[DETAILS FROM 41 Ellington Street. SUBSCRIBE to Socialist…]
Socialist Press1980 1980-06-11Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 10 →
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DETAILS FROM 41 Ellington Street.
SUBSCRIBE to Socialist Press snd za di EliS The attempt by strikers at the Chix bubblegum factory to throw out the sellout "settlement" accepted on their behalf by the GMWU negotiators was met by sustained sabotage by local official Gerry McMullen.
He obstructed all attempts to reconstitute the picket line and the blacking campaign that had brought the firm to the point of defeat-arguing that he was due to meet ACAS the following Tuesday.
In the event strikers, increasingly suspicious of McMullen's antics, organised their own lobby of the ACAS talks.
When McMullen reappeared he declared he had a "very good" new offer. He arranged a strike meeting for Thursday:
Little difference There was in fact little difference between the new" offer and the original offer of recognition of the GMWU coupled with the sacking of the whole night shift-including all the strongest militants.
Under the new proposals nine named production workers from the 28-strong night shift were offered the "possibility' ot their lobs back it vacancies arose in the next six months. The significance of these nine names was to swing the vote-since if they threw their support with the 19 day shift workers who were already offered reinstatement this would ensure a majority to end the strike!
After intensive work persuading day-shift workers to accept the deal, McMullen took a card vote and declared it carried by 21 votes to 18.
Night shift workers are bitter at the vote-pointing out they were not allowed to see the cards, while a show of hands had indicated that the nine had in fact still voted with the night shift.
Asked by Socialist Press to state his view on the deal, McMullen argued in time-honoured fashion that it was "the best under the circumstances"
Basnett But leading strike committee member Mrs Brar retorted that the "circumstances"-8 month: on strike-applied equally to day and night shifts.
"We have been on strike to get our union recognised and to get our jobs back-not to be made redundant!" she pointed out.
In fact the outcome of the strike is in line with the requirements of the GMWU bureaucracy.
The union only paid any attention to the dispute because it took place at a time of a GMWU recruiting drive on the Slough Trading Estate.
With two full-time officials, Paul Kenny and McMullen, in attendance, they have worked both to win recognition and to keep control of the workforce.