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Workers hail success of ground-breaking Hovis strike 10 years on
BFAWU's John Fox addresses the opening day of the union's annual conference at Yarnfield Park near Stone, Staffordshire.

FOOD workers marked the tenth anniversary of a historic win against the imposition of zero-hour contracts at Hovis today, saying the dispute displayed solidarity at its best.

Following strikes at the bakery’s factory in Wigan during the summer of 2013, bosses were forced to U-turn on bringing in agency staff on zero-hour contracts in the wake of redundancies and cuts to pay and hours.

The groundbreaking industrial action, organised by the Bakers, Food & Allied Workers Union (BFAWU), helped to inspire similar walkouts at previously non-unionised branches of food-fast giant McDonalds and pub chain Wetherspoons.

Addressing the opening day of the union’s five-day annual conference in Staffordshire, BFAWU member John Fox, who helped organise the Hovis fightback, said: “This strike was never about money, it was about people. We did not want anyone to become a second-class citizen.”

He hailed the successful organising of picket lines that disrupted supplies during the dispute, saying it meant that “nothing, and I mean nothing, got in or out of those gates.

“The police that were there tried to push us forward, but we wouldn’t budge: it was solidarity at its best.”

Mr Fox also praised the support from the local community and other unions, including Unite and GMB, which “strengthened our resolve.

“Let [fellow unionists] know your struggles because they will help you.”

To rapturous applause at the Yarnfield Park conference centre in Stone, he said: “When we stick together, we all win together.”

The union, which was founded in Manchester in 1847, represents about 15,000 food workers in Britain and Northern Ireland.

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