Yorkshire Socialist Party members
On 20 February, permanently employed production workers at Drax power station, near Selby in Yorkshire, took their first strike action since the 1980s.
And this was a good old-fashioned 1980s-style strike! The 180 Unite members who had balloted to strike were joined by up to 300 contractors, also Unite members, who refused to cross and joined the picket lines.
This united action was all the more impressive as the company didn’t expect the contractors to strike. Shop stewards and members have been threatened with disciplinary action, and workers not only lost a day’s pay, but two weeks’ bonus and lodging money. Unite steward Dean Preece was blown away by the solidarity action.
The strike is for a RPI-plus pay rise, after rejecting the well-below-inflation 8% offer from Drax Power Limited (DPL).
Due to the hike in energy prices, Unite estimates that DPL made £680 million profits in 2022, a 50% increase. As Unite officer Shane Sweeting told a mass meeting: “We’re not entering a race to the bottom. Why should we accept the crumbs off their table?”
Unite has named eight Mondays from 27 February for further strike action. The contract workers, who have only had a 5% pay rise over the last three years, could be joining them in April. They are gearing up for action, as the employers are now refusing to pay the national industry-agreed NAECI bonus rates.
As contractors’ steward Richie Foster said: “They’re trying to split the workforce, but we’re not having it. The bosses have tried to kick us down the road, but it’s time we threw them down the road!”
