The Friction Dynamics Picket Line
10 years ago, an industrial dispute commenced in a corner of the North West that should go down in history as one of the most significant strikes in Welsh and British industrial history. 86 workers from Friction Dynamics were unlawfully sacked by their employer and from there started one of the longest industrial disputes in the history of the UK trade union movement. The dispute lasted 2 1/2 years but because of the 'flexible working' legislation created by the Tories and untouched by 12 years of Labour government, the strikers did not get one penny of compensation, even though they won their case for unfair dismissal.
I remember visiting the strikers and supporting a march in Caernarfon, astounded and humbled by their strength in holding a picket line for so long, but in the end they lost - even though they won. As a trade unionist of 20 years standing, it depresses me that the UK/Wales has some of the most oppressive anti-trade union laws in the democratic world and that after 12 years of Labour Government in London, almost none of it was touched. I have never been a union hothead who supports pointless action but their cause was as legitimate as it gets, yet they still lost. Somehow, I do not see Ed Miliband bringing fairness back to trade union legislation and as Carwyn's party is not federal and such legislation is not devolved, then I do not expect the party that was born from trade unionism to do anything about it. In fact, has clean cut Ed ever been on a picket line?
As a trade unionist of 20 years standing, what's your opinion of Indian slave drivers moving another 1500 of OUR steel jobs to India and calling British workers lazy and unwilling to go the extra mile?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1389393/Steel-giant-Tata-axe-1-500-jobs-UK-factories.html
Bye the way, you do realise that your beloved global warming scam is partly responsible for OUR Steel jobs going to India?
I am sure you don't, so I will explain the mechanics of it.
1. Tata gets allocated carbon credits for its UK plants.
2. Tata moves production (ie jobs) to countries like India where you can emit carbon to your hearts content.
3. Tata then sells its carbon credit allocation to another manufacturer.
The upshot being
1. Indian cheap labour.
2. No unions to worry about.
3. No health and safety executive to worry about.
4. Free money from the sale of the carbon credits.
5. OUR industries and jobs gone.
6. Even more carbon emitted than before.
As a warmist/globalist you must be really proud.
What's that old saying, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Real Jack
Anon,
ReplyDeleteGlobal warming is no scam, it's real and however much your BNP mates tell you otherwise, that fact will not change.
TATA have actually invested hundreds of millions into steel just in Wales so again, your views being driven by racism once again fall foul of reality.
True, those 1500 redundancies only affect our English European brothers.
ReplyDeleteAnd nicely dodged on not answering my question regarding the Tata chief’s racist comment, you’ll go far in politics.
Real Jack
The comment was stupid and counter-productive but when it comes to racism, I tip my hat to your friends in the BNP.
ReplyDeleteReal Jack needs to know that the Welsh Government- when Plaid held the economic development portfolio- injected public money into Tata at Port Talbot, and since then there has been a vote of confidence in the site from Tata's private financing- perhaps that's how we avoided mass redundancies there.
ReplyDeleteReal Jack has a point that globalisation is a real problem, for workers and jobs especially. But a government with the right political will can counter-act some of the realities of globalisation. France does it with Airbus. Germany does it with manufacturing and automaking.
The flipside is that the state is then being used to subsidise private profit, but that's the reality throughout all capitalist economies, just look at the banking crisis.
Maybe Plaid should have made more that it stood up for Welsh workers- but in hindsight, doing so would have been even less likely to distinguish Plaid from Labour, despite Labour's poor record on workers rights. Politics is a cruel game where the truth doesn't always win.
I'm starting to I get the hang of this game now.
ReplyDeleteRacist comments are only racist when white people say them. When non-white people say something racist it's re-classed as stupid. Good stuff.
Real Jack
Anon 1,
ReplyDeleteA fair comment and Port Talbot with a new blast furnace and energy efficiency measures is looking as safe as any UK steel plant can.
Anon 2,
You would be at least balanced with a chip on either shoulder but sadly in your case, not so.