The factory occupation by workers sacked at a few minutes notice by the administrators for Visteon ended on Thursday, and I was there to photograph as they came out of the building.
They were obeying a court order which had named their convenor, Kevin Nolan and demanded that they vacate the premises by noon. Their action and the publicity it gave had certainly lent urgency to the talks between union officials and the bosses of both Visteon and The Ford Motor Company about a proper settlement for the men, and hopes are still high for some kind of acceptable settlement.
Covering an event like this isn’t just a matter of being there and taking pictures, you need to think about how to show the story and find the pictures to do so. I don’t as a matter of principle set up pictures, but that doesn’t mean I don’t try to use a little intelligence.
How do you show the support by students for the workers?
Your thoughts about the company’s position?
The man leading the action?
Convenor Kevin Donal and the occupying workers
Admittedly this picture was to an extent posed – I was standing there as another photographer talked to him and asked if I could take his picture – but that was all.
Then there were key moments as the workers came out, as for example when one was holding the certificate for 35 years of good service (over 25 of which were as a direct employee of The Ford Motor Company before they set up Visteon as a part of their enterprise.)
What doesn’t show in pictures like this last one is that I was only one of perhaps 20 press photographers and videographers all trying to get pictures, and at moments like this, all trying to get more or less the same picture. To be successful you need to have thought in advance and got in the right place – and it sometimes takes a little bit of assertive behaviour to stay there, though most photographers do try to avoid getting in the way of others.
On My London Diary you can see more of how I tried to tell the story through my pictures. One of the great things about putting work on the web is that I can do it at some length, while it’s very unusual to get more than a single picture in print.
The action at Visteon isn’t over yet. Although they have come out of the factory, the sacked workers are still picketing the two gates of the plant in an effort to prevent the removal and sale of the valuable machinery on site and to get the ‘Ford Terms’ they were promised when they were transferred to Visteon.