Workers Revolutionary Party - Support mounting for Gate Gourmet meeting

The News Line: News Friday, 27 October 2006 Support mounting for Gate Gourmet meeting

Gate Gourmet locked-out workers campaigning at Heathrow airport yesterday

MANY Heathrow Airport workers, most of them Transport and General Workers Union members, bought their tickets yesterday for the Gate Gourmet locked-out workers pre-Tribunal meeting on Sunday 5th of November.

The meeting is being held in Southall Community Centre, Merrick Road from 2-4pm just before the beginning of the locked-out workers’ employment tribunal for unfair dismissal on 13th of November.

Navin Chandrana told News Line: ‘I support them because I’m a worker just like them and a member of the union. The union is very strong but the leaders are very weak, we can change them, we need leaders who will fight for the members.’

TGWU member Rajinder Singh said: ‘What happened is very bad. The company attacked them and the union let them down.’

Catering worker Shahid said: ‘They are trying to bring slave labour onto the airport, the unions must stop them.’

Bus driver and TGWU member Rashid Khan bought two tickets and joined the campaign team. He said: ‘I’m proud to campaign with these fellow members who have been sold down the drain by our union leaders.

‘They have been replaced by cheap labour in the factory, new recruits on cheap wages. These founder members, who established Gate Gourmet, have all been chucked out.

‘What is required is united action by the workers so that these Gate Gourmet workers get their jobs back on their original terms and conditions.

‘The union leaders who have been elected to fight for their members have sold them out, the only way the union can be rectified is to kick these leaders out. We need to elect new leaders.’

After the campaign, locked-out Gate Gourmet worker Mohinder said: ‘We have sold so many tickets today. The truth will come out. People support us and feel the shame of what Gate Gourmet and the T&G leaders did to us. We are very confident we are going to win.’