Fight for jobs at GSK

This week pharmaceutical giant Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK), a company that makes over £8 billion profit a year announced another 206 redundancies at its manufacturing site in Ware, Hertfordshire.

This follows on from redundancies since 2008 bringing the site number down from 1,800 to a proposed 739 in 2011, more than halving the workforce in less than three years.

Staff were briefed on 8 September by the site director, who gave no opportunity for questions or comments, from either staff or trade union representatives.

The company claimed that these further reductions were necessary to protect GSK’s position in the market, obviously whilst still maintaining their enormous profits.

When at further departmental meetings management claimed that these actions were necessary to safeguard jobs, workers pointed out that this was the same promise made two years ago yet this is another 20% cut of the workforce.

In the last two years workers have accepted permanent staff being made compulsorily redundant, while contract staff are kept. Large proportions of the workforce accepted no pay-rise and an increased workload and are expected to work longer hours.

All this when each employee worldwide contributes on average £80,000 towards the £8 billion company profit.

In the words of one worker “Enough is enough!”

The senior stewards are under growing pressure to call both an immediate Joint Shop Stewards meeting and a site Unite meeting

The local Socialist Party and the NSSN will be actively supporting these workers in struggle.