Ferodo was a major employer on the edge of Caernarfon, Gwynedd in North Wales,
manufacturing brake parts for the motoring industry
At one point it employed aound 1000 workers but the workforce reduced over the years because of foreign outsourcing of car parts. The TGWU worked harmoniously with Ferodo, even during the turbulence of the 1970s.
An American, Craig Smith, bought the factory in 1997 (renamed Friction Dynamics Ltd) and made changes to working conditions to make the company more competitive in the global market.
The TGWU negotiated on behalf of the workforce, but talks stalled and industrial action began in April 2001. After the May Day Bank Holiday, factory workers returned to find they were locked out. Smith dismissed 86 workers who had taken lawful industrial action. A picket line was set up at the entrance to Griffiths Crossing, and lasted almost three years.
The eighty six workers later won their wrongful dismissal claim at an employment tribunal in 2003, but never received compensation - Friction Dynamics had gone into administration in August 2003, and a new company, Dynamex Friction, began production on the site two weeks later. The factory closed completely in 2008
manufacturing brake parts for the motoring industry
At one point it employed aound 1000 workers but the workforce reduced over the years because of foreign outsourcing of car parts. The TGWU worked harmoniously with Ferodo, even during the turbulence of the 1970s.
An American, Craig Smith, bought the factory in 1997 (renamed Friction Dynamics Ltd) and made changes to working conditions to make the company more competitive in the global market.
The TGWU negotiated on behalf of the workforce, but talks stalled and industrial action began in April 2001. After the May Day Bank Holiday, factory workers returned to find they were locked out. Smith dismissed 86 workers who had taken lawful industrial action. A picket line was set up at the entrance to Griffiths Crossing, and lasted almost three years.
The eighty six workers later won their wrongful dismissal claim at an employment tribunal in 2003, but never received compensation - Friction Dynamics had gone into administration in August 2003, and a new company, Dynamex Friction, began production on the site two weeks later. The factory closed completely in 2008
