Solid strikes in steel pay dispute

Some 60 members of the Community union at BRC Manufacturing in Barnsley were set to strike on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week in pursuit of a pay claim.

The firm was taken over by the Spanish multinational company CELSA nearly three years ago. For the last two years the bosses have refused a pay rise and have cut other benefits for workers.

Yet the plant, which produces steel rod and mesh for the construction and engineering industries, is profitable.

The workers held a four day strike, the first in the plant’s history, at the beginning of August.

The strike was completely solid, helped by the fact that the union now represents 100 percent of the shopfloor workers. Since then they have been on a work to rule.

But as Community regional officer, Phil Sullivan, explained, “The company’s blank refusal to make any pay offer at all has left the union members with no choice but to continue our action.”