George Gore, sacked Unite Rep at Colloids

Reinstate George Gore

Workers at Colloids in Kirkby have been on indefinite strike since 20 May for the reinstatement of their Unite shop steward, George Gore. Ian Allinson asks Unite officer Pat Coyne to explain the dispute.

Indefinite strikes are not common in Britain these days, and this one is already in its fifth week. A solidarity rally this morning (Wednesday 19 June 2019) drew a good crowd and a variety of banners. The strikers believe their action has stopped production. The pickets believed that management had cancelled deliveries today because of the rally. This didn’t stop a scab car driving at pickets, leading to the police attending.

Pickets didn’t believe that the alleged safety breach was really the reason for George’s sacking. They see it as victimisation of a union rep, plain and simple. As well as the examples of widespread safety infringements quoted by Pat in the video, strikers reported that a manager who threatened a worked with an iron bar hadn’t even been suspended.

The workers have been raising support from across the movement and taking ‘leverage’ action to put additional pressure on management, who have now agreed to talks taking place later today.

Show your support at the 24 hour pickets at Colloids Limited, 10 Kirkby Bank Road, Knowsley, L33 7SY. You can send messages of support to garryg0411@gmail.com. Updates are being posted on the Unite North West Facebook page. Donations payable to ‘Unite NW/84 Alpla branch’ can be sent to Pat Coyne, Unite the union, 100 Hallgate, Wigan, WN1 1HP. Share support for the disputes on social media using #ReinstateGeorge. The image below can be printed for solidarity photos.