As directly employed workers at Drax, the biggest power station in the UK, took their first day of strike action after rejecting a pay offer of 8%, contract workers refused to cross the picket line – and then took the road, causing chaos. #Justice4Workers.
Contract workers (scaffolders, thermal insulators, rope access and industrial cleaners) are also being balloted for strike action, having only been offered a 5% pay rise over three years – and are on little more than minimum wage, doing the dirtiest jobs on the site.
It makes their show of solidarity today even more impressive.
This all added up to an £800,000 loss for Drax, already enough to settle the dispute – and with eight more Mondays of strikes to be followed by all-out strike from April 17, the company – who are making an eye-watering £700 MILLION in profits – would do well to settle this dispute before more damage is done.
In April, the contract workers will be ready to strike too – and with 1,500 new contract workers due to be employed on decommissioning the remaining coal boilers, this strike is only going to hit harder and harder.
(Video and article originally published in Reel News)
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