Amicus-AEEU to scrap no-strike deal at Honda

GREAT BRITAIN: Derek Simpson, the newly-elected general secretary of Amicus-AEEU (Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union), has announced that the union will scrap the no-strike agreement it has with Honda Motor Co. It is expected that such peace agreements the union has with other companies may also be thrown out. Simpson says that the "right to strike is a fundamental human right. To deny workers that right does nothing to improve industrial relations; it only makes them worse. We are dealing with Honda urgently and will give other deals urgent scrutiny." The AEEU won recognition for collective bargaining rights for 4,000 workers at Honda's Swindon plant in December 2001, after years of company resistance to recognising a union. The AEEU and the Manufacturing Science and Finance union - both of which are affiliated to the IMF through its British Section - merged on January 1, 2002, to form the super union, Amicus, with a membership of approximately 1.2 million, the biggest trade union organisation in the UK private sector and manufacturing industry.