The picketers are still buoyant two years later

When 87 workers walked out of the Friction Dynamics plant in Caernarfon in April 2001 in a protest over working conditions, little did they expect to be still picketing two years later.

On Wednesday, the second anniversary of the walkout, it is the turn of four men with a total of 132 years of service at the factory between them, to man the picket line.

Dafydd Roberts, Glyn Jones, Richard John Harvey and Searle Owen are among the tens of 'strike faithful' who have stood at the factory entrance 24-hours a day in the last two years.

Although their mood is jokey and their spirits are lifted by the hooting of horns from passing cars they say their stand has meant a huge sacrifice.

"It has destroyed our lives," says Dafydd Roberts simply.

Since we have been standing here, we have become a family - we are locked together now Searle Owen, picketer

"We are very angry. We have worked here all these years and we are getting no support from those who have come in to work in our place.

"They are accusing us of threatening the closure of the factory by standing here - but they are our jobs in there and it is the actions of the boss himself that are closing the factory."

Workers at the car components plant received dismissal letters from American factory owner Craig Smith in June 2001 after they had been out on strike for eight weeks, the statutory period during which they were protected.

Their claim for unfair dismissal was upheld by an employment tribunal in Liverpool last November.

But the dispute has still not been settled because Mr Smith is appealing against the decision next month.

Dafydd Roberts says many of the original picketers have been broken by the hours of bracing the elements in all seasons.

All the men have stories of strikers who have suffered strokes, heart attacks, broken marriages and illness brought on by the hardship of surviving without a wage for two years.

Tarpaulin

Searle Owen, from Felinheli, who has worked on the site for 30 years, had one word to describe what has kept them going all this time.

"Heart. That's what has made us go on," he said.

"When we were working together at the factory, we were strangers.

"But since we have been standing here, we have become a family - we are locked together now," he added.

At first, the picketers had no shelter apart from a piece of tarpaulin draped between a tree and a wall.

The caravan was donated by a local benefactor

Since then they have built a shelter from wood and metal sheets. From here they watch every vehicle that comes in and out of the site.

A caravan donated by a local man has enabled them to take tea breaks using water from a nearby farm.

When the strike is over, the workers say they want to give the caravan to the Museum of Welsh Life in St Fagans in Cardiff.

"If we don't stand for our rights, no one will do it for us," said Dafydd Roberts.

"I'm not fighting for myself now but for the young people who are coming up through the schools and colleges," Searle Owen agreed.