Somers Forge (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)
The articles concerning the Somers Forge strike (see socialistparty.org.uk) in Halesowen were interesting to learn that the company has the same disregard for its workers as it had in the 1930s. It was then Walter Somers Ltd, known locally as ‘Somers slaughterhouse’, because of the number of industrial accidents and deaths.
My late father, Tom Cartwright, worked there as a young man, and witnessed at least two fatalities, one so gruesome it gave him nightmares for years. What he experienced turned him into an active trade unionist for life.
He was an overhead crane driver at GEC Coventry. Despite threats from the management, he would refuse to pick up and transport a load until he was convinced it was safely secured.
Workers in today’s workplaces owe it to past and future generations, as well as themselves, to never compromise on a safe working environment, and to ensure they are protected by being a member of a trade union.
