Ford Visteon Workers occupation and picket

April - May 2009
The role and activities of the Enfield Support Group

An account, by some of those involved, of the history, activities and effectiveness of the Ford Visteon Workers (Enfield) Support Group



Introduction

This booklet looks at the effectiveness of the Ford Visteon Workers (Enfield) Support Group (SG) that was set up in April 2009. The group was formed solely to give solidarity and support to the Enfield Ford Visteon workers who first occupied, then picketed their factory for six weeks from April 1st to 15th May 2009. There were 3 Ford Visteon car parts plants involved in the joint struggle against closure, including one in Belfast which was occupied by the workers throughout the dispute, and one in Basildon, Essex where the workers effectively picketed their factory around the clock for the whole dispute.

This pamphlet is intended as a record of the London support group that set up to assist the Enfield workers and as a tool for future workers support groups. We do not discuss the actual dispute here, as that has been looked at in detail already (See references at the end for further reading).