The gateman was “Tubs” Keenan, while the electricians were John McKevitt and Malachy Cunningham; Harry Stokes was in charge of the boilers.
The Works Committee negotiated pay and conditions, while the Social Club organised outings, sometimes to major soccer games, and the annual dinner dance.
However, the workers were involved in an industrial dispute, a few months after the opening. It involved the dismissal of three trainees, who had refused to carry
out instructions from management. An ultimatum was given that “if the strikers did not return to the various shifts, they would be considered no longer in the
firm’s employment.”
Leading Union official, Frank Hughes was given a stormy reception when he declared: “Don’t, for God’s sake, kill this thing before it has time to bear fruit. It
would be very easy for a hot-head or loud-mouth to destroy things. Use your intelligence, and don’t be dictated to by a few people. I am not going to allow
anybody to exploit this firm, which has to creep before it can walk.
“Suppose you block the factory and it closes, - is that all right? It is the difference between having a factory, or none at all, because this firm does not
depend on Newry. If you want employment, you will not get it with anarchy,” the union official added.
A settlement was reached following talks involving Frank Hughes and John O’Donnell, (ATGWU), along with shop-stewards, Willie Carr and Cora O’Hare, with
the management.
Finally, in 1970, came a serious dispute over bonus payments, involving 22 winders, which led to a general six-week strike. A hard-hitting statement was
issued, following a meeting between the Strike Committee, members of Newry Urban Council and `Citizens groups,’ led by Sam Dowling, chairman of the local
Civil Rights Association.
“Sick and tired of exploitation by foreign industrialists and fly-by-night opportunists, taking advantage of Newry’s chronic unemployment situation, we are
resolved to take extreme measures, where necessary, to protect our inalienable right to a decent job and wages.
“We are undaunted by repeated threats from the management of Ulster Textiles, that they will close our factory, if we do not toe their line. While such threats
are irrelevant to the issues for which our trade union has brought us out on strike, they indicate the depths to which callous employers are prepared to sink,
in order to ensure fat profits by slave labour, in factories provided by our money.
“We hereby declare that, armed with the support of the people of Newry, and the strength of the trade union movement, we will now take a stand, prepared to make
any sacrifice to achieve security and justice,” the statement added.
Though a settlement was negotiated between the trade union, strike committee and management, the shock announcement that the Ulster Textiles plant would close came
a few months later. The Board of Directors stated that the Newry operation had lost the company a total of £620,000, since it opened in 1962. At no time had it
made a profit, and the slump in the textile industry, as well as the `recent prolonged strike` had sealed its fate.
“During the nine years of the company’s existence, it received no capital repayments, dividends or interest on its investment. Had the company been actuated by
purely commercial considerations, the mill would have been closed some years ago. Accepting our moral responsibility to the workers and people of the Newry
district, we were determined to put the mill on a sound footing. It is now certain that we will lose all our investment in this venture.”
And the company statement added: “We recognise that the closure will cause distress and privation to employees and their families. But we are glad to have been
able to give substantial employment in the Newry area, over the past ten years.”
Frantic efforts were made to avert the closure, which shocked the frontier town, putting over 300 workers on the dole. It would bring the local unemployment figure
to over 2,800, - one of the highest on record. Hundreds took part in a protest march through the town. And a high-powered deputation, including MP’s, councillors,
chambers of commerce and trade unions, put pressure on the Minister of Commerce for a rescue package.
Max Keogh, M.P. for South Down, and editor of the now-defunct `Frontier Sentinel’, along with Union organiser, John O’Donnell, stressed that the outlook was “not
as bleak as might be assumed, as several departments of the factory were paying their way; an incentive bonus had stepped up production considerably; and an
extension of three months would enable the workers to prove that they could save the plant.”
President of Newry Chamber of Commerce, W.V. Hogg, declared that the closure would “have the same effect in the Newry region as that of Harland and Wolff Shipyard
in Belfast. We expect the Government to act immediately, and safeguard those jobs by taking over the running of the operation, making money available to re-equip
and modernise the plant.”
And Paddy O’Hanlon, M.P. for South Armagh, stated at Stormont: “It is sad that the Government can subsidise Belfast Shipyard, yet can’t assist an industry, which
is the major source of employment in the Newry region. If they refuse to provide the paltry sum of £100,000, to keep the 300 men and women in employment in the
Newry area, while pumping millions of pounds into Belfast Shipyard, they will never be able to live it down.”
All appeals fell on deaf ears, the plant closed down, and the workers were deposited on the unemployment scrap-heap. Over 30 years have passed; and Newry has become
a modern, progressive, thriving city of confident citizens, with expanding private housing developments. What a far cry from protest marches, claims
of discrimination, and fears of massive job-losses from a factory closure!
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