WORKERS at the Caterpillar plant at Springvale have begun a four day walk-out in a dispute over pay and conditions at the site.
Speaking to the Andersonstown News, a Unite rep at the plant, who did not wish to be named, said that he and his colleagues love working at the site but called for the management to respect their employees.
“This started over pay and conditions. In this sector, we are probably some of the lowest paid. The boys are sitting on around £10.30 an hour. If you look at Aerospace and other manufacturers, it is way higher,” he said.
“The recent pay deal came up and they added an extra compulsory 24 hours labour per month on top of the pay deal.
“While the talks around the pay deal were ongoing they realised that it could come to strike action and they started bringing people from the office onto the floor.
“What we were offered would have brought us to nearly £12 but we refused it. They offered the office staff £12 on top of what they were already earning to go out and man the line which was a complete insult.
“We then had scab labour coming over from England who were offered £12 on top of their wage, getting put up in hotels, getting fed and watered. It has got to a stage where they keep insulting us.
“They keep treating us as if we are worthless and that our jobs can be done by anybody. These are skilled jobs and management have just got a total disregard for their employees.”
US-owned Caterpillar reported surging profits and demand in 2021 and paid out $2.3 billion to shareholders.The Unite rep added that those on strike were not asking for much and pressed the point that they only want respect.
“It will benefit the company. We all want to be here, we all want to work here and if they start paying the proper money they are going to get the right men. They are struggling to get the right men and that is because they are not paying the right money.
“We are hoping to get back round the table because we are giving out a very good product to the customer and the customer is happy. You need everyone to be happy and working in unison as Caterpillar are earning big money and that needs to be reflected back to us.”
