Cutting up rough at fabrics factory

Over 250 workers were laid off at the textile plant and frantic efforts were being made in a bid to resolve the dispute.

Employees said that only a minority at the factory were actually on strike; the rest want to work, but cannot.

They claim that two shifts from the final examination department - the one at the centre of the stoppage - turned up for work, together with other production staff, but were locked out by management.

Production at the plant had been at a standstill for almost a fortnight, with no end in sight.

“There is no need for management to keep us all away from work. Production could have been kept up had they allowed those two shifts of final examiners through the gates,” a workers’ spokesman said.

“We are willing to fight the management over the bargaining table, but at the moment it seems to have reached a stalemate situation,” he added.

The stoppage developed over a dispute during the annual wages negotiations and came to a head when some of the firm’s 40 final examiners walked out in protest a fortnight previous.

“We want these negotiations opened up again and we’re hoping the Labour Relations Agency can help us in this regard.”