Pay protesters storm London railway station
Three hundred electricians occupied a construction site at Farringdon station in London today to pile pressure on rogue bosses who want to slash wages by up to 35 per cent. The civil disobedience at the site of work on the Thameslink rail network is part of a countrywide campaign against eight electrical contractors who have pulled out of a national agreement on terms and conditions.
Union representatives have condemned the bosses' action which will allow them to set new grading systems to worsen pay and conditions, remove conciliation procedures and possibly introduce no-strike clauses into contracts.
The contractors that plan to pull out of the Joint Industry Working Board agreement by March 2012 are NG Bailey, Crown House, T Clarke, Spie Matthew Hall, Grattes, W Smith MJN, BBES and Shepherd.
Balfour Beatty Engineering Services issued 890 dismissal notices last week and new contracts are set to be imposed on December 7, which means some electricians will have a 35 per cent pay cut.
But the electricians took the fight to employers as they marched onto the Farringdon site yesterday morning amid shouts of support from other workers.
Prominent Ucatt union member Michael Dooley told the crowd that 80 workers at Newcastle had blocked a site near the Tyne Tunnel as part of the campaign.
Speaking to the Star after the protest, Mr Dooley explained that due to cost-cutting in the construction industry, unofficial strike action with few unionised workers could have "a massive impact" on employers.
Unite gave full support to the protest and said it would ballot members for strike action if the companies continued to attack national agreements.
Assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail, who addressed workers in an earlier rally outside the works site, said: "We are committed to balloting as soon as possible."
Unite executive member Jim Sheridan pointed out that over half of the union's lay executive had turned out to support the action.
RMT president Alex Gordon brought solidarity greetings and drew parallels with the 1998 dispute where the rail union took 19 days of industrial action when private companies sought to attack terms and conditions.
He told workers outside the Thameslink site: "This campaign is for proper jobs, proper apprenticeships and proper pay. Keep fighting - we will win."
After the peaceful protest, police officers pursued Mr Dooley to question him about an alleged assault on a security guard before entering the works site.
Officers informed Mr Dooley that they needed his personal details as part of their investigation but he was not arrested.
A scuffle did break out as workers tried to enter the site. But eyewitness James Conway, a painter and decorator, told the Star: "All I saw was the security guard pick an old lad up by the throat. And then the manager came out to calm him down."