The workers are members of the Transport and General Workers’ Union (TGWU). They were locked out last April when they fought the drive by the bosses to cut wages, hire contract workers, undermine union representation, and extend working hours. The fight has importance for workers across the region where unemployment remains high. "Where else will we work?" asked David Jones, one of the pickets. "At a nearby meatpacking plant which has a constant turn over of workers, where the hours suit the bosses not yourself?"

Friction Dynamics boss Craig Smith was able to lock the union members out after putting them on an enforced holiday for eight weeks. The antilabor move came after the government had changed laws to supposedly make it harder for bosses to do exactly what Smith did. "This dispute is an embarrassment for the Labour government and its laws," said Jones, "they want us to go away, but that is not going to happen. We have to win this fight."

On April 22 workers from the picket line attended a magistrate’s court to hear a case brought by the government’s Health and Safety Executive against Friction Dynamics bosses, after one of the scab workers lost several fingers in an unguarded machine. The magistrates court decided to refer the case to a higher court where it is possible to award larger compensation payments to the injured worker.

"Safety in the plant has gone right down since the dispute started," said Jones. "Recently we’ve heard about some of the scabs breaking their bones in accidents. They have also run out of scab labor from Caernarfon and are having to recruit from further afield." The replacement workers are hired on 10-week contracts. According to the pickets, many do not return after their first contract is up.

Another sign of the company’s weakness is phone calls 12 of the locked-out workers received from Smith, who asked them to come back to work. Gerald Parry related how Smith was "flattering us about our work and pleading with us to come back. He also badmouthed the union. No one has responded to his pleas. He thinks he can deal with each of us alone, but he is dealing with the union," he explained.

For further details of the June 8 rally, contact Tom Jones at the TGWU office, 17 Segontium Terrace, Caernarfon, North Wales. Or call: 01286 672102.

Paul Davies is a meat packer in London.  
 
 
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