Wembley Stadium

Blair And Beckham – The Champagne Charlies

THE LOCK-OUT OF 250 workers who were employed in the construction of
the new Wembley Stadium is continuing. The workers were sacked at two
hours’ notice on 10 August. Their dispute has since been made official by
the GMB union, which represents most of the locked-out workers.

Ken Smith

The workers were initially working for a company called Cleveland
Bridge, which was dropped from the Wembley project a month ago.

They were all taken on by a company called Fasttrack who are refusing
to honour the transfer regulations (TUPE) and have changed the workers’
hours.

Graham, senior GMB steward at Wembley told the socialist: "Last
Friday we called the picket off until Monday so that Multiplex [the parent
company which Fasttrack is contracted to] could get into talks with GMB
and Amicus but there have been no talks. And the company haven’t even
approached the GMB for talks. So, as from today (7 September), the picket
line is back on and all the GMB lads are on the picket line.

"Our picket lines have been quite effective. Production in the
stadium is almost at a standstill now. The civil engineering work is
starting to dry up and there’s no steel going into the site so things
should stop within a week or two.

"The company brought in eleven lads from Holland to work but once
they realised what was going on they went home. Multiplex have told them
that there’s nothing wrong at the moment and told them to come back, which
they have but they are thinking about going home again today.

"The mood here is very solid and we’re going to stay out until we
get our jobs back on the same pay and conditions. This has never been
about money but about our terms and conditions and our right to do the job
safely.

"This Fasttrack have got rid of the agreements on the safety side
and they only want to pay us what they think fit and it’s just not safe
enough. That’s why we have had one death on the job and three men will
never work again.

"Last week 150 protested when Blair and Beckham came to drink
champagne and light up the arch. It was hard to get close to them but we
think we made the point."

The overwhelming majority of the sacked workers are from outside London
and have to pay for lodging and travel to ensure the picket lines
continue. They will need thousands of pounds a week to maintain the
dispute.

• Donations and messages of support should be sent to Graham Caster at
  18 Waxwell Lane, Pinner, Middlesex HA5 Tel: 07968 022695. (Phone for
  details or see The Socialist newspaper)