Jamie Webster Mbe

EDM number 379 in 2003-04, proposed by Mohammad Sarwar on 08/01/2004.

That this House notes the recognition given in Her Majesty's New Year Honours to Jamie Webster, union convenor at Govan shipyard; understands that he began work in 1966 at the Scotstoun yard of Barclay Curle as an apprentice, then transferred to Fairfields in Govan, spending the last 36 years there as a welder; acknowledges his sustained efforts as a committed GMB member and shop steward, notably since 1998 as convenor of shop stewards at the Govan yard; recognises his key role leading the workforce to secure a future for the yard in a critical period when Kvaerner withdrew from Clyde shipbuilding and subsequent owners BAE Systems lacked sufficient orders to sustain employment in Govan; appreciates his crucial success in lobbying and campaigning for work on the Clyde with politicians, union activists and people all over Scotland to guarantee the yard's future; welcomes the fact that shipbuilding in Glasgow has now secured orders for the next decade through the Ministry of Defence, with the Govan yard also now able to take on new apprentices for the first time in years; and supports his ongoing work in Govan as yard convenor, committed to representing his workforce in a modern environment that adapts to the demands of the future and retains the strong tradition of quality shipbuilding on the Clyde.

This motion has been signed by a total of 26 MPs.