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RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: april 2021 :: RMTnews
10
RMT has welcomed a decision
last month to overturn
convictions against the
Shrewsbury 24 as a victory for
working people of Britain
which had only been achieved
by the sheer resilience and
determination of the pickets
who refused to stop fighting
for justice.
The Court of Appeal
overturned the convictions of
14 men during the national
builders' strike in 1972
sentenced for offences
including unlawful assembly
and conspiracy to intimidate.
RMT general secretary Mick
Cash said that the union had
been proud to stand shoulder
to shoulder with the
Shrewsbury pickets throughout
the long, hard fight for justice.
“Never again should trade
unionists be criminalised by
the state for fighting for
workplace justice. This victory
will be a shot in the arm for
every single union member
standing up today for jobs,
pay and decent working
conditions,” he said.
Lawyers for the 14 had
argued the destruction of
witness statements made their
convictions unsafe and Lord
Justice Fulford said: "what
occurred was unfair".
Socialist campaigner Ricky
Tomlinson was among those
convicted and he was jailed for
two years and speaking after
the verdict said: "It is only
right that these convictions are
overturned."
Six of the 14 who brought
the action have since died,
including Dennis Warren, who
COURT OVERTURNS
SHREWSBURY 24
CONVICTIONS
Union congratulates campaigners nearly 50 years after trade
unionists were wrongfully convicted on trumped up charges
JAILED: Ricky Tomlinson and Des Warren following their
release from Leicester jail in 1975 having been jailed for
conspiracy.
(c) Mike Tomlinson/Report IFL Archive/reportdigital.co.uk