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   Vol. 70/No. 42           November 6, 2006  
 
 
Garment workers in Scotland
strike for wage increase
 
BY XERARDO ARIAS  
COATBRIDGE, Scotland, October 18—“It wasn’t until we went on strike that I got to know many workers in other departments, ” said John Clark, a knitting machine operator on strike against Mackinnon Mill here. “This action has brought us closer together.”

Today was the sixth day of picketing at this mill near Glasgow. Workers are striking for a 2.5 percent pay increase. The bosses have refused to offer any raise.

The 110 members of the Community trade union began their protests September 28. They are now striking two days a week, and are into the fourth week of actions. At the union’s branch (local) meeting last week, workers voted to give notice of strike dates for another two months.

Alison McCaughie, a member of the strike committee, said the bosses have taken out an interim interdict (a court order limiting picketing) against the strikers. The company claims that picketing outside the mill’s front gate, which is also the entrance to its retail store, is illegal. Picketing there has generated support from other workers and customers, strikers said.

Management has sent all workers a letter stating that they should only use a side entrance for coming to and from work, furthering their claim that the workers are not picketing the plant.

McCaughie said the bosses have also begun disciplinary proceedings against four strikers. The union is protesting these proceedings, she said.  
 
 
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