Strikers defy union

Press, 26 February 1980, Page 9

Strikers defy union

I i NZPA-Reuter London I . ■ I Workers at two’ big pri- ; rate steel firms have voted \ to end a strike in support of; colleagues in tbe State-run 1 British Steel Corporation. Defying union orders. ■ iabout 1600 men at Hadfield’s; lin the northern England! .steelmaking town of; jSheffield met behind locked! i doors and voted to return toi ’.work, union officials said. j | About 600 workers at an-1 ■other private steelmakers inj: Sheffield, Firth Brown's,’ voted on Saturday to return i to work. !: Iron and Steel Trades’ Confederation members at’: all private firm's, which pro-1 ;duce 25 per cent of the;! ;country's steel, were called; |out to give more bite to thei strike by the 100.000 British j: I Steel workers.

The 8.5. C., workers have; been out for seven weeks demanding a pay rise of up; to 30 per cent, a claim rejected totally by the management. ■ The decisions by the men; iat Hadfield’s and Firth! . Brown's to return to work» !are expected to produce; ; rowdy scenes at the gates of, Ithe factories. The workers will have to; ’pass through hundreds ofj jB.S.C. men trying to persuade them to stay out. i ’ One union official, who declined to be named, told reporters "I don’t know--1 what will happen over the I ’next few days, but we’re ‘ prepared to take the consequences.” ! ; The men at Hadfield’s,: Britain’s second largest! ; steelmakers, were told by! 'the management that if they!

remained on strike the comrpany would have to close i ; permanently, informed sources said. An attempt to negotiate ■an end to the strike at ijB.S.C. ended in deadlock on i • Friday and there are no imimediate plans' for further ■ ■meetings between the two 'sides. British industry has not yet been badly • effected because many companies have stockpiles and they are e.xipected to last for’a further four weeks. But feeling is running ■ high and at the week-end an I arsonist gutted a union office being used as a centre •for directing the strike. The I police said petrol was /poured around the office, in ’the town of Rotherham, and I set alight, destroying hunJdreds of documents.