The Socialist 27 July 2016

No compromise with Labour right

No compromise with Labour right wing

Mood to defeat the Blairites

Anger against Blairite 'traitors' sweeps Portsmouth Momentum

'Defend Corbyn' rally

Corbyn's 'rock-star welcome' in North West

End Victorian working conditions

Tories plan further fee hikes for uni students

Them & Us

What we saw: UB40 backs Corbyn

Europe and the workers' movement after Brexit

Why the Socialist Party opposed the EU

Turkey: no to military rule, no to Erdoğan's rule

Barcelona 1936: the people's Olympics

Fawley refinery strike against 'race to bottom'

Unite policy conference backs reselection of Labour MPs

Brookes workers continue the fight against 2Sisters

Workplace news in brief

Black Lives Matter demo shakes Leeds

Sheffield solidarity with Black Lives Matter

Huntingdon anti-racist rally

Pent Valley school closure judicial review blocked

Reverse Derby council cuts

An explosion in sales of the Socialist

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Fawley refinery contractors strike against 'race to bottom'

Fawley oil refinery, Hampshire photo Nick/Creative Commons (Click to enlarge)

On 14 July workers from contractors NICO at the Fawley refinery, members of Unite, took strike action against the super-exploitation of migrant workers from Italy and Bulgaria, being paid £48 for a 10 hour shift, instead of £125. This is a flagrant breach of the national agreements for work at Fawley and other sites across the country.

Picketing at the main entrances strikers got excellent support from ESSO employees and other contractors on site. This is the first official strike at Fawley since the 1980s and shows how the mood against the 'race to the bottom' is growing.

"We may be nearing retirement but how could younger workers or our children come here and live off wages like that?", explained one of the strikers. Unite official Malcolm Bonnett said further strike action is planned for 27 July unless agreement is reached with the contractor. "We are here to say that all workers on this site should be paid the agreed rate for the job."

Nick Chaffey

This version of this article was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 18 July 2016 and may vary slightly from the version subsequently printed in The Socialist.

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No compromise with Labour right wing