Link to this page: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/561/6747
From The Socialist newspaper, 7 January 2009
No redundancies at GSK!
GSK (Glaxo Smith Klein) is adding to the growing ranks of the unemployed. GSK made over £6 billion last year but that is not enough, they want more, transferring high paid jobs here for cheap wages in Poland. With losses in the US market last year GSK are looking to rip every penny from its workforce.
Plants at Dartford and Crawley have both been closed and redundancies are taking place at Ware and Barnard Castle. On the promise of new drugs coming through the pipeline it was agreed that old work could go to Poland, but the new drugs have not been forthcoming. Just after 200 workers took voluntary redundancy another 421 jobs are to go at Ware, with more due through the closure of the tablet packaging department.
The only goal the union have been fighting for is no compulsory redundancies. They have no confidence in the workforce to fight, after nearly getting killed in the rush for the last lot of redundancies.
National Shop Stewards Network members from Stevenage decided to act, leafleting the Ware site just before Christmas advertising a meeting the following evening.
Linda Taaffe from the NSSN national committee spoke to NSSN members and GSK workers from the Ware site. After a heated discussion on the role of the union and the need to fight, it was agreed to hold a follow-up meeting on 10 January to agree a press release and to start to organise the workforce into a combative fighting force.
Mark Pickersgill
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In The Socialist 7 January 2009:
Thousands protest against the Israeli onslaught
Socialist Party Marxist analysis
2009 - putting socialism back on the agenda
Socialist Party youth and students
Socialist Party campaigns
No festive joy for shop workers
Labour ministers' unsocial fund
Celebrity Big Brother
Tommy Sheridan in Celebrity Big Brother
International socialist news and analysis
USA: Chicago factory workers occupation wins concessions
Socialist Party workplace news
For a fighting Usdaw leadership
South Wales: Workers vow to fight job losses
BT: reluctant vote for pension cuts
Salford council: Equal pay, not pay cuts!
Environment and socialism
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