At a Romford rail station site in east London last week, 15 agency construction workers who were suffering being paid via the umbrella company scam called a Unite official to the site. They were seeking help in putting forward their demand that they be employed directly by the building services contractor company T. Clarke.
In a meeting between Unite reps and Clarke’s management it was agreed that Clarke would consider the request for the 13 to be directly employed.
A Unite steward and deputy steward were elected by the workers. However on Friday morning these two stewards and one other worker were sacked by Clarke.
In response to this blatant attack on union organising, the workers walked off the job and ‘cabined up’. They were joined by electricians directly employed by Tommy Clarke and workers from other trades on site who refused to cross the picket line. No deliveries were made to the site as lorries lined the road up to the gate.
If the dispute is not resolved protests are planned tomorrow at 7am outside the site in Romford and Tommy Clarke’s offices in London, Accrington, Cardiff, Falkirk (or Scottish site) and Newcastle
