MARCH AND RALLY

JUSTICE FOR SACKED SIMCLAR WORKERS

Several hundred people including trade unionists, MPs, MSPs and councilors marched through Irvine to a rally in support of the Simclar workers.The marchers were addressed by Grahame Smith, STUC General Secretary, and Willie Paterson, Community Scottish Regional Secretary.

Speaking at the Simclar Rally in the Volunteers Hall in Irvine, Grahame Smith opened by bringing to the meeting the support, and solidarity of the STUC General Council, and the trade union movement throughout Scotland and congratulated the Simclar workers on the Stand they had taken.

He went on to highlight the appalling treatment of the workforce by the board and the owner, Sam Russell and called upon MPs and the DTI to instigate an investigation into the closure as a matter of urgency. He emphasised that an investigation alone was not enough. Despite the incessant calls from the business community for less red tape, what was needed was better regulation and protection for workers to stop employers shutting up shop and engineering an insolvency leaving the taxpayer to pick up the bill.

Grahame concluded by saying “I don’t know if you noticed, but one Scottish broadsheet journalist called Sam Russell a hero! “A Hero? “Sam Russell is no hero. The only heroes here are you, the Simclar workers, for standing up and for fighting back”