Keith Gibson, a Socialist Party member and a member of the Lindsey oil refinery strike committee was unable to attend the meeting on 28 February. But he distributed the following statement:
“Even though I cannot attend today, I would like the meeting to consider the proposals that were put forward at the Manchester meeting which are mostly the demands that were carried at a mass meeting at LOR during our dispute. They are:
Organise a march on parliament on a weekday in the next month around a clear set of demands.
Call a one-day industry-wide national strike on the same day as the march, of all workers covered by NAECI including repair and maintenance with emergency cover organised by trade unions.
Publicise the following demands as widely as possible amongst our members, European unions and the media, to counter the deliberate misreporting of the last strikes as anti-foreigner:
- No victimisation of workers taking solidarity action
- All workers in UK to be covered by NAECI agreement
- Union controlled registering of unemployed and local skilled union members, with nominating rights as work becomes available
- Government and employer investment in proper training / apprenticeships for the new generation of construction workers
- All immigrant labour to be unionised
- Union help for immigrant workers – including interpreters and union advice – to promote active integrated union members
- Build closer direct links with construction unions in Europe
- Force the government to change or withdraw from those EU directives and court rulings that exempt non-UK companies from abiding by industry collective national agreements.
Good luck with the meeting. Be back in action soon.
