Swindon Workers Get Stuck Into Bullying Bosses
FOR THE PAST half a year, cleaners at Swindon’s G.W.H. Hospital have been taking action against their employer, Carillion, who take on the maintenance, construction and management of hundreds of buildings across the U.K. The action comes in response to a culture of bullying and racism from Carillion bosses towards the mostly Goan cleaners. As well as routine racist abuse, Carillion managers frequently force workers to present them with ‘gifts’ in return for time off, overtime and other basic rights at work. The Goan workers were also denied the right to take enough of their holiday in one go to visit their families back home. Since the first strike back in February, the workers have given the rest of us a shining example in how to treat your boss, joining the G.M.B. union en masse, taking dozens of days of strike action (always involving nearly 100% of the workforce), blockading Carillion H.Q., holding well-attended meetings, a 400-strong demo through Swindon and numerous solidarity events and protests, alongside Swindon Anarchists and other union and activist groups.
The campaign has already seen one racist boss get kicked out, but instead of taking strikers’ demands seriously, Carillion have responded by sending in scabs to undermine strikes, lying, faking and fudging internal ‘investigations’ and further victimising the victims by launching disciplinary procedures against 10 of the strikers – they even had the gall to accuse the workers of “offering bribes!”. As a result, not only are Carillion losing their reputation in the industry, not to mention lucrative contracts, but they have also been caught playing a central role in a blacklisting scandal – where major companies have been denying work to ‘troublemaking’ workers for the ‘crimes’ of attending anti-fascist protests and being members of a union! With Carillion refusing to take the hint and clean themselves up, an ever-growing number of ordinary workers are getting drawn into the fight, voicing disgust against Carillion (and yet more stories of corporate intimidation). With more strike action on the horizon – as well as planned action from anarchist and activist supporters – you can be sure that we’ll all be hearing more from the brave Goan workers that refuse to be trampled by their arrogant employer, and you can be equally sure they’re not gonna quit until they’ve won the rights we all deserve at work. To send messages of support to the workers, drop us an e-mail at mutineerpress[at]riseup.net and we’ll pass them on.
