Electricians Protests Spread

6 August For the third week running a London construction site was besieged by hundreds of electricians protesting at the 'Big 8' construction companies' plans to withdraw from the national JIB agreement next March, which will force many of these workers' wages down by 35%.

This week, the protest took place outside the Shard site at London Bridge. The protesters also are now spreading, with action reported in Manchester and Newcastle today and a meeting is being organised in Scotland. Many of the workers at the Shard sire were listening to the speakers and taking leaflets from the Siteworker rank and file construction worker group (email siteworkers@virginmedia.com) on to the site.

The protests are becoming a useful vehicle to spread the word about the bosses' plans and the campaign that is needed and being built to stop them. But it’s clear that only strike action is going to be able to force the employers back. A Unite officer was at the protest today but the Union urgently has to move to seriously start to organise for a national strike ballot. The union says that the cuts to terms & conditions will happen in March but there's talk about some workers getting 90 day notices to change contracts soon. The forces are being built for this by rank and file activists. A national meeting of electricians under the banner of the official union would be a big step in the campaign and would send a clear message to the employers that the battle's on. It would also be a forum to ensure that all stewards on sites are elected and accountable to construction workers. The next London protest is next Wednesday 14th September at 6.30am at the Olympics site in Pudding Mill Lane on the DLR.

Mick Dooley - GS candidate for UCATT who has been present at all the protests is speaking at the NSSN rally on Sunday.

Next Siteworker Protests:

London

Wednesday 14 September 2011, 6:30am

Olympics Site, Pudding Mill Lane

North West

Wednesday 14 September 2011, 6:30am

Balfour site, Carrington Paper Mill, Greater Manchester

TUC Fringe Meeting

Tuesday 13 September 2011 - 6.30pm to 8.30pm

Room 2B, University of London Union (ULU)

Malet Street, Euston

Speakers from:

Blacklist Support Group - representing workers blacklisted by multi-national building firms for their trade union activities

UNITE Construction rank & file - electricians campaign against the 35% pay cut proposed by major employers

Justice for Shrewsbury Pickets - campaign for judicial review into the imprisonment of Des Warren & Ricky Tomlinson in 1973

Film: BLACKLISTED - by Reel News