UNION MEETING LED TO REFINERY SACKINGS

and Michael La press -all members ated Union Workers-have the site for the Mr Jones: 'No our picket lines even though th unemployment have ber: 100 ful.' The trouble January when, ment denials SIXTY MEN have been sacked from the BP refinery at Llandarcy, near Port Talbot, S Wales, for holding a union meeting on company premises.

The sackings coincide with a new tough line pursued by the 51-per-cent state-owned company since Christmas, when they brought in a special industrial troubleshooter to curb unrest over working agreements and conditions at the plant.

One of the sacked men, Alan Jones told me: 'The trouble we have had has been justified. There has been a lot wrong with the agreements and satety regulations which are mainly American-style.

'But the management told • uS at Christmas they were taking a harder line on the site and importing a trouble-shooter from contract work in Cyprus.' Mr Jones said: 'Dismissing us is an attempt to clear the site and bring in new faces. They are trying to use the area's high unemployment as a threat. We are the most militant union at the refinery and if they could break us, the field would be wide open.' He added: "The TUC never took up the battle against the Industrial Relations Act which ice and now we are paying the condones this type of manageAbout 150 men have answered BP's advert for staff, but the dismissed construction engineers of the Amalgamof Engineering been picketing past month. Said one has crossed and taken a job, ire is 5e per cent around here. We per cent successstarted back in despite manaceredundancy rumours, 11 men were Sacked, including , two who, because of their seniority, should not have been on the list.

Shop stewards called a meeting in the site drying room to discuss the sackings, although management had warned beforehand that the meeting would not be allowed on company premises.

Mr Jones said: 'We maintained our rights to hold the meeting on the site and it was in full swing when management burst through the doors and said if we did not leave we would all be dismissed.

'Next day they sent everybody their cards and P45s.' BP has refused to send the dispute to arbitration and after talks with AUEW officials they agreed to remove one of the two senior workers from the redundancy list and re-employ all the men-provided they forfeited all seniority rights and severance pay and began again from scratch.

A meeting of 20 shop stewards representing 200 men at the refinery agreed to back the sacked engineers with a work-to-rule and unsuccessfully tried to pressurize BP to get rid of their trouble-shooter. 9.20 10.15 10.45 11.20 11.00 7.30 8.00 9.00 9.20 10.40 10.45 6.00 6.40 7.05 8.30 9.00 10.00 10.30 11.00 11.30 12.00 THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

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PEOPLE WITH REGIONAL ITV PICKETING at Multiplex Designs, Sidcup, in Kent, has been stepped up this week-the sixth week of a dispute there.

The design department at the firm went on strike when one of their colleagues was sacked for attempting to organize a union.

Their union, the Technical and Supervisory Section of the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers, has already made the strike official and the men are receiving strike pay.

Terry Cullinan, one of the striking designers, told Workers Press that support for the pickets had come from other University. 6.35 Handling Materials.

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MACHIN gan. nearby factories including C. A. Parsons, Sovex and J. & E. Halls.

He said: "The support we have received from other trade unionists is truly magnificent. By helping us on the picket lines they have shown what the unity of the working class really means.' Mr Cullinan said it was hoped to stage a piret involving 200 men during this week.

The next stage of the campaign was to get work at Multiplex 'blacked' by the trade union movement. He said attempts would also be made to force the government to withdraw contracts from the company.