{"id":18652,"date":"2019-08-19T15:21:02","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T14:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=18652"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:55:37","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:55:37","slug":"deeply-sinister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=18652","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Deeply sinister\u00e2\u20ac\u2122"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Unite has accused Merseyside police of being heavy handed <\/span>with <\/span>union activists protesting<\/span> against <\/span>working conditions at a construction site near Ellesmere Port.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Activists from Unite have been protesting <\/span>outside <\/span>a<\/span>t a<\/span> construction site for a<\/span>n<\/span> energy to waste project<\/span> being built by<\/span> Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor (BWSC)<\/span> since March. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite members report that the <\/span>police<\/span><\/a> have already arrested one member and have threatened the other \u00e2\u20ac\u015bactivists with regular arrests\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Activists are<\/span> protesting<\/span> practices on the <\/span>Hooton Park <\/span>site resulting in a race to the bottom for <\/span>construction<\/span><\/a> workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 conditions and undermining national construction agreements.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The site is on the border between Cheshire and Merseyside police and following a small relocation where the protests occur, the latter police force is now in charge of policing the entirely peaceful protests.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Deeply sinister<\/i><\/b>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p>\n

Unite regional officer Steve Benson said<\/span>,<\/span> \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe heavy handed approach of Merseyside police is deeply sinister.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bConstruction activists are taking part in legitimate peaceful protest and the police announcing that there \u00e2\u20ac\u0098will be regular arrests\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 indicates the police have got a clear agenda.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMerseyside police need to learn from their Cheshire counterparts who have always policed the protests in a consensual manner.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMerseyside police need to change their approach or action needs to be taken to ensure that the fundamental right to peacefully demonstrate is maintained.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The demonstrations are a result of the refusal of BWSC to observe the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI). <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While BWSC has said that it will pay rates in line with the NAECI agreement, it won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t observe rules on overtime pay and other benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Denied access\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Unite has been denied access to the site<\/span> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c <\/span>expected to employ in excess of 400 construction workers<\/span> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c <\/span>to speak to and recruit the workforce.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Benson said, <\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bConstruction activists have been holding regular protests, opposing the attacks on terms and conditions, which is creating a race to the bottom for skilled construction workers.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWorkers are also alarmed that the project has failed to recruit skilled local construction workers and instead opted to recruit workers from further afield.<\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The next <\/span>protest<\/span><\/a> will be on Friday 23 August beginning at 05:30 until 09:00 at the Hooton Park site Wirral North Road, Ellesmere Port CH65 1AN.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite has accused Merseyside police of being heavy handed with union activists protesting against working conditions at a construction site near Ellesmere Port.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12538,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[167,243],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18652"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18652"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18653,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18652\/revisions\/18653"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}