18percent April. 2016 | Page 30

The Ferodo Factory Words and Photographs - Jamie Stevens The Ferodo factory located in Griffiths Crossing, Caernarfon was once a working factory that manufactured friction products, mainly car brake parts made of asbestos for the motor vehicle industry. It was officially opened in 1962 by Princess Margaret. By the late 1960s, the company employed up to 1,100 people. In 1997, it was bought by American Craig Smith and renamed Friction Dynamics with a workforce of around 220. Problems started to occur with the new owner, and in April 2001 the Transport and General Workers Union (T&G) members at Friction Dynamics staged industrial action in a dispute over pay and conditions where 86 workers went on strike. Friction Dynamics bosses later sacked the T&G members only several weeks after the picket at the site entrance had started. Several marches took place throughout Caernarfon which were supported by the local community. In October 2002, an employment tribunal went ahead in Liverpool, and found the workers were unfairly dismissed. To avoid paying compensation to the workers, Friction Dynamics called in the administrators and in August 2003 all workers were made redundant. Within three weeks of administration, a new company was set up using the name Dynamex Friction which sparked fury with workers who had been previously dismissed. After a two-and-a-halfyear long picket outside the site entrance, the T&G called off their protest in Christmas 2003. In September 2004, an employment tribunal ruled that Friction Dynamics and Dynamex Friction were