Bullying Tesco bosses have plumbed new depths sacking 65 drivers involved in
an lawful, official trade union dispute. The 150 drivers at the Tesco
distribution centre in West Lothian will be on strike from midnight tonight.
Taxi's arrived at drivers homes on Monday night with letters telling the men
they were sacked (see this website for earlier reports).
It is the latest attempt by Tesco bosses and their slack-jawed management to
break the workers. Throughout the dispute the antics of Tesco have been
aggressive, vicious and completely out of order. The drivers, members of T&G
Unite section, have been subjected to disgraceful bully-boy methods, after
refusing to sign new contracts that would have seen their wages cut by
£6,000 and unsatisfactory changes to their contracts and conditions.
The 65 who were sacked, received no warning and told how private hire taxi's
were paid £95 to take the sacking letters to their homes late on Monday
night. It appears that Tesco may have broken the law. Employers are bound by
statute to give workers at least 90 days notice. Tesco released a statement
accusing the drivers of "walking out of their jobs". Earlier this week Tesco
made an approach to drivers at Eddie Stobbart offering them bonuses that
would have brought the Stobbart drivers pay to £2,000 for 3×12 hour shifts
during the strike and offered accomodation at a top Lothians hotel, all food
and drink paid for by Tesco. In a magnificent show of solidarity with their
colleagues, as soon as the Eddie Stobbard drivers knew they were to be used
to try and break the strike, they told the Tesco stooges where to stick
their generous offer!
Tesco used the cover of a move to a new plant in Livingstone to try and
introduce new contracts. At the beginning of negotiations to resolve the
dispute, Tesco bosses refused to recognise the T&G trade union after initial
discussions with union officials. The entire episode has been a complete
humilation for the Tesco boss' bullying management at the plant. Now the
stinking underbelly of Tesco is on show for all to see. They treat their
employees in a shocking way, show an apparent disregard for the law and
instead of sitting down with the drivers representatives in the union, they
scurry around trying to abuse Eddie Stobbart drivers and hoodwink them into >
breaking a lawful strike.
Management seem so incompetent that it is truly astounding.
The T&G Unite section spokesman said the strike would go ahead. Jim Devine
Labour MP for the area called for a public boycott of Tesco stores across
the country on Friday, May 25th. Devine said, "This from a company that made
£2.6 billion profit last year. Tesco's behaviour and tactics have been
outrageous".
This is the latest glaring example of how the trade union law as it stands
is insufficient to protect trade unionists who have to jump through hoops
and wade through red tape to bring industrial action only to be treated in
this disgusting way by a shabby employer like Tesco. But more than that;
this is an attack on all trade unionists everywhere and the trade union
movement. This website carries a number of reports about the behaviour of
this gigantic global enterprise and the reports do not make for pleasant
reading. The T&G have already threatened to escalate the action to other
areas of the country should Tesco continue to carry on in this vindictive
way. Socialist Appeal supports the call for a boycott of Tesco but this
should be co-ordinated and publicised throughout the movement. Jim Devine's
support for the workers is welcome, he must now make sure that if Tesco have
flouted the law that the strongest message is sent to all bad employers. As
an immediate priority, Devine must demand the reinstatement of the 65 sacked
workers.
There are some good videos that expose Tesco on Youtube that are worth
watching.
