Washing machine, photo by Sunny Ripert (Creative Commons)

Washing machine, photo by Sunny Ripert (Creative Commons)   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Hugh Caffrey, Socialist Party – north west region

“Fat cats 22%, workers 1.5%!”: A striker’s placard on the picket line at Indesit’s Old Trafford depot in Greater Manchester sums up why they are on strike. Indeed it sums up the chasm in society between the handful at the top enriching themselves and the overwhelming majority lower down who are told to be content with pennies or a few pounds at best.

Unite members involved in deliveries for white-goods company Indesit have been on national strike for four days across the last fortnight. An overwhelmingly solid strike by drivers and warehouse workers has made it clear that management’s 1.5% pay offer is nowhere near enough, especially after years of 0% or 1% ‘rises’.

Money is not a problem for Indesit, bought for €758 million by multinational giant Whirlpool last year. Company directors already on six-figure salaries have had a 22% pay rise, while senior directors got a reported 29% rise! Even regional management can jump on the big-bonus bandwagon. But none of these riches are on offer to those who actually do the work.

Instead of giving a decent pay rise, Indesit has been trying it on. Site visits by management after the first day’s strike tried and failed to make any good impression. After that, during talks to clarify the bonus proposal, apparently Indesit’s HR director phoned Unite to say the strike had been suspended, which of course it hadn’t.

And then for the first time in many years, workers were called in to work the bank holiday Monday, in between the strike days of Thursday-Friday and Tuesday. Despite all this and more, sites across Britain have been brought to a standstill by the action, while a huge backlog of work has built up.

Strikers made it clear to me that they are willing to continue their dispute until they receive an acceptable pay offer. Solidarity from local trade union branches and trades councils has been warmly received, and Socialist Party branches will continue to back the workers in every way we can.


This version of this article was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 1 September 2015 and may vary slightly from the version subsequently printed in The Socialist.