A worker brought in to provide cover was won to the union, and spoke to the Socialist
Ali Mansfield, Yorkshire Socialist Party
Forklift drivers and machine operators at Ardagh Glass near Wakefield have won in their strike against employer Lockwood Haulage. The Unite members were asking for a 2.5% pay rise to keep up with the rising cost of living, and in line with drivers at other sites. The strike was successful, winning the pay rise with back pay to March last year.
Lockwood had previously taken a hardline approach, refusing to engage seriously in negotiations, including unacceptable attacks on terms and conditions. Part of this was a refusal by management to acknowledge the skill and expertise of the workforce, and they brought in strike cover without proper training. But this attitude came back to them in a series of accidents, involving pallets loaded with glass bottles stacked more than six feet high.
Cover worker speaks out
A worker who was sent to Ardagh from his home depot got in touch with the Socialist after reading an initial strike report, and gave us insight into conditions on the shop floor.
He described his position as “running blind”, having been given no induction since being sent from his usual depot. He didn’t know who his line manager was, and had been given no information on fire safety procedure.
The management apparently had “no idea what goes on on the warehouse floor” and took an irresponsible approach to training. “Their attitude was ‘if you’ve got a licence, get on with it’”. This led to a major slowdown in the work, but also to serious accidents.
By the second day of the strike there were already pallets being smashed, and a forklift truck was out of use because of a layer of broken glass on its roof. This situation escalated into a major accident, with reportedly 50 pallets being knocked over, and the broken glass contaminating many more.
“You’d be hard-pressed to find anybody as skilled in a 50-mile radius”, this driver told us about the crew out on strike, and expressed his support.
He has now joined Unite.
