LONDON—Hundreds of members of the Transport and General Workers’ Union have held daily protests—like the one above on August 20—against their dismissal by airline catering company Gate Gourmet. The protest site, not far from the company’s south plant near Heathrow Airport, is becoming a focus for other trade unionists bringing solidarity.

Workers cheered when the High Court rejected a company move to have the protest stopped alleging that it was intimidating. The judge also ruled, however, that the pickets outside the plant cannot be more than six and cannot approach workers going in or out of work.

The union-busting firings have been months in preparation. The Daily Mirror reported August 15 on a confidential company memorandum written a year ago that outlined the plan: “Announce intention to trade union, provoking unofficial industrial action from staff. Dismiss current workforce. Replace with new staff.” Gate Gourmet established a new company, Versa Logistics, to “counter the threat of wildcat strikes and to hire workers on lower wages,” the paper reported.

—JONATHAN SILBERMAN  
 
 
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