Defending jobs and conditions at the Olympics site

Bob Crow and Keith Gibson address the construction workers day of action at the Olympics site, photo Paul Mattsson

Somewhere between 400-500 construction workers arrived in London for a day of action on 6 May. They gathered outside one of the main gates of the Olympic site to protest at the bosses' attempts to undermine trade union-negotiated pay and conditions.

Workers from the Lindsey oil refinery (LOR) site came in six buses to the protest, along with workers from other sites in the area.

There were delegations from other sites including the Isle of Grain, Isle of Wight, Manchester, Liverpool, Sunderland and Fiddlers Ferry.

Construction workers day of action at the Olympics site, photo Paul Mattsson

There was a mood of frustration among many workers that the dispute had not really spread much beyond its base in LOR. Most of this was directed at the trade union leadership. Jerry Hicks and Socialist Party member Keith Gibson got particularly loud rounds of applause when they condemned the lack of action by the leadership.

At the Parliament Square rally RMT leader Bob Crow put the case for the No2EU election campaign. The Socialist Party leaflets were well received.