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2 October, 2006
Following mass meetings by members of UK’s Transport & General Workers’ Union (TGWU) and two other unions, Amicus and GMB, on 27 and 28 September, workers at Imerys’ English China Clay operations in South West England have given union leaders a mandate to ballot membership for industrial action in the coming months.
The reasons cited include an extremely tight-fisted redundancy package, and the refusal by the Paris-based company to seriously address job retention and job creation opportunities in the face of Imerys’ July announcement to cut some 40% of 2,000 jobs in the UK.
TGWU and the company have held several statutory consultation meetings since the July announcement, during which the company’s intransigence in producing a fair redundancy package became clear. Another consultation session is scheduled for today, 2 October. The 90-day consultation period ends on 5 October. Amicus and GMB, which represent smaller numbers of Imerys workers, have also been part of the discussions.
At a session in mid-September, the company presented what it called its final offer. The offer of ₤13,500 for the average worker (age 46) barely exceeds the statutory requirement, which is considered exceedingly low by most standards. Imerys also insists on capping the redundancy package at 20 years of service. Many workers in the South West have upwards of 40 years of service.
“Imerys has failed to negotiate meaningfully with the unions on redundancies,” said TGWU National Secretary Jennie Formby. “It also has been extremely callous in its regard for the livelihoods of workers, as well as to the communities of the South West as a whole.”
The ICEM is actively engaged in building a global trade union network of Imerys workers in preparation for possible industrial action. A meeting in Brussels on 25 September with union leaders from the UK and the Fédération Force Ouvrière (FO) Matériaux, Céramique, and Thermique, the major union in France inside Imerys, produced genuine vows of solidarity.