Industry and Manufacturing

Sacked after Protest

The line was drawn - leave your official protest and come back to work. If you don't, you will be sacked. Total, a French oil company, refused to accept their workers claims that they had broken an agreement and decided to take decisive action against their workforce who had walked out claiming that the company had gone back on an agreement not to hire foreign labour. Of 900 workers, 650 were sacked last week and have until the end of Monday to reapply for their jobs.

Looking at these images, of the workers burning their letters, the idea that they might reapply seems unlikely.

The way forward seems unclear - how can hope be brought into this dark situation? Union involvement may play a part in bringing the situation to a close but do quotes such as the following from GMB offer any hope of reconciliation?

"Let them show us how many want to go back in there crawling on their bellies for their jobs.

"We go out together, we go back together."

Phil Whitehurst, GMB Union

What do you see as the way forward? Would you go back to work, risking alienation from your peers?