A year ago, 270 members of the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) at the world's largest airline catering company were fired after taking 24-hour strike action in response to company demands for intensified and "flexible" work schedules. At a mass meeting the following day, the workers refused a company offer that they return to work on the company's terms—effectively without a union—and voted unanimously to stay on strike. Since then the fight over union rights by the predominantly Asian workforce has become the most important labor battle in the United Kingdom.

"We're not giving up," said strike leader Surinder Kaur. "We're strong and we're fighting to win. Our fight is important for all unions. If LSG can get away with this attack on us, other employers will go after union rights. Union rights are human rights. We're fighting for reinstatement but we'll shut the firm down if we have to."

Kaur was one of a group of women who led picket line chants of "Victory to Skychefs strikers!", "Scabs out, workers in!", "Don't be quiet, fight for your rights!" and "Tim Otteridge— out, out!" Otteridge, the general manager of the London operation, has become personally identified with the union-busting operation at Heathrow. Three weeks ago, 30 strikers mounted a protest outside his personal residence.

The November 20 picket was the first major action at the plant in more than six months. In the intervening period, the strikers have maintained their 24-hour picket at the factory gate and mounted daily protests in central London at the offices of Lufthansa, the parent company of LSG Skychefs.

The police have acted to limit picketing, forcing dozens of strikers to stand across the road from the factory entrance. "The police threatened me just for crossing the road to where I've been picketing for 12 months," said striker Jaswinder Pal. Asked what had kept him going for a year, Pal replied, "We want respect, not threats at work; safety and fairness, not slavery. We want human rights. This is a strike for every worker because things in this country are getting worse. It claims to be the mother of democracy but it's fast becoming the father of dictatorship. The press is not free. It's the mouthpiece of the bosses and politicians who talk about child labor in other countries while they're exploiting labor here in slave labor conditions."

Also on the picket were husband and wife, B.S. and Karpal Dari. Both are strikers. "They sacked me even though it was my day off and I wasn't on strike," said Karpal. "In fact at the time I wasn't even in the union! It's been hard trying to live on the strike pay for a year but we have to keep going" she said.

"We must be reinstated," B.S. Dari added. "What the company has offered is an insult." When negotiations with the company broke down in September, the company offered the union to reinstate six of the strikers; the rest would have to apply for jobs as vacancies came up. Those not reinstated would be compensated by payments of £220 ($356) for each year of employment.

Clusters of other trade unionists, mainly from the TGWU, joined the picket. Brian Wilson came 100 miles from Great Witchingham in Norfolk, where he's a shop steward at Bernard Matthews, the main turkey processing company in Britain. TGWU members at Bernard Matthews plants in Norfolk and Suffolk are currently voting over industrial action to demand wages of £5 per hour (up from £4.78) and a reduction in the working week from 39 to 38 hours. "I'm here to support the Skychefs strikers," Wilson said. "It's about solidarity. We have to help each other out. If we take action at Bernard Matthews we'd hope people would help us out too."

Other supporters included airport workers from Heathrow; car workers from Austin Rover at Cowley and Vauxhall at Ellesmere Port; and bus workers from London. Ricky Barber, a young worker from Dartford, came as part of a delegation of five workers from GlaxoWellcome, a pharmaceutical giant that last month announced that it was shedding 1,500 jobs. Barber said the Skychefs strike had taught him that "it could happen to anyone. Especially with scabs coming in and out."

Before the picket, the TGWU leadership had organized a solidarity rally at Hammersmith Town Hall, about 10 miles from the factory. Speakers at the rally included TGWU general secretary Bill Morris and Labour Member of Parliament Ken Livingstone, who is campaigning to become the Labour Party's candidate for mayor of London. Livingstone, Morris, and other TGWU officials urged rally participants to promote the union's "Don't fly Lufthansa" campaign.

Also present at the rally were representatives of the International Transport Federation from France, Denmark, Spain, Ireland, and the United States. The French and Spanish delegations included union representatives from Skychefs kitchens in Paris and Madrid. From Denmark Ken Fischer, a shop steward at Gate Gourmet in Copenhagen, reported that LSG has obtained the SAS contract at Copenhagen airport but has reneged on promises to enter negotiations with the unions at Gate Gourmet, where large numbers of workers will lose their jobs as a result.

Strike leader Javed Upaday was also on the platform of the rally. "We've stuck together," Upaday said. "We're going to fight to the end. One thing I've learnt is that these Asian men and women will not back down. With support from the UK, with international support, we'll win."

Jonathan Silberman is a member of the TGWU at GlaxoWellcom. Celia Pugh and Frances Rogan contributed to the article.  
 
 
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