Polish workers backed by union
A group of Eastern European workers who went on strike in a dispute over pay have prompted a new union campaign to protect foreign workers' rights.
The employees, who were mainly believed to be Polish, took direct action against their employers, Glenn Management, for one day after the dispute.
Spokesman for the Northampton Trades Union Council, Dave Green, said the dispute had now been resolved but added it highlighted a wider problem for Eastern European workers in the town.
He said: "From what I understand, this group downed tools for the day and refused to work until it was resolved. It was all cleared up quite rapidly and I think they were back at work by the end of the day, but it's a pretty desperate action to go on strike.
"I've met a couple of the men involved because we want them to know about getting involved with unions and how that can help them at work. This is a growing problem in Northampton because there are a lot of warehouse and distribution companies setting up which take on these workers through agencies, and often their pay and conditions are terrible.
"We have had a couple of meetings since this dispute and there has been some interest from Eastern European workers, so we will be campaigning now to make sure everyone, be it migrant workers or locals, knows how to protect their rights at work."
The strike action took place in November outside the Dataforce offices in Moulton Park industrial estate. The men were all contracted by Glenn Management to clean the Dataforce offices.
A spokesman for Dataforce said: "We actually got a letter of apology from the workers saying they were sorry for the disruption. They were very polite and said they had not wanted to strike.
"It appears there were some issues with the firm and the workers, but they are back cleaning the offices now so we hope it has passed."
Glenn Management was not available for comment.
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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