The Ferodo factory was built on the banks of the Menai Strait in the 1960s offering jobs for the hundreds of men who lost their jobs when the slate quarries of north Wales were closed.

Work at the factory was a big change for the men.

Working indoors, a regular income rather than having to depend on the quality of slate, a canteen instead of a cabin and a pension once they had reached retirement age.

For years, the factory produced brake pads for cars and employed more than 1,000 people.

But by the 1980s, the workforce shrank.

Workers won the support of Dafydd Wigley AM

The UK car industry was not what it had once been and many parts were being manufactured overseas.

By the mid 1990s, little more than 100 workers were left.

To make matters worse, one of the group's companies, Turner & Newell, was facing court cases brought against it by staff at its other factories who were suffering with asbestosis.

At the end of the decade, the Caernarfon plant was sold to American, Craig Smith, and the company name was changed to Friction Dynamics.

Workers have been on strike for 18 months

In the beginning, workers at the factory were pleased that someone had bought it.

There was hope of a future for them.

But the relationship between the workers and the new owner gradually deteriorated, particularly with members of the Transport and General Workers' Union.

Mr Smith said that savings would have to be made in order for the factory to pay its way and he asked the workers to change their shift patterns and take a temporary pay cut.

Although members of the AEEU agreed, TGWU members voted against the move.

On 23 April 2001, they decided to strike - originally with the intention of refusing to work on alternate weeks.

But at the start of the second week, the workers refused to return altogether.

According to Mr Smith, they were in breach of contract by refusing to come to work the previous week.

They were given the opportunity to end the strike, but refused to do so.

The men stayed out and after eight weeks - the statutory period - on 28 June 2001, 87 workers received letters of dismissal.

House of Commons

The workers and union leaders claimed unfair dismissal, while Mr Smith said he was adhering to the law.

The workers started picketing outside the factory and continued the protest for nearly 18 months.

Two rallies were held in Caernarfon in support of the strikers. A Christmas party was paid for by local businesses.

They were welcomed on stage at the TUC Annual Conference and at the Labour and Plaid Cymru conferences.

Their case was also raised in the Welsh Assembly and House of Commons.

In mid October, their case reached an industrial tribunal in Liverpool.