Gate Gourmet locked out workers lobbied the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) executive meeting at Transport House, central London yesterday, to demand the union restore their hardship pay and make the dispute official.
A number of TGWU Executive Council members backed the locked out workers but TGWU general secretary Tony Woodley told them that those who will not sign the sell-out Compromise agreement will get no more help from the union.
Woodley came out to talk to the Gate Gourmet workers before most of the executive members arrived.
He claimed: ‘We have sorted out the hardship pay for those who have not started back at work yet.’
But questioned about those workers who refuse to sign the Compromise Agreement, Woodley added: ‘The union can do no more. They will not get hardship money, there’s nothing more this union can do for them.’
Woodley then took a number of the lobbying workers inside the building, where he held further discussions with them for another half hour.
Meanwhile, arriving executive member for Wales, Neville Taylor, gave his support to the Gate Gourmet workers.
He told News Line: ‘They are in exactly the same position as our colleagues at Friction Dynamex.’
After hearing about Woodley’s statement on hardship pay, two TGWU executive members from Scotland said ‘It’s not right’, and ‘It’s ridiculous they are not getting money.’
Tony Woodhouse, Northwest Region 6 executive member said he would raise the issue. He told News Line: ‘I support the Gate Gourmet workers. We’d been told the dispute had been settled. If there’s been an injustice, I’ll support them.’
Yorkshire delegate Mohammed Taj said: ‘We’ll do our level best to find out exactly what’s happened. We don’t get much information.
‘The hardship pay must not be stopped while the dispute continues.’
Locked out worker Lakhinder Saran told News Line after the meeting with the TGWU leader: ‘Tony Woodley told us those who haven’t signed the Compromise Agreement won’t get any more money from the union.
‘But he said he will arrange to meet us as soon as possible. He will meet with us and explain everything properly.
‘We want our dispute made official and the union to keep paying the hardship money until we have won.
‘It might be over for the union leaders but it isn’t for us.’
After the lobby, Mrs G K Basra told News Line: ‘Woodley told us that the dispute is finished and there will not be hardship payments except for those who have signed the compromise agreement and are waiting to go back in under the slave labour survival plan.
‘That is disgusting. We don’t accept this.’
Mrs Darshan Jhaj added: ‘Woodley said we will not get any more hardship money.
‘He said that the union had already given us £1.1 million.
‘We were not satisfied with Woodley’s answers, and when we approached Brendan Gold (TGWU Civil Aviation head) he ignored us.
‘He had a very bad attitude.’
Mohinder Virk said: ‘Most of the delegates who went inside were saying that they would help us.
‘They were very shocked to hear that we are no longer getting hardship pay.
‘When Woodley told us that hardship pay would only be for those who signed the compromise agreement we were very angry.
‘We told him that it is not right.’
Mrs Amarwant Kaur said: ‘We got good support from delegates, but not from Woodley.
‘He said that he would not make the dispute official or pay us any more hardship pay.’
Mrs Gurdish Sidhu said: ‘When we asked Brendan Gold to talk to us, he said that he did not want to talk to us.’
