
The Socialist 1 June 2011
Strike - to defend jobs and pensions

Glencore - Profiting from global hunger
New attacks on women's sexual and reproductive rights
Disabled protester - "inadvertently struck with a police baton"
Shoesmith sacking - social work under growing pressure
Egypt and Tunisia: Revolutions at the crossroads
Greece: unite the struggles and bring down the government
Strike - to defend jobs and pensions
Government plans for the NHS: Privatisation and world class profits!
"Frontline first" a dangerous tactic - unity is the key
Cardiff NHS protest against Topshop tax dodger
Demonstration against closure of day centre in Llandeilo
Southampton - council workers' strike spreads
Saltend construction workers' struggle ends
Lewisham teachers - Action threat spells victory
Newcastle East Coast rail call centre - Save jobs!
18 years since Stephen Lawrence murder
Coventry action against academies grows
Yorkshire meetings make Jarrow plans
Lib Dems - a party rooted in capitalism
PDFs for this issue
PO Box 1398, Enfield EN1 9GT
020 8988 8777

Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/673/12122
![]() | |||
Home | The Socialist 1 June 2011 | Join the Socialist Party
Saltend construction workers' struggle ends
The heroic struggle by engineering construction workers locked out from work on the bioethanol plant at BP Saltend near Hull has ended after nearly three months.
The fight by 400 workers to win back their jobs, after their contractor Redhalls was thrown off the job by the BP owned client Vivergo, has not been successful.
The decision of the NECC national shop stewards forum, under pressure from the trade union bureaucracy, to not call industry-wide industrial action was a crucial turning point in this dispute.
However, the refusal of the workers to accept a financial settlement with onerous conditions, and continued protests by a hard-core of protesters, have forced Vivergo, who initially refused any responsibility for the locked-out workers, to increase the money and drop most of the strings.
Whilst most workers have now understandably taken the money, a few, including Socialist Party and lock-out committee member Keith Gibson have refused to take any pay-off from Redhalls or Vivergo and will pursue legal claims against these companies.
These will be important test cases because the worry is that what BP/Vivergo have done at Saltend will set a dangerous precedent for mass sackings by employers in the industry as a means of breaking the national NAECI agreement and undermining TUPE rights.
A fuller article next week will look at the lessons of this dispute and its implications for the industry and trade union struggles.
Alistair Tice, Yorkshire Socialist Party
This version of this article was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 29 May 2011 and may vary slightly from the version subsequently printed in The Socialist.
In this issue
Socialist Party news and analysis
Glencore - Profiting from global hunger
New attacks on women's sexual and reproductive rights
Disabled protester - "inadvertently struck with a police baton"
Shoesmith sacking - social work under growing pressure
International socialist news and analysis
Egypt and Tunisia: Revolutions at the crossroads
Greece: unite the struggles and bring down the government
National Shop Stewards Network
Strike - to defend jobs and pensions
Socialist Party NHS campaigning
Government plans for the NHS: Privatisation and world class profits!
"Frontline first" a dangerous tactic - unity is the key
Cardiff NHS protest against Topshop tax dodger
Demonstration against closure of day centre in Llandeilo
Socialist Party workplace news
Southampton - council workers' strike spreads
Saltend construction workers' struggle ends
Lewisham teachers - Action threat spells victory
Newcastle East Coast rail call centre - Save jobs!
Socialist history
18 years since Stephen Lawrence murder
Youth fight for jobs and education
Coventry action against academies grows
Yorkshire meetings make Jarrow plans
Socialist Party feature
Lib Dems - a party rooted in capitalism
Related links:
Saltend dispute: lessons for future struggles
Crucial time for Saltend dispute
Solidarity action builds for BP/Vivergo Saltend workers
Hull construction workers force bosses to shut down site over health and safety fears
Hull: Construction workers' walkout forces employer to back down
Hull construction workers strike against blacklisting
No return to unsafe construction sites
Construction site bosses put profits first
HS2 debacle: nationalise rail and construction!
Build student unions and walkouts to fight climate change and Trump!