The fight to secure the re-instatemeat of militant Transport & General Workers convenor, Jean Jepson, is still being waged. She was sacked from the Armstrong Patent factory at Beverley, near Hull, five weeks ago for refusing to sign away the guaranteed 40 hour week and her members on to 3 days wages and two days dole or social security.
T was acting on the official union instructions", she said, "which were that no local branch official had the authority to sign away an agreement negotiated at national level.
Last Friday members of the strike conmittee put out a leaflet calling for a mass meeting of all worken and denouncing the bogus election tor new shop stewards. (This election was boycotted by over sixty percent workers.) The leaflet also pointed out that Jean had been elected convenor at a meeting where all the workers were present, whereas it was being auggested that the convenor would be elected only by the "phantom" shop stewards committee.
On Tucaday pickets manned the gate. One person who ignored the pickets was Les Uppfield, the local T&GWU official, who calmly drove past them into the official car park. Perhaps Mr. Uppfield found the cold morning and the chilly reception of his members rathet too much. The pickets banners read: Elect your own convenor, No to management stooges, "Re-instate Jean Jepson'.
Forly two workers left the factory to attend a meeting outside the gate where they heard Jean expose the blatant victimisation carried out aganst her and denounce the plans of the managertient to wipe out the guaranteed week. As she explained, they had been aided and abetted in this by the union.
By 9.00 o'clock, the union, with the agreement of the management, had secured the canteen for a special mecting to elect a new convenor.
The forty two workers then returned Red Weekly 22 February 1974 Page B intent on pressing the union to take up the fight for Jean's te-instatement.
But the union and the management showed a solidarity that has never existed between union and workers. When they got to the door of the factory the forty two were told: Go Home. You are all susp ended for three days. The incensed workers insisted that they were members, of the union and had every tight to attend their union meetings Even the versatile Mr. Upplield could not lind an answer to that. So in they all trooped.
All but one of the suspended workers have appealed against the suspension. Of the first 23 to appeal. 18 have had their peniod of sopension reduced from three days to one. So far none of the appeals has been won. All are being heard by a unionmanagement committee, with the shop stewards invited along as observors" and Uppfield leading uten team. Also involved is the newly elected "convenor', Tom Shields, getting his first taste of action in this management-led light against his predecessor.
The union has still refused to declaro an official dispute. means that although feeling in the factory is running high against the dismissal, the workers feel solated and without support.