British Workers Protest the use of Foreign Workers

While Great Britain is feeling the same financial hardships being felt here in the United States, several hundred nuclear processing plant workers walked out on Monday to protest the importation of foreign workers. Around 900 workers at the Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria, England joined hundreds of other contract workers protesting against what they claim to be preferential treatment given to foreign workers.

The action reflects the uneasy mood in Great Britain with about 2 million out of work and the unemployment rate at more than six percent. The organizers of the walkout said it was not an anti-foreign sentiment but an attempt to level the playing field for all workers.

Union organizer Bill Eilbeck was quoted as saying in the Reuters article: “We are not trying to stop foreign labor coming to Britain, we are trying to stop them coming in and being paid less than we are and under-cutting us. We are really asking for equal rights, not just for us but for the foreign workers as well. If the government does not listen to us the situation could escalate even further and you will be seeing more strikes, which we do not want to happen.”

Three other power plants had similar walkouts.

More can be found at Reuters UK website.