The tribunal’s decision in favor of the workers’ claim of "unfair dismissal" was reported to a November 13 victory rally at the local football club. Tom Jones, local secretary of the Transport and General Workers’ Union (TGWU), told the cheering workers to be proud of what they had achieved. At a subsequent date the tribunal will decide whether to award the workers with compensation.

The workers were locked out in April of last year after staging a week-long strike against company proposals to cut wages by 15 percent and introduce longer working days with no overtime. The bosses also sought to restrict union meetings and cut down the number of shop stewards in the plant.

Scabs were brought in to continue production. One of them lost the thumb and all the fingers of his right hand to a metal rolling machine in October of last year.

"Expectation of victory [against the lockout] is still as high as the day we set out," said David Elwyn, a member of the Transport and General Workers’ Union. "I would like to be reinstated." Along with other union fighters, Elywn had joined a rally outside the tribunal when it opened on October 7, as the workers made use of different outlets to build support for their fight.

At that time unionist Searle Owen described the struggle as "a fight over working conditions," and "a fight for future generations--for their dignity. The boss wanted to change our shift patterns, he tried to divide us and tried to oust our union," he said. "He told us, ‘I’m going to teach you a new culture.’ We said, ‘we’ve already got one--we’re Welsh.’"

"We’re delighted," said Gerald Parry in a phone interview following the news of the victory.

He added his opinion that "it is unlikely that the boss will reinstate us."

"The law allows employers to sack workers eight weeks into an industrial dispute," he said. "This is a big issue for the rest of the labor movement, for the workers who are taking action over bosses’ attempts to cut final salary pensions and replace them with pensions that are worth less. More and more unions are having to fight over this issue as employers are trying to cut the wages we earn."

Commenting on the union’s 18-month battle and the victory at the tribunal, John Davies, a worker at the plant for 34 years, said, "I thought it would only last two or three weeks at the most." He reported that "unions throughout Britain and even Ireland have been sending money to us and have said that they hope it keeps us going." The struggle "has been worth it," he said.

In line with their ongoing attempts to build links with other union struggles, a delegation of the locked-out workers visited a picket line of the Fire Brigades Union, during the firefighters’ first 48-hour strike in mid-November. "We took down some food and drink for them and we invited them to come to the meeting we held where we announced the result of our industrial tribunal," Parry said.

Union members are now planning a victory celebration rally in Caernarfon on January 25. For more details, contact the TGWU at 17 Sergontium Terrace, Caernarfon, north Wales.

Paul Davies is a meat packer in London.  
 
 
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