Eleven-week ban on vehicles entering home base
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Dispute over steward's action at Birmingham Containerbase
by David Lowe • A long-drawn-out dispute over the suspension and dismissal of a TGWU shop steward has resulted in an 11-week ban on the 19 vehicles of Bulwark Contracts Ltd from entering the Containerbase at Perry Barr, Birmingham, from which they operate.
The shop steward, Mr D. Jones, was suspended on April 19 this year for disobeying a management instruction to park his vehicle at a depot away from the Containerbase until a dispute within the base had been settled. The shop steward defied this instruction and took his vehicle into the base, whereupon he was suspended by Bulwark's depot manager. Mr D. Jones claimed at the time that he was acting under the instructions of a union official, but refused to name the official. Bulwark's other shop steward, Mr A, S. Jones, observed his employer's instructions and advised the other drivers to do the same. As a result of his action Mr A. S. Jones received notification the following day from Mr Alan Law, regional trade group secretary of the TGWU, that he was no longer recognized as a representative of the "membership".
When I interviewed him in Birmingham on Wednesday, Mr A. S. Jones told me that in returning with his vehicle to the Containerbase his colleague Mr D. Jones was breaking a union branch agreement not to break any picket line, which by entering the base he had done. This was the reason why Mr A. S. Jones himself refused to return and advised his members to follow suit.
Lonely vigil Following a period of suspension on full pay while negotiations, which were to prove unsuccessful, between Bulwark management and the union took place, Mr D. Jones was sacked on June 7 and since then until Monday of this week he has maintained a lonely vigil as a picket on unofficial strike outside the base; but he had not been seen on Tuesday or Wednesday.
The TGWU is supporting Mr D. Jones in an effort to get him reinstated, but the Bulwark management—supported by OCL with whom they have the sole contract for handling OCL containers in and out of the base—are adamant in their refusal to re-employ the man_ Mr Jones had indicated in his original contract of employment with the firm that he was not prepared to work from any other base so Bulwark was not able to offer him any other employment elsewhere.
Efforts by Bulwark drivers to get shop steward A. S. Jones re-appointed officially have met with a refusal from Mr Law, who told the men that they already had a shop steward in Mr D. Jones.
Drivers' appeal An appeal by the drivers in the form of a letter to Mr Jack Jones, general secretary of the TGWU, signed by all 19 drivers, to have the dispute settled resulted in a reply referring the matter back to Mr B. Mathers at the Birmingham regional office of the • Union.
Bulwark's vehicles have been banned from the base since June 3 when Mr D. Jones' solitary strike was made official and the company is having to park the trucks at another depot seven miles away. Blacking of the vehicles from entering the bases has been denied by Mr Law, but an attempt by four Bulwark drivers to enter with their vehicles was unsuccessful when the Containerbase shop steward asked for their immediate removal.
Unconstitutional Mr A. S. Jones is still acting as shop steward for the Bulwark drivers and is recognized by the Bulwark management as such. He told me he believes his sacking from his position is unconstitutional according to the union rule book which states that "shop stewards shall be elected wherever possible by the membership in organized depots" and for this reason he questions the authority of the regional organizer to remove him from the position.
Mr A. S. Jones also maintains that he and his members have not attempted to bring their vehicles into the base because to do so would be to cross an official union picket line in the shape of Mr D. Jones, not because they directly support Mr Jones. They believe he was correctly dismissed for disobeying their employer's instructions and by doing so caused a minor dispute, in which they were not directly concerned, to develop into a major protracted dispute which jeopardizes the jobs of members.