The Hull Daily Mail came up with the idea last Wednesday morning to try to get as many of the threatened workers outside the plant as possible, to show the human face of the proposed mass redundancies.
The paper asked local union officials to help co-ordinate the gathering. They put the word out around the plant by e-mail, text and word of mouth. As a result 700 workers trooped out of the plant at 12.15pm last Thursday to illustrate the huge numbers of skilled workers and livelihoods at stake. The picture, taken by Picture Editor Jim Mitchell, was used as a special front and back page wraparound to give it the greatest possible impact and also to cram as many of the workers as possible in! Nearly all of the workers who posed for the picture are on the published image.
The image is a study of pride, defiance and solidarity. The headline: “Don’t Throw Us All On The Scrapheap” sums up their anger and united call for the company to think again and for the Government to intervene to save vital manufacturing jobs and capability in a key, strategically-important industry.
As one of the workers said: “BAE and the Government see us all as just a number, but there is a face behind every redundancy”.
The campaign will support the efforts of BAE Systems workers, trade unions and local politicians to persuade the company to reverse the decision to end Brough’s proud history as “the home of the Hawk”. The paper believes Brough is being unfairly sacrificed in favour of other UK plants and that there is a powerful case to be made to BAE Systems and the Government to retain the site as a manufacturing centre and major employer.
This is the second time the Mail has campaigned to save the Brough site and hundreds of jobs there. In 2002 and 2003 the Mail mounted the “Sign It Now!” campaign, urging the Government to agree a £10 billion contract to build a new fleet of Hawk jets for the RAF. The campaign included a mass lobby of 700 workers from Brough to Westminster. Just before redundancies were due to be made, the Government signed the deal. It was followed by a £1bn Hawk order from the Indian government. Together the deals guaranteed employment for years ahead.
Hull Daily Mail Editor John Meehan said: “They say a picture can say more than a thousand words. Well this is a case in point. It shows hundreds of skilled workers who could be cast into unemployment.
“How can it be right to shed so many highly-skilled jobs and close down a centre of manufacturing excellence when the Government says it is a priority to support the economy and rebalance it in favour of manufacturing?
“The loss of so many jobs and manufacturing expertise and capability would be a disaster for East Yorkshire, but also a major blow to UK Plc. We’re determined to do all we can to support the efforts to reverse this damaging and short-sighted decision.”
