In Beenham, West Berkshire, GMB members took strike action over the miserly 1% pay rise presented to them by management at Marley roof tiles - despite the company making £16 million in profits last year and two of the bosses alone received £2.7 million. Following concerted organising by the GMB, headed by Regional Organiser and RTUC Vice President, Nikki Dancey, the trade unionists at Marley voted 96% in favour of strike action.
As well as the striking workers and Nikki, other GMB activists from RTUC, Kevin Brandstatter and Helen Caney, were joined by John Gillman, a Unite delegate to RTUC. Helen, the GMB Reading Branch Secretary, pointed out: “Earlier this year, our members had to fight against an extremely unpopular proposal to change their pay, terms and conditions which has strained industrial relations to a point where they’re on life support" (Reading Chronicle, 10 December) and "This is not just about the pay rise, it's an accumulation of grievances that have never been addressed and are just dismissed by the higher levels of management" (GMB Southern Region News, 3 December).
The 48-hour stoppage took place on 10 and 11 December, though according to Kevin, a GMB Senior Organiser, "most of the workers took part and didn’t actually want to stop picketing!"
Having witnessed the strength of feeling from the 60-strong workforce, the management at Marley need to table a better offer and work with the GMB to repair the damage to morale which their management style has inflicted.
