The protests are part of a campaign to secure the reinstatement of four Unite members, including a Unite shop steward, who were dismissed by the group鈥檚 Irish subsidiary, Murphy International. Unite believes the reasons for the sacking are spurious and linked to the workers鈥� trade union membership.聽
Campaigners will stage demonstrations outside three locations in England and one in Ireland from 09:30 on Wednesday, 21st December. The locations are Murphy Power Distribution in Cannock, J Murphy & Sons, Warrington, Murphy鈥檚 head office in Camden, London and Murphy International鈥檚 offices in Newbridge, Co. Kildare.
The demonstrations follow similar protests staged outside the Irish offices in September. The dispute is believed to centre on compensation for travel time, with some workers having to drive for three hours a day to site, according to sources. Several workers at Murphy鈥檚 Rusal Plant in Aughinish, Limerick, were suspended and four, including the union rep, were dismissed.
Unite general secretary聽Sharon Graham聽said:聽鈥淯nite will do whatever it takes to defend our members and shop stewards from victimisation and that includes taking all necessary action to obtain justice for these workers.
鈥淢uch of the Murphy Group鈥檚 huge income has been generated by public contracts throughout Britain and Ireland.聽The authorities awarding such contracts should be aware that, in聽Unite鈥檚聽view, the decision to dismiss our members, including a聽Unite shop steward, was part of an attempt at union-busting聽that will not be tolerated.鈥�
Murphy sent the following statement:
鈥淲e have no comment to make on this matter, which relates to previous employees who were involved in unofficial strike action in our Irish business, Murphy International Ltd. The matter is currently subject to legal proceedings in Ireland.鈥�
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