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.
Related Posts
Peace activists murdered by reactionary Israeli army
Build a mass movement to break the sanctions on Gaza!
The following is the translated text of a leaflet (in Arabic) that is being distributed in Beirut today by supporters of the CWI in Lebanon during a mass protest against the massacre of peace activists by the IDF last weekend.
The Committee for a Workers International (CWI) in Lebanon, and internationally, offers sincerest condolences to family and friends of the activists murdered by the reactionary Israeli army while on a humanitarian aid mission. We salute the courage of all those activists, who organized this aid intervention, and we demand a safe passage through to Gaza for the 750 people from 40 different countries intent on breaking the Israeli-Egyptian blockade.
Open letter to Conor Murphy on job losses at Translink
Dear Minister Murphy,
As the Minister responsible for public transport, you will no doubt be aware 70 jobs are under threat in the bus engineering division at Translink. At a time of rising unemployment, it makes no sense whatsoever to cut jobs at Translink, especially since you have stated you are in favour of promoting public transport.
’Stop the killing of demonstrators’
Lift the siege immediately!
Below is a translated and a slightly edited statement posted earlier today (31/05/2010) on the website of Tnua’t Maavak Sozialisti / Harakat Nidal Eshtaraki (Socialist Struggle Movement –the Committee for a Workers’ International in Israel) on the killing of peace protesters by IDF paratroopers early this morning.
Below we provide an initial response from Socialist Struggle Movement in Israel (CWI) following the killing of protesters during the IDF takeover of the international aid convoy, last night. We call on everyone to participate in demonstrations and protests.
Stop the killing of demonstrators, lift the siege immediately
Riots expose reality of sectarianism
Working class needs its own party
Fierce rioting erupted in Ardoyne after an Orange Order parade on 12 July and continued for three days. The period before, over and after this year’s Twelfth was also marked by rioting in other areas and a number of gun and bomb attacks. There was trouble across Belfast - including the New Lodge, Broadway, the Markets, Short Strand, Ormeau Road-and in Derry, Armagh, and Lurgan.