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13th February 2012
06:22pm GMT
What’s one guaranteed way to boost the morale of striking workers? A phone call from the one and only Sir Alex Ferguson, clearly.
A group of workers who have been staging a sit-in at the Vita Cortex plant in Cork received a phone call from the Manchester United FC manager earlier today, offering them support during their ordeal.
The workers have been protesting since December 16th with regards to a continued dispute over redundancy pay. The Cork Vita Cortex plant was shut down in December, with the management claiming that the company could not afford to pay the staff any redundancy. At present, the protestors are in the 60th day of their sit-in.
Jim Power, a former lorry driver for Vita Cortex, spoke directly to Sir Alex. He described the phone call as a “massive boost.”
“He spoke about his involvement in an apprentice boys’ strike in Glasgow in 1961 and told us to ‘stick in there,’” said Mr Power.
“I’m a Manchester United supporter so I’m delighted but everyone here, even the Liverpool FC guys, are saying ‘fair play,’” he added.
Over the weekend an estimated 5,000 people attended a march in Cork that was organised to support the former Vita Cortex workers. About 70,000 less than the crowd that, like Ferguson, witnessed a totally different type of industrial dispute at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.
