Dockers defy union call

Press, 29 August 1984, Page 11

Dockers defy union call

NZPA-Reuter London Dockers at four main British ports worked yesterday in defiance of their union’s call for a second national strike in six weeks, but at 12 key ports in Scotland and several in England the strike was solid.

During the last two days, dockers at the ports of Immingham, Grimsby, Belfast, and Lame, all voted to stay at work, saying they believed the stoppage was primarily designed to support a five-month-old strike in the State-run coal industry. At Lame, Northern Ireland, where dockers voted 115-1 against the strike call, a union official said the split could have “very .messy” repercussions. “This decision may make things even more prolonged if striking dockers picket

the other working ports,” said Sam McVeigh. His men believed that the strike was “not so much about protecting dockers’ jobs as about supporting the miners.” At Belfast, where 100 dockers voted unanimously to work, their leader said his members also thought the stoppage was political. “Our boys have enough to do to look after their own jobs without getting mixed up in this,” he said. The full picture will not emerge for a few days. Men at Southampton and Bristol vote were to other ports will hold meetings today.

Dockers at Dover, Britain’s busiest ferry port, are not due to vote until the end of the week and are expected to reject the strike call.

The Transport and General Workers’ Union called the men out last Friday.