State of the Unions

Saturday April 26, 2003 23:55

by dataflow

Whatever happened to the strength in unity motto? By Eamonn McCann The ATGWU and the security workers at Aldergrove airport.

METROPOLITAN Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens may have another Northern Ireland problem on his hands when Gordon McNeill and Madan Gupta hit town tomorrow at the head of a delegation demanding an inquiry into deeply-felt, long-standing grievances.

McNeill and Gupta, shop-stewards with the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union, represented security workers at Aldergrove airport. They and 20 other ATGWU workers were sacked last year for union activity.

They complain that their union, far from leading a fight for their reinstatement, has deserted them. They say that the delegation will sit-in at the ATGWU's Transport House headquarters tomorrow and refuse to move until union boss Bill Morris comes up with answers.

"If the police cart us out, we'll walk back in. We'll keep on until we're either allowed to stay or taken off to jail," says Gordon McNeill. "We believe we owe it to the whole trade union movement to see this thing through. If unions can treat members the way we've been treated, there are many who'll ask what's the point being in a union at all?"

The workers had been employed by International Consultants on Targeted Security (ICTS), a company set up in 1982 by former members of the Israeli security services which now controls security at 30 airports in Europe and more than 50 in north America.

Early last year, the Aldergrove workers put in for a rise in their pay-rate of £5.30 an hour for round-the-clock shifts.

The company, they say, flatly refused to negotiate. Veteran ATGWU official Ben Kearney remarked at the time that in 30 years negotiating with employers he had never met such "hard-faced and obdurate" people across a table.

In a postal ballot in April last year, the workers voted 97% for strike action to force ICTS to make an offer.

The first in a planned series of one-day stoppages came on May 14. The reaction of the company was to sack 23 of the workers, including McNeill, Gupta and two other union representatives. There was no union representative among the workers retained. The dispute became a fight for the reinstatement of the 23.

Seeing the sackings as a direct attack on the union's right and ability to represent its members, the men assumed the ATGWU would breathe fire and brimstone on their behalf.

But it speedily became clear that some within the ATGWU saw the sacked members as an embarrassment which they wished would go away. The attitude of the union to them in practice, say the workers, was summed up in the advice of one union official: "There's plenty of other wee jobs around if you only look."

Whatever the reason for this jolting attitude (there are some colourful theories in circulation), the result is that the Aldergrove workers are out of a job because of union-sanctioned activity and the union is refusing to do anything about it.

Gordon McNeill is right. This negates any notion of trade unions as organisations representative of their members and accountable to them. It contradicts the most basic principles and the very purpose of trade unions.

It is commonly suggested that the reason the unions don't punch to their potential in the North is that politics here are constructed around the idea of community and not of class.

This is true as far as it goes. But another reason is the tendency of unions to pull their punches when their members are taking a beating.

All who believe that the trade union movement has a valuable role to play in our society should be backing McNeill and Gupta in their demand that the ATWGU explain its role in this affair, and, that done, set about putting manners on ICTS and getting the sacked workers their jobs back.

The union leaders in London might best facilitate this process by agreeing tomorrow to establish the inquiry the Aldergrove workers are asking for.

save preference

Comments (4 of 4)

Problems in the TGWU

by seedot

Tue Apr 29, 2003 11:27

I think the problems are within the union - the story has too many parallels with the liverpool dockers who were also shafted by the T & G.

Union Activity in the North

by Ocean

Tue Apr 29, 2003 02:04

could the fact that northern ireland is effectively a police state have anything to do with it?

TUI Solidarity

by teachie

Mon Apr 28, 2003 09:55

TUI Congress Delegates Organize Solidarity with
Educationalists in Iraq

There was a standing ovation for Nuria Mustafa, an Iraqi
citizen, when she addressed the TUI Congress in Ennis on
Tuesday 22nd April.

Nuria was invited to speak at a fringe meeting by Dublin City
post primary delegates. Congress Standing Orders at delegates
request changed the order of business in order that Nuria could
address the whole Congress.

She spoke about the devastating effects 12 years of sanctions
had on the education system, which was once the finest in the
world. Schools are now without basic facilities – books, pencils
and equipment. Nuria called on Irish teachers to send
delegations to Iraq and for Irish schools and colleges to twin
with schools in Iraq.

Nuria called for the Iraqis to be allowed govern themselves and
for an end to US and British occupation of her country.
Delegates were informed of the opportunity the Iraqis had to
lead their own revolution, when on the encouragement of
George Bush snr, they rose up against Saddam. Then the US
refused to assist the uprising by providing arms and they flew
aeroplanes over Saddam’s helicopter gun ships as he put down
the uprising. Nuria explained that the US did not want an
administration selected by the Iraqi’s themselves in 1991 as it
might not be pro US.

Nuria told the Congress that hundred of thousands of people
were opposing the occupation. She called on delegates to keep
themselves informed on developments, as the media were not
reporting events on the ground in Iraq. Even though press
statements were issued to the press on all the events at the
Congress on solidarity with Iraq and they were present for
these events they choose to report only straight educational
issues and not one of the main highlights of the Congress,
which was Nuria’s address.

She finished her address by thanking the Congress for the
invitation and for the opposition of the Irish people to the war
and to the use of Shannon airport by the US Military.

On Wednesday of the Congress, delegates Anne Conway and
Marie Humphries, presented petitions to the Minister for
Education calling on the Irish Government to end their political
support for US foreign policy and the use of facilities at
Shannon Airport. Both were wearing T-shirts with the slogan
‘Irish Neutrality RIP’ when they presented the petitions.

On Thursday numerous delegates signed a Network address
list at a stall outside the main Congress centre. It is hoped to
co-ordinate solidarity work with teachers and schools and
colleges in Ireland and their counterparts in Iraq. Contacts were
made with teachers from the Shannon Branch and throughout
the country.

We were extremely pleased with the organizational work
undertaken by 3 delegates during the course of the Congress
and with the moral support of other delegates. This shows what
could be done, there is a lot of goodwill towards the plight of
the Iraqi peoples.

There are other trade Union Conferences coming up and we
would urge all who have opposed the war in Iraq and the US &
British Occupation of Iraq to begin to organize now for their
conference.

Our intervention was done at short notice and could not
officially be done in the name of our TUI Branch, as there
wasn’t a quorum at the last Branch meeting before Congress.
Nonetheless we were well pleased with the amount of activity
that we succeeded in achieving, particularly Nuria’s address to
the Congress, which was the highlight of Congress.

It was a very moving address and was referred to by numerous
delegates, some of whom had tears in their eyes as they spoke
of it.

We must build on this activity and explore ways of developing
solidarity in the coming months.

Anne Conway DCPP Delegate to the TUI Congress (personal
capacity)

Is this just lifted?

by Curious

Sun Apr 27, 2003 00:00

Is this piece just lifted from somewhere else? If so, can we expect endless republications of articles from Socialist Worker, Workers Solidarity, and the Irish Times? Give us a break! This isn't what indymedia is for.

Upcoming Events

New Events

Other Press

User Preferences

Feeds

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

The Saker

Lockdown Skeptics

Voltaire Network

State of the Unions

Comments (4 of 4)