Fremantle workplaces were in uproar. Frugal finance was all very well, but the new contract was simply too compromising. Careworkers would have the bailiffs at their doors.

They also felt that trust management was dismissive in the extreme.

Management told careworkers to make up their lost income by taking on extra shifts. This meant that some people would have to work upwards of 60 hours a week, with no extra income for childcare to cover extra hours.

Management was also felt to be playing a shabby hand with opponents. Popular Unison steward Andrew Rogers was sacked on a gross misconduct charge in 2007, and union members were banned from meeting in Fremantle carehomes. There was also a much reported Fremantle attempt to take down the Labourstart website - a campaigning site that had gone into bat for the careworkers.

Careworkers also had a strong feeling that the UK's lower-paid workers were being made to suffer in ways that others were not. Many were bitter about City bonuses - not least because some of the money making up those bonuses began its life in the public sector.

'I said [to management] - how do you expect us to be able to cope [with these cuts]? What [management] said is that you have to do extra hours to make up your pay. But what about the quality of our life - our daily life?' Fremantle careworker Lango Gamanga, 2007.

'As far as I’m concerned. I worked hard. I came here all those years ago and I worked hard and then I got more leave and more wages. I’m 48 now. I don’t want to go back to how I was when I was 30… we’re not asking for a pay rise or anything like that. We’re just asking for what we had.' Fremantle careworker Sandra Jones, 2007.

'It’s taking away your civil rights... it’s being bullied.' Careworker Pat Ward, 2007.

Photo: Fremantle strike rally, 10 November 2007.