GMB holds fruit-picking giant Fyffes ultimately responsible for a brutal machete attack which left a young man with life-changing injuries.
Misael Sanchez was slashed across the face with the blade when he tried to stop two armed thugs abducting his brother Moises. The men targeted Moises because he is branch secretary of GMB’s sister trade union STAS.
They attacked him outside a Fyffes melon plantation, bundled him into a vehicle and beat him for around 40 minutes. The pair put a gun to his head and told him that if he continued with his trade union activities, he would be killed.
The following day, the brothers were warned that the group who attacked them were delinquents who acted as hired killers. The shocking attack came just two weeks after Fyffes declared that it ‘fully respects the right of all its workers to freedom of association’.
While there is no suggestion Fyffes is in any way linked to the violence, GMB says the company’s anti-union policies help generate an atmosphere in which attacks like this take place. GMB International Officer, Bert Schouwenburg, said: ‘GMB holds Fyffes ultimately responsible for the brutal attack on Moises Sanchez and his brother which was clearly aimed at deterring people from joining the union and standing up for rights that have been denied to them by the company’s Honduran subsidiary.
‘Two weeks prior to the attack, Fyffes refuted allegations made against them by the International Labour Rights Forum in the USA, saying that they respected freedom of association in Honduras.
‘The Sanchez brothers’ horrendous experience makes a mockery of that claim, especially as it is just the latest in a long history of violence and intimidation.
‘While there is no evidence to suggest that Fyffes is directly linked to the attack, GMB says that their aggressive anti-union stance engenders a hostile atmosphere in one of the world’s most violent places. Their brand of gangster capitalism has no place in the 21st century.’
• The construction of the £18 billion Hinkley Point nuclear power station could be delayed if a row over bonus payments flares up into industrial action, GMB has warned. GMB, along with sister union Unite, will be holding a consultative ballot of the 700-strong workforce preparing groundwork at the Somerset site. The ballot will run from May 2 to 5.
The dispute centres on the failure of the BYLOR consortium, made up of the French company Bouygues TP and Laing O’Rourke, to pay the bonus rate predicated in the HPC Civil Construction agreement. The other employer Keir Bam is currently not at the negotiating table. The unions argue that the bonus rate offered by BYLOR is insufficient to attract the quality of workers needed to ensure that the civil works phase of the £18 billion project is completed on time.
Adie Baker, GMB regional officer, said: ‘GMB members are not prepared to accept this derisory offer on bonus payments that also threatens health and safety standards on site.’ Rob Miguel, Chair of the HPC joint union committee, said: ‘The Hinkley Point nuclear power station is key to the future energy needs of the UK.
‘The project has already suffered delays and to achieve the 2025 start date for electricity generation a skilled construction workforce is required. If the consultative ballot eventually leads to a full-scale industrial action ballot, we could be looking at delays to the construction at Hinkley Point, which will be very expensive for the employers as hired-in plant and machinery will be lying idle.
‘The scheme has already been plagued by delays over its financing and can’t afford any further interruptions. We would urge the employers to get back around the table with senior union officials to achieve a fair settlement in line with the agreement already in place, so building can continue on schedule.’
Tim Morris, Unite regional officer, said: ‘This poor offer is unacceptable under all of the circumstances and our members came to Hinkley Point under the belief that they would receive excellent pay and bonuses. The employers think they can do this “on the cheap” by offering a derisory bonus rate, but the workers consider it to be completely inadequate to attract and hold onto the skilled workforce necessary.
‘Hinkley Point is being built by the French energy company EDF, with a stake from Chinese state-owned investor CGN. When Theresa May became Prime Minister last July she pressed the “pause” button on the project, but the go-ahead was eventually given in September.’
• GMB London has reached agreement with Alpha LSG Sky Chefs to secure job positions lost at insolvent firm Plane Catering in Heston, West London. Via that agreement GMB has successfully negotiated with Alpha LSG Sky Chefs jobs for all workers that were locked outside the Plane Catering gates on Friday 31st March 2017 as a result of the company going into liquidation.
The jobs involved include flight coordinators, warehouse workers, general assistants and transport drivers. It is envisaged that Alpha LSG will provide catering services on a temporary basis to airlines that were initially contracted to Plane Catering.
Perry Phillips, GMB regional Organiser for Aviation at Heathrow, said: ‘GMB understands that Plane Catering, who used to provide catering services to a number of airlines at Heathrow Airport, had lost a number of contracts at Heathrow and were owed nearly £2 million by one airline that has yet to pay the insolvent company the outstanding balance it owes.
‘As a result of the company going into liquidation, GMB members were confronted with the gates being locked and a notice stating “Closed For Business” with a loss of all jobs. I met with workers from Plane Catering on Monday 3rd April 2017 at the Alpha LSG Sky Chefs factory in Heston with a view of securing job positions with the company.
‘Alpha LSG Sky Chefs, who also provide catering services for Airlines at Heathrow. They agreed to offer job positions to the workers left on the street by Plane Catering without a job. This is fantastic news that Alpha LSG Sky have agreed to take on these workers, the majority of whom are GMB members, who had lost their jobs with Plane Catering as a result of the company going into liquidation.
‘In some cases, the company have identified that TUPE applies to a section of the affected workers that protects their terms and conditions and continuation of employment. I was outside the locked gates of Plane Catering with our GMB members who were extremely distraught and upset at losing their jobs without any prior communication from the company.
‘I understand that they had not been paid their one month’s salary for March and there is also the issue of Redundancy/notice pay which will be most likely claimed back through the Secretary of State once an Administrator has been appointed to the insolvent firm.’
• Kevin Courtney, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, warned of a huge crisis in school funding on Wednesday. He said: ‘As we are now entering into a General Election, the time for half-truths about school funding is over.
‘The National Funding Formula Stage 2 consultation for mainstream and special schools closed on 22 March …‘Already we have head teachers resigning, sending begging letters to parents and lobbying MPs and the Prime Minister on the disastrous effect a lack of funding is having on their pupils.’
