The Ferodo factory located in Griffiths Crossing near Caernarfon, North Wales was once a state of the art plant owned by Turner & Newell Ltd that manufactured friction products; mainly car brake parts and clutches made of asbestos for the motor vehicle industry. It was officially opened by Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon accompanied by the Earl of Snowdon on 16th May 1962. By the end of that decade it was employing 1,100 people.
In 1997, the company was bought by American businessman, Craig Smith, who renamed the site Friction Dynamics and began operation 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 resulting in 86 workers voting to go on strike. Demonstrating their grievance, these workers picketed the main gates to fight justice against the oppressive owner after they were locked out. Craig Smith responded by sacking all of the T&G members eight weeks later which made headline news and brought on a furious reaction from the workers and local community. Several marches were organised and support from other union groups was powerfully voiced. These workers refused to accept a dictatorial conduct of a 19th century employer who wanted to cut their salaries, extend their working week and destroy their union.
In October 2002, an employment tribunal took place in Liverpool and found the workers were unfairly dismissed. Before compensation could be paid, Craig Smith reacted by calling in the administrators and in August 2003, redundancy notices were issued to all the remaining workers. Within three weeks of administration, a new company was set up using the name Dynamex Friction and adverts appeared in local recruitment centres for experienced machine operators and factory staff. The local fury was tangible on every street, which sparked anger with all workers who had previously been dismissed. The T&G members held the picket for 24 hours a day for nearly three years before the protest was finally called off in December 2003. The following year, an employment tribunal ruled that Friction Dynamics and Dynamex Friction were linked and that dismissed staff should have been offered work by the new company.
Workers redundancy and sick pay was paid by the government however the T&G Workers’ Union, now part of Unite, continued to campaign for compensation. Strikers drew a line under their bid in 2010 accepting that they would be unable to get compensation from Craig Smith unless there was a change in the law. The last workers left the site in 2007/08 after it was sold to Bluefield Caernarfon Limited where it has been left to decay ever since. The protest is recorded as one of the UK’s longest industrial disputes to date.
The following photographs are a documentation of how the site currently stands. All artefacts were recovered from the site.