September 16, 2003
Strong support for action
Before our strike, the company claimed that only 10% of the workforce supported it. In fact, the majority of the workforce stayed away, as this photo of the car park (at its busiest) shows:
It was also interesting that many of those going in supported the campaign, weren't confident enough to take part in the action. After all, who can remember a strike at MAN05? Some of those going in wore Amicus stickers, others offered to donate their day's pay to the campaign. One brought refreshments out to the pickets.
It was clear that many of those who weren't union members hadn't realised that they too had legal protection if they took part in lawful industrial action.
As well as the majority of MAN05 staff, pickets turned away food deliveries, the post, and even the window cleaners. We've received many more messages of support and donations from across the labour movement. People recognise that we're fighting for vitally important rights that we should be able to take for granted.
If we do need to take further action, we're confident that the support would be even stronger than yesterday.
Posted by IA at September 16, 2003 10:12 AM