Alex Ferguson, Manchester United, and the 1959 Apprentice Strike

SIR Alex Ferguson is to retire as Manchester United's manager at the end of this season after 27 years in the job that some say has made him the most successful boss in British football.  He had helped the team win 13 league titles, two Championship Leagues, the Cup Winners' Cup, five FA Cups and four League Cups. 

It has been said that there is a plan in place for when Ferguson steps down.  Ferguson said of his decision:
'The decision to retire is one that I have thought a great deal about and one that I have not taken lightly. It is the right time. It was important to me to leave an organisation in the strongest possible shape and I believe I have done so. The quality of this league winning squad, and the balance of ages within it, bodes well for continued success at the highest level whilst the structure of the youth set-up will ensure that the long- term future of the club remains a bright one.  Our training facilities are amongst the finest in global sport and our home Old Trafford is rightfully regarded as one of the leading venues in the world. Going forward, I am delighted to take on the roles of both director and ambassador for the club.'

But he also spoke sympathetically of the Glazer family, who tookover United and who many up here in Manchester despise, he said:
'Over the past decade, the Glazer family have provided me with the platform to manage Manchester United to the best of my ability and I have been extremely fortunate to have worked with a talented and trustworthy chief executive in David Gill. I am truly grateful to all of them.'

In July 2010, Ferguson said: 
'When Manchester United Football Club went plc without doubt it was always going to be bought. Somebody was going to buy it. It was inevitable. It's unfair that because a particular family like the Glazers have bought it, they should come under criticism when anybody could have bought it.  I have to say they've done their job well. They support myself, the manager, they've supported the players. I've never been refused when I've asked for money for a player, so what can I do other than carry on the way we're doing it, and the way I'm allowed to carry on? I've no complaints.'

Since their takeover in 2005, Ferguson has consistently supported the Glazers but these comments are pointed at a time of widespread unrest among fans over the club's ownership and ability to attract top talent to Old Trafford. At that time the United manager, who then also reiterated that he has no immediate plans to retire, said:
'The debt has come through the club being bought out by an owner. You know very well that no matter which business is bought nowadays, it's usually bought with debt. Because it's a football club it seems to attract a different type of negative reporting via the media or particularly some of our fans.

In 2004, writing in his autobiography 'Granny Made Me An Anarchist', the Scot, Stuart Christie, was to write:
'We shook staid Central Scotland to the core, or so we thought... Four years earlier, in 1959, there had been a strike of Glasgow apprentices, something previously unheard of in industrial relations (the strike committee included men like Sir Alex Ferguson, Gus Macdonald and Billy Connolly, now lords or millionaires, or both).'

That engineering apprentice strike was to spread from Glasgow in May 1959 to Manchester, and much of the rest of England.  I got involved when it came to Tweedale & Smalley, Rochdale in Lancashire.  Clearly there is a lot more to Alex Ferguson than meets the eye. 
_________________________________________________________

The next issue of the printed issue of NORTHERN VOICES No.14, will soon be available for sale. Northern Voices can be obtained as follows:
Postal subscription: £5 for the next two issues (post included). Cheques payable to 'Northern Voices' sent to c/o 52, Todmorden Road, Burnley, Lancashire BB10 4AH.
Tel.: 0161 793 5122.
email: northernvoices@hotmail.com

Unofficial Strike at Billingham

ATTEMPTS were under way today to bring an end to an unofficial strike which has seen dozens of workers protest outside an industrial site. It is thought the Unite union was due to meet with representatives of a group demonstrating outside Lucite in Billingham, near Stockton-on-Tees. Crowds of around 100 people have been reported at the company’s entrance in recent days in an action which has delayed planned maintenance work. The protest comes after 14 scaffolders and labourers were escorted from the chemical company’s site - triggering a disagreement which saw other workers join the dispute. A source at Hertel, which employs the workers at the Lucite site, said the 'unofficial strike action' had been going on for several days and involved the 'unlawful secondary picketing' of the premises. He claimed many of the demonstrators had no direct connection with the work in question, adding the firm had written to its employees to 'counter false allegations that the dispute is in any way linked to pay or that the men were forcibly removed from the site.'

The source said Hertel had ended a temporary scaffolding contract last week due to a reduction in the planned scope of scaffolding work required at the Cassel Works site. The decision meant that around 14 scaffolders out of a total of workforce of around 160 contractors employed by the company were given a week’s pay in lieu of notice. The company says that is in line with the agreed terms of the temporary contracts. But the workers claim their action comes after they were laid off following a pay review request. Advanced scaffolder Tony Seaman last night told the Gazette he had taken a letter of grievance to management last Wednesday. He said workers were asking for Hertel to set up a meeting with union officials regarding payments for a planned shutdown. The 41-year-old, of Ormesby, claimed workers got £10.46 a hour and wanted £14. They say that is in accordance with NAECI (blue book) rates, but Hertel has said Lucite is not part of that agreement. 'We believe they don’t want to pay the correct rate for the shutdown and for the new build which is going on', Mr Seaman added. 'I can’t describe how we feel.'

Read More Mr Seaman said other workers then joined the action. He added: 'The rest of the site had a meeting on Thursday and came out.' Mr Seaman last night said: 'I would say there are between 100 and 150 out on unofficial strike.' He added his belief the shutdown would not go ahead unless the current situation was resolved. Scaffolder John Beadnall, 52, from Middlesbrough, said at the site’s entrance today: 'I believe management have handled this terribly. It’s grossly unfair.' And Jamie Rowland, 26, a scaffolder from Easterside, added: 'They ought to hold talks immediately.' A Hertel spokesman said the situation all of the 14 were employed as temporary scaffolders and labourers.

'The process was managed in accordance with standard procedures with appropriate notice issued to each of the affected employees,' he added. This is not the right way to resolve a grievance. 'We hope that when people realise that the dispute does not have the backing of the union and that the planned maintenance activity will now be delayed meaning further loss of income for many, those involved will return to work.' The Gazette has seen a copy of a letter from Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, to members stating the union will give no support to the unofficial action. 'If you fail to work normally you will be taking part in unofficial action,' he warns. It is believed that the spokesmen for the parties involved in the dispute were due to meet at time of going to press.