London Class War will be picketing Wilkinson's Stratford branch on Mayday between 11.30am and 1.00pm. Publicity and support for the action would be appreciated. Let's keep up the pressure on Wilkinson's. 'Industrial Rubber' Exploiting Prisoners
Word has reached us that a company called Industrial Rubber PLC (Fielder Drive, Fareham, Hants. Tel-01329 287955) are using prison labour at several prisons - Kingston, Ford, and we believe Lewis. The company produces rubber mouldings including those intended for 'cat's eyes', and they use prisoners to trim off the waste rubber, a mind-numbing job. They may also employ prisoners to do other other work. Average pay in the workshops at Kingston prison, which holds life sentence prisoners, is £10 for a 30 hour week, and pay at the other prisons where Industrial Rubber are exploiting forced prison labour will certainly be no higher.
In early March Industrial Rubber was the scene of industrial action by their non-prisoner workforce because the firm were paying below the minimum wage. They are also a company that uses houseworkers, who are notoriously underpaid. It is unlikely that any of their employees are aware of their use of prison labour, and Industrial Rubber are clearly a company who ruthlessly exploit their workforce.
More information on this company is welcome, and action against it is clearly overdue.