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At the TUC Ed Milliband made a speech condemning strikes whilst Paul Kenny of the GMB called for "Civil Disobedience"
This week Civil Disobedience took centre stage. Co-ordinated
unofficial industrial action kicked off at major construction projects
across the country. Electricians and Pipe-fitters working for Balfour
Beatty Engineering Services at Grangemouth in Scotland walked off the
job. In London, police were forced to intervene after 150 electricians
blocked the main entrance to the Olympics site causing rush hour travel
chaos with vehicles backing up around the A12 Bow Flyover. Further
action also took place at Balfour Beatty's Papermill site in Manchester.
Yesterday the major electrical employers sent new contracts (with a
35% pay cut) to their staff with an ultimatum that anyone who did not
sign them by 7th December would be sacked.
The dispute has been sparked after eight major electrical
contractors announced their intention to withdraw from the Joint
Industry Board (JIB) national industry agreement. They are Bailey
Building Services, Balfour Beatty Engineering Services, Tommy Clarke,
Crown House Technologies, Gratte Brothers, MJN Colston, SES and SPIE
Matthew Hall.
The employers propose 3 new grades for electicians: metalworker
£10.50 per hour, Wiring £12, Terminating £14. The current electricains
JIB rate is £16.25p per hour across the board. For the worst hit this
amounts to a 35% pay cut.
Meanwhile, the chief executive of Balfour Beatty, one of the contractors, had given himself an 8% pay rise last year.
Alan Keys (one of the leaders of the action) said:
“It’s not the Polish or Portuguese workers who are cutting our wages, but the industry bosses.
They are attempting to drive down our wages to drive up their profits.
They can threaten to sack us and blacklist our stewards but if they
think we are going to just sit back and accept this, they are very much
mistaken.”
The last time the electrical contractors attempted to cut wages by
de-skilling the electrical trade in 1999 it provoked a series of
coordinated strikes on the Jubilee Line, Royal Opera House, Pfizers and
power generation projects across the UK.
STOP PRESS: In a virtual declaration of war, Balfour Beaty Engineering Services has today issued 90 Day Notices of termination to 890 of their workforce.
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