Dessian workers fight back

antrim | miscellaneous | news report

Wednesday May 26, 2004 02:14

by R Glenn - Socialist Party

socialist at belfastsp dot freeserve dot co dot uk

support needed

Workers at the Dessian factory in Belfast have gone on strike over the sacking of a shop steward. Dessian, which is a locally owned company making PVC windows, employs over 100 at it’s Belfast plant and another 40 at a Glasgow subsidiary.

Dessian workers picket line

Sacked shop steward, Patrick McCuskey, said, “I was suspended in April, and then sacked, on the pretext that I had refused to do work allocated to me. In fact, I had been doing three jobs at the time. The real reason was because I was a T&GWU shop steward. We had just started our pay negotiations and they wanted rid of me so as to weaken the union.
“Two years ago they did the same thing, sacking another shop steward. That time they got away with it but our members have had enough and this time we won a ballot for strike action – with only one vote against.”
Other strikers commented: “This has been coming a long time. The sacking is only one issue. Dessian pays just above the minimum wage. Conditions are terrible and management act like dictators. We should have done this long ago.”
The strike is solid with almost all the production workers out and taking part in the picketing. Managers and some shop floor staff have tried to keep up production, but after a few days all they had produced was a heap of scrap that had to be dumped out the back of the factory.
There was an attempt at negotiations after the strike started but this broke down when the management refused to budge their position. At the start of this week they issued a statement saying that due to loss of orders they would be making 70 workers redundant. Stephen Magee, also a T&GWU shop steward, responded to this move by saying: “They’re trying to break the union. But our members are solid and we are determined to win this dispute.”
Messages of support should be sent to: Stephen Magee, 31 Ava Crescent, Belfast BT7 3DU.
The T&GWU have set up a hardship fund and cheques should be made out to “Dessian fund”.

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Dessian claims misleading

by . - Belfast Socialist Party

Wed May 26, 2004 09:45

The Dessian workers union, ATGWU, made the following statement on the strike.

Claims that Belfast double glazing firm Dessian Products has taken out a court order against the Amalgamated T&G over the picketing during the current strike action have proved to be unfounded. Maurice Cunningham, the AT&G regional industrial organiser speaking on behalf of the striking AT&G members, said this morning that a press release from the company was inaccurate and that no such court order had been taken out.
"The company has been caught out of order on this claim," he said as the strike entered a new phase with job cut threats from the management. "It shows, however, the sort of atmosphere in which we are trying to find a negotiated settlement."
The press statement from Dessian has also confirmed threats of job losses as a result of the action. Initially the job cut number was thought to be under forty but it increased to fifty and, in a statement to a local newspaper, about seventy within hours of the statements release.
"Dessian are playing mind games using intimidation, threats and walking out of talks to avoid resolving the issue," added Mr. Cunningham. "If, as the company claim, they have 'no history of hostility' towards the trade union, how come they won't talk on a sensible and rational basis? Why is it they want to ruin the business rather than talk to resolve this dispute?"
The strike continued this morning into its sixth day with strong support. No further talks are planned but the AT&G insisted it was open to serious negotiation at any time and in any place.

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Dessian workers fight back

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