Strike

Bravo · Strike

So, I go to work today. Word gets round there's a big meeting at 11am. Everybody to be there.

11am comes, about 2,000 men hovering about. It's all about a load of massive contracts on British soil going to foreign workers while the British workers are more skilled, are cheaper and available. Lindsey oil in Grimsby has brought in 300 Italians to do labouring (ie sweeping up etc) meanwhile British people are being laid off in the hundreds of thousands.

So, all the 'blue book' sites up and down the country are walking out, us included. Next Thursday they're marching on London, buses are being laid on to get the men down there for a £10 levy.

We phoned Southampton, a blue book site where some of our men are, they hadn't heard of it but that isn't a suprise as they are the only Brits on that particular site anyway. We have a man in Staythorpe which is also full of foreign workers.

Our glorious government is paying Brits to be on the dole to get foreign workers in to sites of national importance. If we don't stand now, there'll be nobody left to stand.

Still, it's half a day off

david hobbs

About time we took to the streets.

The French, and the Greeks and various other Europeans have already and, as things get worse so shall the nature of the protests.

Perhaps the company will change it's policy and it will all blow over. But that does leave the question "why was the policy implemented in the first place?

Bravo

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/humber/7857996.stm

No mention of us other than that 'others' are taking industrial action.

david hobbs

I wonder what they mean by no direct redundancies from this.

Bravo

They mean nobody will be made redundant due to foreign workers coming in, which is a total sham.

The way it works is, we work on one site, for me it's currently Wilton. Over the last few months as the contract here neared completion lads have been laid off, around 1,200 or so have gone. Normally, these lads would end up at the next contract which in this case is Lindsey oil, I remember talking with a few of the laid off lads and they knew lindsey was coming up.

Now, they will remain out of work due to the allocation of these contracts to foreign workers. Our lads already have the skills needed and are local, so no training costs and no transportation costs. So, if it doesn't make economic sense for them to bring these people in, so it must be a political decision. Hence here is where we stand.

david hobbs

It seems almost like deliberate provocation to me.
I have seen it before on a smaller scale when I worked in a factory as a youth.

Strikes would be deliberately caused at slack times and then called of when the bosses admitted to making a very convenient mistake,coincidently corresponding with a pick up In business or a vital machine turning up etc.

If this is political then who does it suit to have protests and strikes all over the media?

Bravo

These aren't slack times, there are plenty of jobs available, just they are going to foreign workers when our workers are better and more cost effective.

david hobbs

Bravo

Well, it's going to escalate next Thursday when they all go to London. Even thinking of going myself.

Time for a motion of 'no confidence' I think, this government is the worst we've ever had by a long way.

GenieDi

I saw this on the news, they house the workers on a floating hotel, how much must that all cost.

Absolutely ludicrous.

Raymond

I heard something on the news last week that two new factories are opening, one in Kent and the other in Nottingham - i think.
Anyway, both will be filled with foreigners. No British labour at all.

Does this government actually want civil unrest?

Raymond

By the way Bravo, you should go on the demo. Nothing like a bit of shouting to fire up the blood.

Bravo

Thinking about it mate, though gonna try get paid to go

Bravo

Went to work this morning, traffic backed up at one gate, went to next gate, just the same. Going in normally takes a minute, this morning it took 35 minutes.

There were about 500 men on the main gate and I'm told about a 100 men on each of the other gates. They were chatting with us as we went in, walking in front of the car, just to slow it all down.

There was one lone copper there saying 'come on get in keep going'

Yesterday, a company called Tolents who are under a different union to the main lot ended up staying working. Someone must have made a note as every single one of them got their car kicked on the way in this morning. Turns out they were told if they walk off they'd be out of a job simple as that. They weren't working this morning, just waiting for their union rep, I think they'll be coming out nationally as well.

We were sat in the cabin just reading the papers but as soon as we heard of the car kicking we were straight out, just aint worth it. There are only 5 of us from our company on there and we aren't in their union, so we're in a bit of a catch 22 situation.

I think this is gonna get a lot bigger yet, feelings are definitely running high. They're talking of bussing men down to Grimsby in the thousands to picket the gate and stop the Italians getting in. It could end up bigger than the miners strike this.

GenieDi

Well you can't treat people like that and think in these times they will just put up and shut up, totally out of order getting foreigners in to do jobs here that are needed by us.

Raymond

Bravo

If you want to get involved then it will be in London on Thursday. It might get ugly though I simply don't know. They are a good set of lads but they are fighting for their future and the future of the British worker, they are fighting for their sons and daughters futures.

This is definitely a fight worth fighting.

Raymond

It is but a fight I can't help feeling they will lose. The government will simply use the line that these 'foreign' workers are part of the EU and have as much right to work here as British workers do.

And unfortunately under current law, they do.

Bravo

Aye it probably is a fight that we cannot win.

We will fight nonetheless.

Raymond

That's the spirit!

Bravo

For those among you who are interested in such things:

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8...0.03591,0.076904&t=h&z=14

From that roundabout to the main gate took me 35 minutes on Friday, which as you can see is barely 500 metres. Normally takes a minute to drive in, show my pass and get through.

No idea what's gonna be there Monday.

Raymond

So, does this mean you're a scab Bravo?

Bravo

No, it's not an official picket. Besides, I haven't done a minutes work since the walkout started on 11am Thursday. We've just been sat in the cabin or gone home.

david hobbs

There is no way that government that is pro European will cave in to this strike.

They dare not be seen to go against the migration on labour within the EU it is fudemental to the organisation.

How many British workers are working within the EU.

I think that will be the bottom line.

Bravo

They can't give in, it would be illegal for them to. That's the problem, nobody in this country has had a chance to vote for or against the situation.

Raymond

I agree, I just hope the strikers don't give in. It will interesting to see where this leads.

This is the single biggest threat to this government at the moment.

If more and more people jumped on board with this one it may just spark a referendum on the whole european issue.

I've noticed how the newspapers and TV news are playing it down. It's barely had a mention this week in The Sun.

Bravo

I noticed they were playing it down too. I know personally from plot9 of Wilton alone there were 2,000 men walking. I know at least one other plot walked, around another 1,500 or so men.

At a guess I would say a minimum of 5,000 walked from Wilton alone, but probably double that.

The number reported?

400

You don't think the media are manipulating the news to put it across in the way that 'they' want, do you?

Raymond

I'm sure Mr. Hobbs and others will call it conspiracy but it's simple marketing.

The papers don't want us to have a referendum on Europe any more than the government do, they do too nicley out of it.

Also, you won't get too many unions jumping on board with this one either, saying no to foriegn workers will be seen as 'racist' in their eyes.

The only hope this strike has of sparking a change is if it strikes a cord with ordinary people and they back it.

Let's hope so.

Bravo

Raymond

Bigger audeince? Who knows?

It's bound to do with making money. Everything normally is.

And I see where you're going. It's not conspiracy Bravo. Try and get your mind out of that awful place Hobbs has led you to.

Whether it's the papers or the government, there's nothing strange or odd about two groups of people getting together and fighting for a shared interest.
It's called business. And the government is a business just like any other.

Bravo

Now there's a turn up

Raymond

That's good.

The cracks are starting to appear.

One good thing about Brown is he is so desperate to be seen as a good Prime Minister his ego could be used in our favour.

He would even go against the EU to make himself look good.

Bravo

He's done more U-turns than a u-turny thing on national u-turn week during u-turn hour.

david hobbs

Where are we now with this one.

Is it all settling down or still simmering just below the surface?

Bravo

The government seized the unions fighting fund which had grown to £96,000.

A new fund has been set up but is in cash only, it had got to £3,000 week before last, two more weeks levies to go on that so probably at about the £10k mark by now.

Currently, we are bussing men down to Staythorpe once a week. Their wages and coach money etc is being paid out of the fighting fund.

We were due to have a day of action at Wilton tomorrow, but that has been put off now until after a meeting in March where it is hoped that something will be written into the blue book agreement to have a minimum amount of British workers on blue book sites.

Raymond

I hope they clearly define what they mean by 'British worker'. Under this government that could mean anybody whose been here since last Wednesday.

Tommy

I recently read a headline stating that foreign workers were doing the jobs for £2 an hour. Is that not a contravention of the minimum wage law? If not, there should be a high profile campaign to change the law.

Bravo

Oh, and I actually joined the union.

We'd been quite naughty attending the meetings and voting for strikes when we weren't even in the union

Tommy

You should keep a false beard handy in case you want to take unofficial action. Oh, and practice a different accent. Brummie or Yorkshire accents both go down well in any uniony type matters!

david hobbs

So they took the fighting fund.

It's your credit cards next, or at least once the government have finally got rid of cash.

If you were a business man you would choose to work with someone or not and you would use whatever means at your disposal to get what you wanted. You would be praised by the community because you were a tough negotiator and a success

In this case the workers are choosing what kind of deal they want.

If you were a business you would not have you bank account frozen for wanting to negotiate a deal to suit your company.

It seems that if you are a worker you don't have the same rights.

Today your fighting fund.

Tomorrow your access to your own money.

Raymond

"WE'LL KEEP THE RED FLAG FLYING.....!"

david hobbs

Bravo

I am far from being a leftie.

Bloody morons got the day of action wrong, we sent a coach load of men to Staythorpe today (at considerable cost) and the day of action isn't until tomorrow

Next week, they are planning a day trip to a brewery where it is hoped a piss up can be arranged but nobody is holding their breath.

david hobbs

Wrong day eh.

Accidental?

Bravo

Not sure. There are three stewards for our particular site and they all attended the co-ordination meeting and they all reported back as today for the action day.

The government has put the squeeze on them because they said the union can't back the men, someone suggested all en masse opting out of the political levy but that never got voted on.

evergreen

Bravo what are the men/workers wanting?

i haven't even heard about this strike until reading this thread? that is unusal for the Australian media I guess the fires and now floods have taken the lime light 201 confirmed deaths at this time.. and now a state of emergency in fours states due to floods .. hmm

Bravo

Not suprised you haven't heard anything, they are playing it down here too. Ordinary folk think it's all settled but it's just the government putting the slammers on the press.

They have this chance to sort it in March and if they don't I know for a fact that things will get very hot.

david hobbs

Are you listening Raymond.

This is first hand information about manipulation of the media. In other words, conspiracy.

But perhaps it's all imagination, and nothing is being covered up.

The truth is that this government is sitting on a volcano and they know it.

Raymond

I completely agree! This is being kept quiet, of course it is.

But it isn't conspiracy.

The government can keep the papers quiet. They have the power to do that.

Don't tell me you wouldn't keep something quiet about yourself if you could. Of course you would, we all would.

That's not conspiracy, that's human nature.

david hobbs

Raymond

I'm not entirely sure to be honest. Let's remember one thing here, we elect a government to do what's best for us (ha ha) if that government decides it's 'best for us' to withold information then it's simply doing it's job.

If you were managing director of a large corporation and some pretty scandalous information about you was threatening to get out in your workforce and damage your reputation beyond repair, wouldn't you do your best to try and prevent it?
Or do you think your workforce has the right to know every detail about their MD?

I think the key phrase here is 'need to know', and for the sake of the country and the world running smoothly there are things that go on that the general public at large just don't need to know.

billy nomates

for bravo:

the government stole/froze union assets?
which union? unite?

how did they do this?
it is illegal surely?

++++++++++++++++++
raymond.i find your views confusing.as a witch you are quite ok with giving away your power.....

the 646 useless turds in westminster are paid by?

they must answer to us.
not the other way round.......
perhaps the conditioning is so strong that people will allow themselves to be intimidated by the great bogey eater (yes its on youtube)and his gang of freeloading misfits?

Bravo

Unite yes. No idea to rest of it, you now know as much as I know on it

david hobbs

I have lost track of this story.

How did it all end up?