A 10-month campaign by construction union UCATT to prevent the loss of highly skilled jobs from Islington has been hailed a success.

The campaign began last year when Kier Islington, which provides repairs and maintenance on local authority housing in the borough, announced that it intended to close the highly successful joinery shop and transfer the work to Harlow, Essex.

The campaign won the strong support of the Islington Labour Group, who took the matter to a full council meeting. The closure of the joinery shop was supported by the ruling Liberal Democrats and confirmed by the slimmest of margins.


Due to the strength of the opposition to the proposed closure Kier Islington have now reconsidered their plans.

The joinery shop will now transfer from its existing Vale Royal location to newly modified premises in nearby Brewery Road.

Jerry Swain, Regional Secretary for UCATT's London and South East Region, said: "I am pleased that Kier Islington have listened to reason. This eminently sensible decision will both preserve jobs and ensure that local residents receive the best possible service."

The joinery shop provides doors, windows and stairways for local authority properties throughout the borough. They also provide an emergency repair service when it is needed. The workers are highly skilled and the joinery shop also provides apprenticeships and training, in an area where high quality manual training is limited.

(CD/BMcc)