Metaldyne workers strike

Members of the Halifax Socialist Party branch have been keen to lend their support to the workers at the Metaldyne engine parts factory who took strike action for the fourth time on 3 February. The issues centre around the imposition of shift changes – an unpaid increase in working time – and threats of further attacks on terms, conditions, pensions and pay.

The managing director has imposed a two-year pay freeze and has refused to enter into any meaningful dialogue.

Yet the workers at the factory are determined not to give in. They are planning a three day strike very soon.

The local press has carried a number of articles hostile towards the strikers, saying they should be grateful to have a job. The workers are grateful not to be unemployed but they will not roll over and take the abuse heaped upon them by unscrupulous managers.

Bradley Chambers