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Construction strikes spread
Workers at several construction sites walked out yesterday in support of lads at South Hook LNG plant at Milford Haven in Wales, where contractor Hertel UK reneged on an SPA to initially source labour locally by bringing in 50 Polish laggers.
Alistair Tice, Yorkshire Socialist Party
Once again the employers are excluding local labour, undermining the NAECI agreement and trying to divide workers along national lines.
The strike should be spread until the SPA is adhered to in full.
No workers should be sacked due to the money-grabbing of the contractors.
The unions must convene an emergency national shop stewards meeting to decide on strategy, including a one-day industry-wide national strike on June 3rd to let the employers know we mean business.
STAYTHORPE- MAJOR INCIDENT
Thursday 14 May
A foreign contractor, allegedly Montpressa, at Staythorpe power station (near Newark) was involved in an incident on Thursday 14 May that could have led to several workers being killed. A unit, weighing (10) ten tons, being lifted above the boiler by the contractor, became detached from the crane and fell 130 feet to the ground narrowly missing several workers whilst falling to the floor. At this stage it has not been confirmed if any injuries occurred.
New Labour has proved it’s a bosses’ government and the EU is a bosses’ Europe. Workers need a political alternative. 200 construction workers on Staythorpe pickets have signed petitions to stop our unions funding Labour and in favour of a New Workers Party. That’s why construction workers like Keith Gibson in Yorkshire, John McEwan in East Midlands, Owen Morris in the South-East and others are standing as candidates for the RMT rail & maritime union-led Left alternative in the European elections, No2EU-Yes to Democracy.
This coalition, led by rail union leader Bob Crow who supported our Olympics Site demo, is standing on a platform of opposition to the bosses EU, for workers’ rights, to stop the wage-cutting ‘race to the bottom’, and against cuts and privatisation of our public services. It offers workers a real alternative to New Labour and the mainstream capitalist parties, and to the racist and anti-union BNP. Socialist Party is fully participating in this coalition, and will be pressing that after the Euro elections, further steps are taken to build a new workers party that is so badly needed.
