The High Court ordered FFG to pay the court costs – a paltry figure compared to the money they stood to lose as a result of the threatened industrial action.
150 workers balloted in favour of taking industrial action after rejecting a 1.5% pay offer from management – an insulting offer when you consider the company made £2.4 million in profits last year. In response to the court ruling Unite proceeded to re-ballot members at Omagh Meats for strike action which forced another pay offer from management and was accepted by Unite members.
More and more the courts are being used by bosses to outlaw strike action. Even when workers have jumped through the many hoops contained in the anti-trade union laws, the courts are still denying workers the fundamental right to strike. Recently, BA workers, train drivers and BT workers have all been served with injunctions for the most irrelevant and non-consequential of reasons.
With major public sector cuts and more attacks on pay and conditions fast approaching, workers who find themselves having no choice but to resort to strike action will come up against the anti-trade union laws and the courts. After 13 years of Labour Party government, the Tories anti-union laws were left untouched. The Socialist Party does not support a casual, light-minded defiance of these laws which would threaten the assets of the unions etc. But the trade unions must prepare now to defy the anti-union laws at a certain point, just as postal workers in Belfast’s Tomb St depot did in 2006 and the Lindsey oil refinery workers did in 2009. These militant unofficial strikes showed that such repressive laws can be made unenforceable in the face of mass strike action.
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The Budget will, if the Government gets its way, mark the first of four where working people, the unemployed and those who depend on public services will be crucified over an economic crash they did not cause. The palpable anger this is causing in society generally can be seen in the threat by the Garda Representative Association to ballot for industrial action.
The national day of strike action of public service unions on 24 November could have marked the beginning of a serious fightback which, had it been further escalated and broadened out into a protest movement involving all working people and the unemployed, could have forced a serious retreat by this hated government or even have brought it down.
Government of millionaires attack benefits
TheSocialist spoke to William, a disabled low paid worker and single parent in East Belfast who relies on benefits which are now coming under attack.
“I’ve been receiving a small amount of disability benefits for a number of years following a serious breakdown caused by stress and overwork. Although I’ve managed to get back into some work, its only part time and at a very low wage. I get about £2,400 a year in benefits on top of my wages of £9,700, so life is a struggle.
Cuts bloodbath must be resisted
A savage attack has been launched on working class people in Northern Ireland. The Comprehensive Spending Review announced by the Tory-Lib Dem Coalition government on October 20th represents around a 6.9% cut in public spending in the North over the next four years. This amounts to some £4 billion in revenue spending, and a 40% reduction in capital spending (on roads, hospitals and other public projects). A report, published on 13th October by PricewaterhouseCooper, estimated that 20,000 public sector jobs are under threat as a consequence of the Comprehensive Spending Review while a further 16,000 private sector jobs will be lost as a knock on effect.
Youth Fight for Jobs Campaign spreads to Craigavon

As a 16 year old male currently seeking work, I know first hand how difficult it is to find a job for young people. Any sort of jobs are few and far between. But on the rare occasion that I find a job suitable to apply for, I see that several years of previous experience are needed. How can anyone get a first job if all employers are seeking experienced workers?