A union has been accused of ignoring the people of a north Wales community as it marks the centenary of an historic strike.

A special memorial is going to be unveiled on Saturday, November 11, in Bethesda in Gwynedd, one of the communities most affected by the Penrhyn slate quarry strike of 1900.

The Great Penrhyn Quarry Strike started on 22 November 1900 after Lord Penrhyn, the quarry owner, refused to let union officials collect contributions from members.

It lasted three years and became Britain's longest strike. It was a landmark in the development of trade unionism, and was a defining experience for the labour movement in Wales.

Thousands of men stayed away from work and many of them lost their jobs in the quarry for life.

The TGWU union will be unveiling the memorial in Bethesda, but there has been criticism from local people who believe someone from the area should have been chosen for the honour.

The TGWU has inherited the mantle of the old North Wales Quarrymen's Union, which merged with it in the1950's.

However, no-one has invited the local community council to the official opening, and the council's chairwoman, Rhiannon Evans, said few local people knew about the event.

"The whole thing is disgraceful: local people should have been behind this. No-one even knows how this new memorial is going to look," she said.

Snub 'not intended'

But according to Tom Jones, the organiser of the TGWU in north Wales, . no snub had been intended to the people of Bethesda.

"If the union had not done this, no memorial would have been arranged at all," he said.

Among the list of VIP guests are: Assembly First Minister Rhodri Morgan; Professor Merfyn Jones; Tyrone O'Sullivan of Tower Colliery; Derek Gregory the chairman of TUC Cymru; the actor John Ogwen; Glyn Owen, the chairman of Gwynedd council; Conwy MP Betty Williams; Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas, the Presiding Officer of the National Assembly, and Tom Jones, Jim Hancock and Jimmy Elsby representing the union.

The unveiling of the memorial is happening on the same day as the local Dyffryn Ogwen Eisteddfod, and the Penrhyn Choir and Deiniolen Band will be providing entertainment..