‘Rock solid’ strike action

Solid strike action by crane operators at Ainscough, the UK’s biggest crane hire firm today (February 1) caused near total shutdown of operations.

Less than 10 of the company’s 500 cranes left its 30 depots – from Plymouth to Falkirk – as crane operators and support staff were out in force striking over an ongoing pay dispute.

Unite’s 500 members voted overwhelmingly for strike action with 90 per cent voting in favour on an 83 per cent turnout to reject the company’s pitiful two year pay deal. Over 90 per cent voted for action short of strike.

“Ainscough has been sent a clear warning today by the workforce. Our members demand fair treatment for their hard work,” said Bernard McAuley, Unite national officer for construction.

Today’s strike action is the first in a series of escalating actions planned over the coming weeks through to 23 March and a programme of overtime bans started on 30 January and will end on 20 March.

“The company needs to get back to the negotiating table ready to reach an amicable settlement to resolve this long running dispute,” added Bernard.

Efforts by Unite to bring peace to the dispute could now be soured by Ainscough’s attempts to introduce zero hours contracts to this safety critical industry, undermining the existing collective agreement.

“Our members are highly skilled professionals, operating cranes on some of the UK’s largest construction projects, including the Forth Road Bridge, aircraft carriers in Rosyth and UK-wide rail infrastructure projects,” said Bernard.

Ainscough recently made around 24 redundancies across its crane hire business, however after Christmas the company then started engaging former employees on a zero hour contract basis at ÂŁ15 per hour.

“We fear that the drive to lower pay for the workforce won’t stop with this pay offer. We are extremely concerned that Ainscough is now drawing up plans to rip up the industry-wide agreement by introducing zero hours contracts for a pool of workers,” said Bernard.

These workers will then be on zero hours ‘hire-and-fire’ contracts reducing them to a disposable workforce, which could have serious safety implications for what is already one of the most dangerous industries in the country.

“This makes an utter mockery of Ainscough’s motto ‘safety before profit’, but it will also put the company at risk of winning future public works contracts in Scotland where Unite is working hard to ensure that the government there sticks to its promise to ensure zero hours working is not normal practice,” added Bernard.