{"id":27720,"date":"2021-02-10T11:58:15","date_gmt":"2021-02-10T11:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=27720"},"modified":"2021-02-11T10:52:17","modified_gmt":"2021-02-11T10:52:17","slug":"we-took-a-stand-when-we-needed-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=27720","title":{"rendered":"‘We took a stand when we needed to’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n\n

Talk to anyone who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s taken strike action, and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll tell you that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always a last resort. After all, strikes aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just disruptive for employers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they often take a heavy emotional and financial toll on workers too, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s never any guarantee of success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, no one takes the decision to down tools lightly — and this couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be more true than for Unite member and Rolls-Royce Barnoldswick worker Andrew Evans, who took strike action for the first time in his life in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew, who was born and bred in Barnoldswick, began working for Rolls-Royce nearly thirty years ago, when he started as an apprentice for the company in 1991. For many years, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worked in the aero-engines structures side of the company, presently known as SCAM, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always felt a real sense of pride in his work and his employer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been with this company since I left school. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever known, and the company on the whole had been good to us. Of course over the years we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had redundancies \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and unfortunately sometimes compulsory redundancies — but for the most part they were usually not forced.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098It was like going into a big unknown\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So when management announced proposals in August to halt wide-cord fan blade production and outsource the work to Singapore, with the loss of 350 jobs, the news came as a shock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Andrew did not work in the wide-cord fan blade side of the business, known as FBUK, and his job was not — at least then — under immediate threat, a big question mark hung over everyone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s future. There was a strong sense among the workforce that this was only the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So when Andrew and his colleagues at Rolls-Royce Barnoldswick were balloted for strike action, it was far from an easy decision to make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was like going into a big unknown,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he told UniteLIVE. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bStrikes don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happen these days like they used to. Obviously we were a bit apprehensive. But for me, the way that things looked at that moment in time, it felt as if we were left with no other option really.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the date of the first planned strike drew nearer, Andrew and his colleagues held out hope that the company would be willing to negotiate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d sent a strong message with our ballot that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be willing to go out on strike if required,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Andrew explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat was the point that we thought, \u00e2\u20ac\u0098surely they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll come to the table and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll sort something out\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. But then it became increasingly apparent that they weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to budge.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the fated day November 6 arrived, Andrew\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s initial reluctance over strike action gave way to  resolute determination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI thought, well we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing this now. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve agreed to do it, so we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got see it through. And as the strike went on, it dawned on me while this might not be the easiest thing to do, it was the right thing to do at that moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot of stigma with strikes and you really think to yourself, are we doing the right thing? And I felt that way up until we started strike action. But now that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happened and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been through it, I think we did exactly the right thing. We took a stand when we needed to.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Incredible camaraderie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew had never been on a picket line before, and he said at first it felt \u00e2\u20ac\u015ba bit strange\u00e2\u20ac\u0165. But then when he returned on the second day of the picket line, that feeling dissipated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s difficult to describe but you start to build this incredible camaraderie. I met people on the picket line that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d never even met or spoken to before in the nearly 30 years I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve worked for the same company. For me, as daft as it sounds, the strike really brought us closer together. Before, we were FBUK and SCAM, but now were are a genuinely united and proud Barnoldswick site \u00e2\u20ac\u201c standing together as one.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Andrew and his colleagues in SCAM had agreed to take strike action to defend their colleagues in FBUK, their own future was uncertain too. And their worst fears were confirmed when Rolls-Royce announced on December 3 plans to slash jobs in SCAM and outsource the work to ITP Aero in Spain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was a very emotional day obviously,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Andrew recalled. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bKnowing that you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve given decades of your service to this company and just like that you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve become surplus to requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI know that with everything that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happened with the Covid pandemic \u00e2\u20ac\u201c sometimes crises like this happen. But after all the time that you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve put in over a number of years, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still a kick in the teeth.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it only further confirmed that taking strike action was the right thing to do, Andrew noted. Still, the going wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI consider myself to be quite mentally strong but this whole ordeal really tested me to the limit sometimes,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThroughout the dispute even well before the strikes, when we first learned that our future was at risk, it was really tough. You had your good days and bad days; it was always up and down. Obviously you bring it home with you so it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s with you all the time, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always hanging over you — that feeling that everything you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve worked for, for so many years, could all be gone in an instant.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But even when things felt hopeless, Andrew and his colleagues kept on fighting — with their union Unite and their local community 100 per cent behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe support we got from the local community was very important in keeping us together and keeping us going,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Andrew said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not huge on technology but I also began to realise the power of social media and how it told our story and pushed out our message far and wide.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Phenomenal\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 win<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After all their efforts — with members striking and mobilising rallies that drew widespread support; and with Unite reps and officers working tirelessly behind the scenes to negotiate with management \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the unthinkable happened: a deal was struck. And it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just any deal that temporarily preserved a few hundred jobs \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it has actually paved the way for a long-term, bright future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 As part of the deal, there will be a two-year guarantee of no compulsory redundancies, with 350 jobs secured as the very minimum headcount. But beyond this, the deal secures a whole decade of guaranteed on-site manufacturing. A new Centre of Excellence training school will be established, to re-skill the current workforce and train future apprentices, engineers, and designers in advanced green technology skills of the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen we got the news of the deal, I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe it really,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Andrew told UniteLIVE. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bTo have no compulsory redundancies agreed for two years in the middle of a pandemic is something you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d never even dream of. It does give us a lot of confidence going forward that these two years can be used to hopefully bring in the work we need to keep people employed, with the further hope of making the business boom long-term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe were nearly in a position of bulldozers coming in, so to speak, and now it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like, hang on a minute \u00e2\u20ac\u201c if this happens, and that happens, all of a sudden we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re looking at a 10-year plan, or a 20-year plan or even longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bConsidering where we were, and considering where we are now, I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s phenomenal. And obviously Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s role in this was enormous. They put political pressure, industrial pressure, media pressure — all sorts of pressure coming from all directions to help us secure this outcome.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to join a union\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During Heart Unions week this week, Andrew couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be prouder to be a Unite member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say enough good things about Unite. Before all this, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really know what unions did but I certainly do now. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve since been on to my partner, telling her you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to join a union \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you just never know when you might need it. Now that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had personal experience of what a union can do, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stress how important it is.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew emphasised that despite taking strike action, it hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t changed how he feels about his work and his employer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still very proud that I work for Rolls-Royce,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bLooking back, I wish this didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to happen but I think what we could take out from this is that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always another way of approaching things. We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just have to accept job losses and accept our fate.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than anything, Andrew looks forward to a bright future for Rolls-Royce Barnoldswick, one that will continue long after he and his colleagues have left.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bObviously when things got bad you think of your own personal circumstances, but for me, having gone through the Rolls-Royce system, it was also about giving opportunities to young kids. We did this for their future too. You want them coming in the gate long after you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve done your time and gone out of it. When you look at it this way, you realise why we had to take a stand.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Hajera Blagg<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pic by Unite North West<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Talk to anyone who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s taken strike action, and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll tell you that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always a last resort. After all, strikes aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just disruptive for employers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they often take a heavy emotional and financial toll on workers too, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s never any guarantee of success. Indeed, no one takes the decision to down tools lightly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27747,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[1477,483,189],"wps_subtitle":"Unite member and Rolls-Royce Barnoldswick worker Andrew Evans reflects on his first-ever strike \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and why everyone should join a union","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27720"}],"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=27720"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27766,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27720\/revisions\/27766"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}