Council park workers based at Blantyre’s Stonefield Park staged a two-day strike on Monday and Tuesday at the end of August 1977, over a bonus dispute with Hamilton District Council.
The 25 gardeners, labourers and drivers took strike action after claiming that the council failed to implement a bonus scheme for 11 of the men. At the end of August, Transport and General Workers’ Union shop steward Mr Roger Scully warned council officials of the walk-out if an agreement on bonus payments was not reached.
He said that the council had promised when the scheme was started 11 weeks ago all 25 workers at the park would be included in the bonus payment system. But the council’s personnel officer Mr John Rankin said that at an earlier meeting with the men they had agreed to the proposal that the bonus scheme would be “implemented piecemeal”.
He said it was a question of holding back payment for all the men or putting the programmes into effect as they were completed by the work study department. The men agreed to return to work on the Wednesday after they had been given an assurance that the work study programme would be pushed through as quickly as possible.
Mr Scully said: “The Union District Officer and myself had a meeting with council work study officials and the leisure and recreation director on Tuesday. We were given an assurance that the work study people would be in Blantyre on Wednesday to push through their programme as fast as possible for the 11 remaining men.” Work Study Officer, Mr James Anderson, said: “At the moment we are measuring the work content at Blantyre and are making the maximum effort possible, with the staff we have available, to complete the programme.”
Earlier that week Mr Scully said: “The bonus means a difference of around £4 a week for us so its worth fighting for.”
Recognise anybody, appreciate this was 47 years ago!
