Prior to the lockout, the workers, who are members of the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union (AEEU) and General, Municipal, Boilermakers and Allied Trades Union (GMB), had organized a one-day strike to protest the attempt by the boss to impose a pay cut of £80–£120 per week (£1=US$1.46). The company sought to cut basic pay to £4.25 an hour and piecework rates by 30 percent. "On April 12 we had a one-day strike after a ballot backed by our union," Grimes explained. "We returned to work on the 13th and were asked to sign a letter rescinding our union activity. This was an attempt to get us to sign away any union rights. We refused." In preparation for the confrontation with the union, the bosses had advertised for and hired replacement workers.

"We were locked out from that day and began a picket," Grimes said. On the picket line, one worker said that when they "first started, all the strikers joined the picket lines. He [Andrew Cook] took out a court injunction to stop this, limiting our pickets to six."

The plant consisted of three foundries--the Greensand, Heavy, and IMF--with a combined workforce of around 300. Workers said the strike began with 100 percent support from workers at the Heavy and IMF foundries. But Cook played one group of workers off against the other, by issuing new contracts for the different foundries at different times. In the Greensand foundry, with 170 workers, a majority of those who cast ballots voted for "action short of a strike." Since the dispute started, the company moved the IMF foundry to another plant owned by Cook.

"Cook stage-managed the whole thing," one worker said, "but he didn't expect our response." The company has also offered workers lump sum payments in return for severance pay and their agreement not to take part in a tribunal case brought against the company by the union. A picket, who said he worked at William Cooks for 16 years, said the company offered him a buyout of £5,500.

The locked-out workers are reaching out for support for their fight. Grimes said that six workers who went to the Trades Union Congress Conference in Brighton "met a delegation from the Friction Dynamics strike in north Wales. We didn't know about them before, but when we read each others' newsletters, you could put them down side by side and see they were the same story. The only difference is they were sacked [fired] after the eight weeks." Workers in the Transport and General Workers' Union at Friction Dynamics have since April 30 been in a dispute with the bosses over a union-busting attack on pay and job conditions.

On the picket line at William Cooks, workers said they had a march of 200 in June in the streets of Sheffield. Messages of support and donations come in regularly, including from other foundry workers from the Cooks group. A number of workers at the Greensand foundry make regular contributions. There was a flag from the German metal workers union IG Metall on the picket line. Pickets reported they had met up with German steelworkers attending a conference and are sending a delegation to Germany.

Grimes said the unions are taking their case to a tribunal on November 5, claiming unfair dismissal. "If we don't win at the tribunal, that's not the end of it," he stated. A sentiment echoed by pickets at the factory gate.

Hugh Robertson is a member of the General, Municipal, Boilermakers and Allied Trades Union in London. Pete Clifford, a member of the Transport and General Workers' Union, contributed to the article.  
 
 
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