Two unsung Welsh heroes: The ASW 24 Years Fight for Justice

Mark Thomas  

It was in 2002 that the Cardiff based Allied Steel and Wire (ASW) company collapsed and left 1000 steel workers without their promised occupational pensions.

Despite decades of contributions ASW workers were eventually only promised 90% of their value by the UK Government who set up Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) to assist distressed pensioners. The scheme subsequently put into place then crucially failed to protect money paid in before April 1997 from inflation.

This resulted in ASW pensions values drastically eroding over time. ASW workers were only receiving half of what was owed to them. The impact was devastating with many workers struggling to find jobs working into their seventies and beyond to make ends meet.

But two former ASW workers John Benson and Phil Jones refused to accept the injustice and have spent the last 24 years heroically fighting on behalf of their dwindling band of colleagues.

Now in their seventies and facing severe health challenges their story is one of epic Welsh industrial heroism. Every Welsh family has a John or Phil – a decent hardworking man. They are your favourite grandad, brother, uncle or cousin who one day decided enough was enough.

Making steel is a dramatic, almost mystical and magical process. It blends the raw power of fire with precise chemical control, turning brittle iron ore and carbon into a strong, flexible alloy that continues to build our world.

Anyone who has ever worked in a steel works will also tell you it’s an extremely tough, demanding and dangerous environment. Working in such conditions generates a strong sense of pride and camaraderie amongst workers. Welsh steelworkers are no exception. ASW clearly forged the incredible sense of comradeship and mutual respect and that has kept driving John and Phil to deliver justice for their former colleagues.

Like so many former Welsh steel and coal workers, both are deeply proud men who did everything that was asked of them by the system. Yet like so many other huge social injustices – the Post Office, Blood Contamination, Hillsborough and WASPI – they have run into the dystopian world of UK governance and politics.

Their incredible campaign work has gone through countless iterations of both Welsh and English political administrations and associated Ministers and yet they still persevere and fight on.

Dignity

Studs Terkel, the famous American radio broadcaster and writer featured a steelworker in his famous 1970 oral history Working.  He highlighted that work carried out by ordinary people was “about a search for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor; in short for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying.”

Terkel focused a lot on the search for meaning and dignity in work and anyone who has worked in a coal mine or a steelworks (not many now in Wales) will know that despite the brutality of the work there was and is an incredible sense of dignity & pride that many workers possess. Despite the years of endless campaigning, false promises and failed commitments John and Phil continue to exude a strength and determination that John defiantly summarises as “we are not going away!”

A cursory review of even their very latest campaign efforts leaves you in awe of their work. Endless emails written to almost every major Welsh and English politician in the Senedd, Commons and House of Lords. Yet, it represents just a very small body of their work over the last 24 years.

Their goal remains a relentless work in progress. Whilst John has garnered huge cross-party support over the years, he nonetheless – like so many others fighting for social justice – has run into the “computer say No” response of officialdom and the dead hand of Treasury orthodoxy and conservatism.

The devastating blight of the crisis on the lives of former workers is laid bare in just a few of the very many tragic examples provided by his close colleague Phil, who himself is awaiting heart surgery and who during the Covid crisis spend months in a hospital and barely survived the experience.

One former ASW colleague was in hospital and dying from terminal cancer. At the same time, his dear wife was also hospitalised having suffered a serious stroke. Following the death of her much-loved husband she was then forced to downsize and found it very difficult to manage on a greatly reduced spouse’s pension.

Another colleague who was only in his 50’s died suddenly leaving a wife and family. His unfortunate wife was at the time suffering badly from a serious brain tumour. This poor widow did not even have the money to pay the funeral costs of her husband’s burial. Tragically, he died without ever claiming a penny from the revised FAS pension that was set up.

Stacking shelves

Phil can readily recite many other stories of former aging ASW workers and their many surviving widows forced to downsize and sell their homes as they were simply unable to manage on the meagre handouts they received from the government’s discredited FAS. After ASW and 41 years as a steel worker, to make ends meet, John ended up stacking shelves in Marks and Spencer and handling passenger luggage in Cardiff Airport during the busy summer periods.

For too many of these former workers they remain forgotten outside of their loved families. Like other scandals they remain invisible victims ignored and unrecognised by responsible authorities in both in life and death.

Many were hugely grateful for the immense campaigning work of John and Phil. So many amongst the now dwindling group of victims were not comfortable taking up the spotlight and doing the gruelling 24/7 campaign work that has dominated John and Phil lives.

Pensions for many people are too complex – which in a way highlights the fundamental problem. But to then combine that complexity with embarking on a high-profile political campaign was a step too far for many victims. Getting to grips with the intrigue of pensions policy, and political lobbying has absorbed a significant part of John and Phil’s lives. It’s a battle that has been fought by the very few for the many.

Over the years John and his fellow campaigners have publicly protested and campaigned in Cardiff, London, all the Political Party Conferences, Senedd, House of Commons, MP’s & House of Lords Constituency Offices, Brussels and Luxemburg. Their case has even appeared before the European Court of Justice.

Despite the years of rejection John still manages incredibly, to remain gracious for the support he has received from the likes of current and past Welsh Senedd Members including, Mark Drakeford, Adam Price, Andrew RT Davies, Bethan Sayed, Leanne Wood, Ann Davies, and Lord Dafydd Wigley.

He also makes a very positive acknowledgement of the work of the small number of Plaid Cymru MPs over the years.

He is particularly generous in his gratitude to Rhys ab Owen who joined John and Phil on a recent trip to London to meet with Torsten Bell the UK Labour Pension Minister. Sadly, for ASW workers Rhys lost his Cardiff South seat in the March’s Senedd election.

Such has been the length of their battle John even extends a generous word of gratitude to Rhys’ late father, the widely respected, Owen John Thomas who also championed the ASW pensioners cause in the early days of the Welsh Assembly – “they were both magnificent and are sorely missed.” There is of course a real sense of irony in the fact that John has seen his battle continue through so many different government terms and a generation of standing politicians.

Media attention

For a campaign that has spanned so many years, maintaining consistent media attention has proven to be a significant challenge, especially within Wales, where there is an acknowledged news media deficit. The complexity of pensions policy only adds to the difficulty, making it feel at times like an uphill struggle to secure the public spotlight for their cause.

Despite these hurdles, John expresses his deep appreciation for the steadfast support and exceptional journalism of Welsh reporter Martin Shipton. As John remarks, “he has been brilliant, we owe him so much,” acknowledging the pivotal role Shipton’s reporting has played in keeping the injustices faced by former workers in the public eye.

John also sings the praises for the Daily Mail’s money journalist, Jeff Prestridge, and long-standing Rhodri Lewis at BBC Wales.

Betrayed

Of course, over such a long and arduous battle John inevitable also has some very hostile words to say about the many politicians and parties who he and his colleagues believe have callously betrayed them and reneged on numerous promises over the years to right the injustice. He is particularly critical in his condemnation of the majority of Welsh Labour and Conservative MPs who betrayed the trust they believed they had in them.

He also has major criticism for Gordon Brown’s pensions policy as being a major contributor to his colleagues’ desperate plight. In his July 1997 Budget, Chancellor Gordon Brown abolished Advance Corporation Tax (ACT) dividend tax credits, stopping pension funds from reclaiming tax on company share dividends. This “pension raid” cost funds an estimated £5 billion a year. Critics blame it for destroying the gold standard of final-salary pensions, though others note wider economic factors also contributed.

As advancing age and health catches up with John and Phil and their small band of campaign collaborators, they struggle without any social media campaign or strong wider media support that has done so much to aid the demands of the Post Office and Hillsborough victims.

Whilst they now are having to put their own health and that of their families first, they remain determined to continue their fight. Latest responses by the new government to their most recent efforts have been described as insufficient and not going far enough. John’s actual words are not printable outside of the strong emails he sends to politicians such as current Pensions Minister, Swansea’s Torsten Bell Indeed, it’s clear from some of John’s most recent correspondence that his desire for justice is not diminished despite the very latest setback.

In my most recent meeting with John he provides an example of the secretary civil servant at the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) responsible for increasing the state pension age to 67. John points out that the individual is retiring with a £1.8 million Pension Pot. This means he will receive a £85.000, a year pension, and £245.000 lump sum, and is only 61 years of age.

In stark contrast John reveals that the average FAS Pension is £2.900 per annum!

Depressing

It’s so depressing to research and witness numerous politicians make repeated commitments over decades without ever delivering a lasting resolution to an injustice that is recognised by so many.  The ASW Scandal clearly exposes the shortcomings of our governance, echoing other prolonged injustices highlighted by the media in recent years. Their story is one that certainly feeds into the current wider public despair surrounding the effectiveness and fairness of our political and civic life.

It has been a humbling experience to learn about the plight and battle that has been fought by these two unsung heroes of Welsh society. I was aware of the broader ASW picture but like many others I had not gone into the detail to see the brutal injustice wrought on so many decent Welsh citizens.

The individual stories that both John and Phil can tell are heart rendering. Their desire and will to continue the fight are an epic tribute to all the proud men and women who have already passed. I for one hope that they will see the day when their battle is ended and they can rest in their final years.

In the meantime, I hope that some senior people in Welsh governance and civic life will look to honour in some way these proud and amazing men of Cardiff – no matter how politically embarrassing or inconvenient they are!

If anything, their stories and testimonies should be captured as part of our industrial heritage. They are clearly unsung giants of workers advocacy and representation. They represent the best of Wales and totally embody the values of community and looking out for others. After some twenty-four years they surely deserve a resolution and some peace for their selfless devotion to their fellow colleagues and families.

Pob Iwc John and Phil – Rydym yn eich cyfarch

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