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18 October, 2010
Glass workers of Unite the Union were to begin a third set of industrial actions today in the UK, this time a two-week stoppage at Tyneside Safety Glass where owners up to last week have refused to negotiate. But that changed late last week when management submitted an improved offer and significant changes to original proposals.
Workers at two glass plants in Gateshead, near Newcastle in the North-East, did take lawful industrial actions during week-long walkouts on 20 September and again beginning 4 October.
At an 8 October union meeting, Unite members at Tyneside Safety Glass decided to take two-week strike action and instructed the union to again approach management to reopen good-faith negotiations. The latter appeared to have worked, since managers had not bargaining since last June.
Unite North East Regional Officer, Bill Green
Family-owned Tyneside/Suntex Industries, a specialty glass producer, is picking up orders as it climbs out of the economic crisis, but had insisted on longer hours and continued freezes to glassworkers’ livelihoods. Tyneside is a laminator and supply-chain producer of sheet glass, mainly treating and toughening glass windshields for the heavy equipment industry.
Workers accepted pay freezes in each of the past two years to aid the company during the financial crisis. The company originally sought a third year’s freeze, in addition to a work-week ten hours longer at no additional pay. Unite will now consult with Tyneside workers on last week’s amended offer, and announced over the weekend that the two-week walkout has been postponed.
In ICEM’s September letter of full support to Tyneside workers, the ICEM underscored the longer work-weeks as a potential cause for greater safety risks. Unite North-East Regional Officer Bill Green said workers’ pay would tumble closer to the UK minimum wage if another pay freeze is accepted.