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From The Socialist newspaper, 11 May 2011
Crucial time for Saltend dispute
Alistair Tice
On 6 May, a mass meeting of the Redhall engineering construction workers, 400 of whom have been locked out for eight weeks from working on the bio-ethanol plant at BP Saltend near Hull, voted again to reject an increased financial settlement in order to continue the fight for their jobs.
At the meeting, Socialist Party member Keith Gibson, on behalf of the lockout committee, described the COT3 collective bargaining agreement as an "employers' charter" which if signed up to by the trade unions would have prevented any worker from taking any legal action, employment tribunal or further protest against BP/Vivergo.
The meeting also agreed to call on the industry national shop stewards' forum to support a rolling programme of weekly national strikes in support of the locked-out workers.
Redhall workers lobbied the national stewards' meeting in Leeds on 9 May. The previous emergency meeting held two weeks earlier had unanimously agreed to call a national day of action if the dispute had not been settled by this scheduled next meeting.
Unfortunately, the stewards voted 27 to 10 against taking any industrial action in support of the locked-out workers. This was due to the pressure of the trade union bureaucracy who don't support unofficial and illegal strike action.
There is also a fear of job losses, and a refusal to acknowledge the industry-wide implications of this employers' attack on the trade unions, the TUPE transfer agreement and the NAECI national agreement. Whilst the stewards did pledge financial support, this will not win the dispute.
The Redhall workers have struggled heroically for over two months against financial hardship, company lies and a media black-out, heavy-handed policing and use of Section 14 of the Public Order Act. The workers will be discussing how to proceed with this dispute at report back meetings this week, in the light of the national stewards' refusal to give meaningful support.
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In The Socialist 11 May 2011:
Socialist Party NHS campaign
Socialist Party workplace news and analysis
PCS conference: prepare for united action on 30 June
Crucial time for Saltend dispute
Defending trade unionism on London Underground
Library cuts hit staff and users: time for action against the cuts
Socialist Students
Students occupy against cuts at London Met
Socialist Party election analysis
Government Con-Demned at ballot box
TUSC shows alternative to Con-Dem and Labour cuts
Labour wins Welsh Assembly election -
SNP landslide – but it will be a government of savage cuts
Socialist Party news and analysis
Defend independent living rights
Con-Dems put squeeze on democratic rights
Bahrain repression: Muted criticism of West's ally
International socialist news and analysis
UN report on Sri Lanka war crimes
Socialist Party reviews
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists
Review: Panorama on housing: The human impact of the crisis
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