STROUD AND DISTRICT
TRADES COUNCIL
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DOES YOUR UNION HAVE A BRANCH IN STROUD
OR THE SURROUNDING DISTRICT
(Cirencester, Dursley, Nailsworth, Tetbury, Wotton-under-Edge or anywhere else nearby)?
Local trade unionists in Stroud District have set up a Trades Council so that unions in the area can exchange information, join together in campaigning, support industrial disputes and work to improve life for people in our areas.
We need other trade unionists to join us and trade union branches to affilitate. WE NEED YOU!
If you are interested, or think that your union branch would be, please contact us:
We are meeting monthly and any participation including willingness to support local campaigns and local workers in dispute is welcome.
LATEST NEWS AND UPDATES ON THIS SITE
- Friday 9 January 2026
WSP Textiles in Gloucestershire make professional cloth and tennis ball material – shortages could affect tournaments
Workers at sports cloth manufacturer WSP Textiles are to take strike action for the first time in their history which will see snooker and tennis tournaments under threat due to a lack of baize and balls.
Unite members at WSP are furious at the 2.35 per cent pay offer that the company has put forward given the current cost of living crisis. Most earn little more than the minimum wage and haven’t had an above-inflation pay rise in years.
WSP workers at the factories in Stroud and Dursley, Gloucestershire, produce some of the most famous sporting cloth in the world. The tennis ball felt is used by manufacturers like Wilson, Slazenger and Dunlop and used at Wimbledon, the French and Australian Open. Their snooker baize is used to cover tables across the globe and used in World Snooker Tour tournaments in the UK, USA and China.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Workers at WSP do an extremely skilled job that allows highly paid sports stars to bring pleasure to millions around the world.
“This is a profitable company which is attempting to deny its workers fair pay. Our members will have the full support of their union in this fight.”
Strikes are due to take place 12-20 January and 22-23 January and will see nearly 50 workers head to the picket line, bringing the factory to a standstill and orders going unfulfilled. Major tennis and snooker tournaments are set to be affected if the strikes continue throughout winter and spring.
WSP made nearly £1.4 million in profits in 2024 with over £23 million of revenue. The highest paid director at the company earns nearly £100,000 yet production line workers earn under £13ph.
Unite regional officer Michael Hobbs added: “WSP need to come back to the negotiating table with a much better offer or major tennis and snooker events could be under threat and WSP will be rightly blamed.”
PHLEBOTOMISTS IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE ARE ON STRIKE
Read all about this and how to support them
N.B. if you don´t know what a phlebotomist is, they are healthcare professionals trained to draw blood samples from patients for diagnostic tests, blood transfusions, or research purposes often, like these, working in.hospitals.
OUR 2026 MAY DAY EVENT WILL BE ON SATURDAY 2nd MAY
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