dennisr
the acceptable face
I know, I know - plugging my own party's site again - but hey, this summary answers the "how did they mange it?" questions. Yes, this is a victory for Robbie's organisation - although I'm the first to point out that's less important than the victory or the workers at the plant:
Rob Williams reinstatement a victory for all workers
http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/latest/7438
"First of all, this victory is down to the marvellous solidarity shown by the Linamar workers in Rob William's plant - the Unite members who refused, under tremendous intimidation, to accept Rob's sacking.
They not only stood by him, but were prepared to take all-out strike action, for as long as it took, to get Rob his job back. The Linamar workforce were prepared to strike so that Rob could take his proper place in the factory as their elected convenor of the Unite shop stewards.
Support
This victory is also down to the tremendous support that Rob Williams received from around Wales, from the UK as a whole and, indeed, many other countries as well.
The big show of support for Rob at a mass rally of workers in Swansea, which took place the week he was sacked, demonstrated from the beginning that he was not alone and that many other were prepared to come to this aid.
The victory at Linamar is also down to the solid support that Rob had from Unite the union and its general secretary, Tony Woodley. The union has not always acted in this way in vital industrial struggles recently but we hope now that this will be a benchmark for the future.
As part of the campaign, Rob was sent by Woodley to the Ford assembly plant in Kansas, USA. This plant is the main recipient of the parts from the Swansea Linamar plant. It soon became clear that the plant in Kansas was already in deep trouble due to difficulties with supplies from Swansea. If an all-out-strike had started at Linamar, Ford would have had to shut the Kansas plant down for the duration."
Rob Williams reinstatement a victory for all workers
http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/latest/7438
"First of all, this victory is down to the marvellous solidarity shown by the Linamar workers in Rob William's plant - the Unite members who refused, under tremendous intimidation, to accept Rob's sacking.
They not only stood by him, but were prepared to take all-out strike action, for as long as it took, to get Rob his job back. The Linamar workforce were prepared to strike so that Rob could take his proper place in the factory as their elected convenor of the Unite shop stewards.
Support
This victory is also down to the tremendous support that Rob Williams received from around Wales, from the UK as a whole and, indeed, many other countries as well.
The big show of support for Rob at a mass rally of workers in Swansea, which took place the week he was sacked, demonstrated from the beginning that he was not alone and that many other were prepared to come to this aid.
The victory at Linamar is also down to the solid support that Rob had from Unite the union and its general secretary, Tony Woodley. The union has not always acted in this way in vital industrial struggles recently but we hope now that this will be a benchmark for the future.
As part of the campaign, Rob was sent by Woodley to the Ford assembly plant in Kansas, USA. This plant is the main recipient of the parts from the Swansea Linamar plant. It soon became clear that the plant in Kansas was already in deep trouble due to difficulties with supplies from Swansea. If an all-out-strike had started at Linamar, Ford would have had to shut the Kansas plant down for the duration."
