Laing workers snub new CTRL contract

Two hundred workers on Laing O’Rourke’s £311m Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) Contract 105 voted unanimously last week not to sign the new working agreement being offered by the company.

Following a meeting at the site near London’s Kings Cross last Wednesday, all those who attended - despite alleged threats from management that they would lose their jobs if they left the site - agreed to elect stewards to give themselves stronger representation and to contest and negotiate the contract being offered by O’Rourke.

“The workers have passed the first obstacle by standing up to the bullies by attending the meeting,” one worker said. “We know now that if the workers stick together they can get what they want from any future talks.”

Only 14 workers of the 400-strong workforce have so far agreed to sign the contract, which includes cuts in salaries and holiday pay, the docking of pay if a full five-day shift isn’t completed and the need for a medical certificate for just one day’s absence (CJ 13 October).

Another meeting - to elect stewards - chaired by the GMB and RMT and the Joint Sites Group, was due to take place on Monday night after CJ had gone to press .

“The workers feel the unions have been unrepresentative of them throughout this escapade and that these stewards can help negotiate a better contract,” another worker said. “Around 98% of workers on the contract are with UCATT. However, they feel the union just isn’t listening.

“The current union stance is that a union official attends a meeting with each worker and member of O’Rourke’s management, a contract is plonked in front of them putting them under pressure to sign.”

Workers on the contract have been helped by agency worker Steve Hedley, who claims he has been blacklisted on the same contract by signals contractor Westinghouse over the disappearance of £800-worth of equipment - a claim the company denies.

“I have been offered £2,500 by the project team if I leave the site and no longer speak to O’Rourke’s workers. That’s not going to happen. I am here to the end,” he said.

Laing O’Rourke refused to comment.