JUSTICE FOR THE SHREWSBURY THREE

JUSTICE FOR THE SHREWSBURY THREE RMT backs the Shrewsbury Pickets Campaign and the fight for justice for the pickets wrongly imprisoned in 1973 on trumped up charges T rade unionists from all over the country rallied in Shrewsbury recently to demand justice for the 24 men convicted in 1973 on ‘conspiracy’ charges for simply taking part in a building workers’ dispute. A march took place from Abbey Foregate to the Crown Court, where TV actor Ricky Tomlinson was one of 24 workers convicted in 1973 during the “flying pickets” trial. Mr Tomlinson, a plasterer at the time, was jailed for two years for an alleged offence under the 1875 Conspiracy Act. The strike was all over the country but the 24 were arrested in Flintshire and Mold in North Wales and tried in Shrewsbury Crown Court to “set an example”. Mr Tomlinson called on the police to provide evidence that his trial had been fair “I’m challenging the Chief Constable to come to a public meeting where people could hear for themselves that there was no case to answer at our trial. “I want him to debate with me that this trial wasn’t legal,” he said. Justice for the Shrewsbury Pickets campaign national secretary Mike Abbott said that the workers’ only ‘crime’ was to go on strike over their demand for £1 an hour and better safety and working conditions in the construction industry. It was the second year that the march involving over 500 people had taken place. RMT genral secretary Bob Crow said: “We’ve come down today to get some justice for the people who were the victims in the dispute. “Employers have blacklisted trade unionists whose only crime was to defend people’s conditions and try to improve pay,” he said. The campaign is preparing a submission to the Criminal Cases Review Commission and a campaigning DVD, for more information go to www.shrewsburypicketscampaign.org.uk RMT helpline 0800 3763706 :: june 2010 :: RMTnews 12 Bob Crow Ricky Tomlinson