Strike Success at Perkins Engines, Stafford

GMB has reached a pay deal with Perkins Engines bosses after industrial action at it’s Stafford site. Perkins Engines - which employs 700 people - was in dispute with it’s workforce over a period of two months. GMB members voted in favour of strike action and picketed the Tixall Road premises suspending their strike only to negotiate a new pay deal.

The two sides have settled on a 2% increase from June 2011 another 2% in September 2011 and a 3.5% increase in 2012. Workers who voted in favour of the deal will be handed a one-off payment of £225.

GMB organiser, Colin Griffiths, said “we spent four days thrashing out a deal which our members then accepted. We’re happy to have tied the deal up over a long period so hopefully we won’t find ourselves in this situation again”. Colin added “I would like to thank all the shop stewards the workforce and the company bosses for listening to our concerns. Strike action is never ideal but unfortunately it is necessary on occasion and has, in this case, brought both sides closer together”.

Article from ‘Centre Point’ the GMB magazine.

Support for June 30th Strikes in Stafford

Socialist Party members in Stafford held a campaign stall in the town in support of the strikes.

Earlier in the day we visited the PCS picket line outside the local Jobcentre. We were informed that 50 PCS members were on strike and they were going down to Cannock to support fellow members then on to the rally in Birmingham. One copy of the Socialist was sold.

The campaign stall was very successful with 16 papers being sold and over £31 in fighting fund being raised!

Even though we only managed to get to one picket, union members were coming to our stall so we found out that PCS members at Stafford Prison and MoD Stafford were out as well as a good number of schools.

The response from the public was unanimously in support of the action with equal support for both teachers and PCS workers.

We spoke to some UNISON members who were very much in favour of their union undertaking similar action in the immediate future!