Scunthorpe scaffolders picket line. Photo: John Westmoreland
Scunthorpe scaffolders entering their tenth week of strike send a strong message to greedy bosses everywhere
We are the Scunthorpe scaffolders currently in dispute with our employer Actavo.
We are asking to be paid in line with the NAECI national agreement, this would bring us on par with our colleagues employed by Actavo on different sites as well as scaffolders employed by multiple different companies working on the same site as us.
We had been in negotiations from 2019 with our previous employer Brand Energy until March 2019 to no avail. In March of this year our employment was TUPE transferred to Actavo and no agreement has yet been reached, forcing us to take this industrial action.
We are heading into week 10 of the strike, morale on the picket is at an all-time high which is a clear message to Actavo that we will not move until our demand for fair pay is met. Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, visited the picket on last Wednesday. She confirmed that we have the full support of the union in our dispute.
After Sharon explained what her leverage team is about and what they have instore should Actavo not meet our demands, we are even more determined to stick this out. We will not only strike for the 12 weeks we balloted for, but for as long as it will take to receive parity pay with our colleagues in the scaffolding industry.
It is our intention over the coming weeks to visit some of the other disputes currently happening around the country. This will not only promote our own dispute but will show our support and solidarity too.
Our strike has now gained an international dimension. Michael, a rep from a European scaffolder’s union, came to visit us and we intend to send a delegation back with him to Denmark to build an alliance with our brothers overseas.
We want to send a loud and clear message to not only our greedy bosses but all greedy bosses: the working class will no longer tolerate being underpaid whilst you live your lavish lifestyles from the profits of our valuable time and the sweat from our brow!
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