has doubled too. Public money has been handed over to
private companies taking work from Remploy. "It shouldn't be
allowed," was the view of many.
There was support for the announcement of another national
strike day on 6th August, but several felt that more action was
needed - a national strike of at least a week. The idea of the
TUC calling a one-day general strike was also supported. The
National Shop Stewards Network leaflet for the lobby of the TUC
on 9th September was well received.
With closure of many of the factories just weeks away, and
Chesterfield probably not far behind after its likely handover
to businessman Simon Webster, NSSN supporters raised the idea of
factory occupations to step up the fight to save the factories
and jobs.
Jon Dale
East London
About 50 Remploy workers and supporters took part in a lively
picket of the Barking Remploy plant in east London on Thursday
26th July. To the background of regular toots of support from
passing drivers, the chant went up: "Maria Miller, factory
killer". Workers are angry at the threatened closure of the
plant and are determined to do what they can to keep it open.
The Barking factory is due to close in three weeks’ time.
Several workers explained how this factory was more than just a
workplace and that they felt that fellow workers were their
family.
Workers are also extremely angry at the low level of redundancy
pay. One worker who has been working at the factory for over 10
years explained that this is the first time she will have been
unemployed in her working life.
Whilst a number of Labour councillors supported the picket,
several of the pickets were clear that the previous Labour
government had begun the closures.
The National Shop Stewards Network leaflets advertising the
lobby of the TUC on 9th September went down well with several on
the picket definitely committing themselves to coming.
Chris Newby
Bristol
Once again the strike at Remploy in Bristol was 100% solid with
all the workers out and most on the picket line. The sun was
shining and the pickets were in a good mood but there was no
dent in their determination to fight the attacks on Remploy.
The people we spoke to wanted to talk about politics and clearly
saw their struggle in the context of the economic crisis, high
unemployment and the cuts. There was support for linking up with
other workers under attack and for the National Shop Stewards
Network lobby of the TUC on 9th September, which is calling for
a one-day general strike against austerity.
I spoke to Mark Cambridge, a Unite member in Remploy and asked
him why he was out:
"We're on strike to speak up and stand up for our rights. In
Remploy Bristol in particular we are concerned about the effects
of possibly being TUPE'd over to a private company and our years
of service not being recognised.
“Basically we're standing up for our futures and for future
generations of disabled people. We're showing we're no longer
the little people who can be easily rolled over. We must fight
to get the support we need, especially in this economic crisis."
I also asked him what he thought the next step was for Remploy
workers: "We need to coordinate with other groups of workers and
raise national awareness. There are still a lot of people that
don't know what Remploy is or what's being done to us.
"That's our key aim. We want to build support and be in a
stronger position to take on the government when parliament
meets again in six weeks."
Tom Baldwin
Scotland
Springburn, Glasgow
Another large turnout gathered on the picket line at Springburn.
Phil Brannan, shop steward at the plant for 32 years, told us he
had been involved in talks with the DWP, Remploy and a
representative of the Scottish parliament.
He said that the DWP is solely intent on reducing any future
redundancy payments to the lowest level possible. Further talks
will take place on 2nd August and, if there is no satisfactory
outcome, a further strike will take place on 6th August. A lobby
of the Scottish parliament is planned for 18th August to
coincide with a visit from Marie Miller, the government minister
for disabled people.
When the picket was well established the manager of the plant,
which produces steel wheelchairs, arrived in his BMW to open the
gates. To the astonishment of all, he discovered that the
padlock had been super-glued. He quickly exited the scene
claiming he would be returning with the police. As yet there is
no sign of a return.
Wishaw, North
Lanarkshire
Another healthy picket line at the factory which presently
packages Simon Schuster books on contract to Harper Collins. It
once employed over 50 workers. This was reduced to 33 with the
first set of redundancies and there recently followed a further
reduction through voluntary redundancies, leaving a workforce of
22 at present. The plant is set to close on 30th September.
However, it is estimated that the workforce will be asked to
leave two or three weeks before, leaving five more weeks of work
to go.
David Walker and Jim Rooney vented their anger at government
policy. David, with learning difficulties, has worked at the
plant since he left school and is at a loss as to what his
future might hold. Jim, who suffers from diabetes, argues that
Remploy is not a factory building, it is a group of people who
are losing their jobs and shouldn't be.
Ray Gunnion and Diane Harvey
Reports from Wales
Porth
At least thirty picketed the Remploy factory in Porth and only
one manager crossed the line on the day. The workers at the
factory are determined to fight to keep the plant open,
especially as many pointed out that if it was run efficiently
and democratically then it could make a profit. One striker
argued that "Remploy should be run by disabled workers for
disabled workers."
The Porth factory is part of "Phase Two" of the government's
plan to rip apart and destroy Remploy, meaning private companies
will sack workers and asset strip the factory in the rampant
search for profits.
The government won't only be closing a socially useful factory
that provides data erasing and electronic equipment recycling,
but also closing down a community. Porth is a small town in the
valleys with high unemployment that depends on the factory to
boost the local economy.
It's not only the community of Porth that is under threat if
this government isn't beaten. Amanda, a Remploy worker, told us
that "workers often have breakfast, lunch and dinner at the
factory. People have been working here over forty years." That's
forty years of friendships and hard work wiped out in an instant
if we don't save this factory.
Socialist party members, Youth fight for job activists and
Cardiff Trades Council members where all out in force to support
the strike. Many workers agreed with the demand raised by NSSN
supporters that the Welsh government should cover the cost of
keeping the factories open, much in the same way that they have
done with Cardiff airport.
It must also be pointed out that the strikers had very little
faith in the Labour Party as it was the last government that had
started the ball rolling in terms of cutting Remploy funding and
factories.
Abertillery
A great mood in Abertillery again. The new strike
date on August 6th has gone down well, and morale is high
despite the anger at the government's plans.
GMB rep, Mandy Webb, pointed out one of the problems facing the
survival of the plant: the mismanagement of the factory - "We
haven't had a sales campaign for years". If the Remploy board
was serious about developing the company work could easily be
found to keep the order books full.
Swansea
Another solid strike at the Swansea Remploy factory today with
two thirds of the fifty strong workforce on the picket line, and
around a dozen or so supporters including a delegation from the
Visteon pensioners’ campaign.
The anger against the government and Remploy management was
greater than ever. The workers in Swansea are seeing orders
being turned away, while they are being forced to sit in the
canteen all day doing nothing!
£10 million has been offered by the Wales Government in
subsidies to prospective employers to run Remploy factories.
However, we demanded that instead, the Wales Government should
take over the running of the 9 Remploy plants in Wales. This
went down well with the workers, but none of them had any
confidence whatsoever that such a proposal would be taken
seriously by AMs.
Merthyr
The mood on the Merthyr Remploy picket line
remained strong on the second national strike day. The
headmistress of a local comprehensive had offered one of the
pickets a job as the school caretaker. He'd turned it down.
"I don't want a job on my own," he said, seizing the head of
another picket in an arm lock. "It's not me. What would I do
without my butties?" The pickets looked at each other. They knew
exactly what he meant.
The feeling is that if these jobs go, there are no other proper
jobs to go to in Merthyr. The pickets told us what had happened
at the packaging plant just down from the Remploy factory a few
days ago. The boss told the workforce, "It's a nice day,
production is up. Take the afternoon off." When they came to
work in the morning, all the machines were gone. Another plant
on the estate that makes metal parts went down to three days
this week.
"Yes" said a picket, looking at his placard. "But it's different
in those places. They don't have a union."
Bridgend
There was another good turnout at Bridgend and pickets made
Youth Fight for Jobs activist, Emma Griffiths, very welcome.
As they all downed plenty of tea and coffee pickets explained
that the factory was like a family that look after each other.
Some workers would be picked on in other workplaces but are
supported in Remploy. One of the companies bidding to take over
Bridgend Remploy is privateering company G4S who also run nearby
Parc Prison and want to use prison inmates to take over the
contracts to make parts for Fords.
Aberdare
There were over 20 on the picket line at Aberdare with local
politicians due to join the line later. Retired members made a
point of coming to support the existing workforce.
Croespenmaen
Croespenmaen plant is on a routine shut down this week.
