LONDON: BottleworkersOut UNITED GLASS BOTTLE STRIKERS NEED

The Newsletter, vol. 4 no. 139, 20 February 1960 · scan page 1

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For the first time in 34 years the giant United Glass Bottle factory at Charlton was completely strikebound when its 1,400 workers walked out last Friday over the refusal of the management to reinstate Bro. Wally Morton, chairman of the stewards’ committee.

Les Doust, chairman of the strike committee, gave me the background to the dispute. ‘On December 13’, he said, ‘400 Amalgamated Engineering Union members made a claim for a £1 a week increase and the 40-hour week. On February 9 the management made an offer of 42 hours without loss of pay, but with no wage increase. A mass meeting of engineers considered the offer unsatisfactory and decided to stop overtime working and to work to rule.

‘Following the decision of the Confederation leaders to accept the offer of 42 hours, the stewards advised members to <esume normal working.

‘At 10 a.m. on Friday, the management informed the workers in Bro. Morton’s shop that the general manager, a Mr. Morris, would speak to them at 11 a.m. This has never happened before and our members decided that any business the management had should be done through the shop stewards’ committee. When the general manager came to the shop our members continued working. He sent for Bro. Morton and sacked him. Our members stopped work immediately, and this spread until soon the entire factory had stopped.’

A great response A team of strikers are out all day touring milk companies supplied by the company and asking for all supplies from the factory to be blacked. (The. management are attempting with very little success to keep production going by using the staff.)

One of the mobile pickets told me of the tremendous response they were getting from other trade unionists. ‘We were told by United Dairies, the Express, Home Counties and the Co-op. that they would black everything produced by the scab staff at Anchor Lane.’

The men are confident that they will get the support of the other factories in the UGB combine. Last year the first