Spartan Redeugh Dispute

EDM number 566 in 1992-93, proposed by David Clelland on 25/09/1992.

That this House deplores Conservative employment legislation which is designed to deliver British workers, bound and gagged, into the hands of unscrupulous employers; notes the recent Workplace Industrial Relations Report which demonstrates the detrimental effects of these laws on British people with no corresponding economic or industrial benefits; condemns the Board of G.M. Firth (Holdings) plc in condoning the bullying and uncouth tactics of its American chairman who has, by the use of employment legislation, brought Spartan Redeugh, an efficient, profitable, respected manufacturing plant with a long history of excellent industrial relations to a standstill by the wholesale sacking of a loyal workforce; and calls upon the shareholders of G.M. Firth (Holdings) plc to investigate the circumstances surrounding the dispute, the past history of their chairman, the collapse in the value of their shares during the period of his chairmanship and the black future now facing the Gateshead plant and good Tyneside families as a result of his complete mishandling of the company's affairs.

This motion has been signed by a total of 39 MPs.