A DEEP sense of injustice over the Magnet strike has fuelled a wider campaign for workers' rights.

The bitter battle formed part of the inspiration behind a bid to create a parliamentary Bill to overturn Britain's trade union laws.

Shirley Winter, 52, secretary of the Women's Magnet Support Group, has been one of the leading campaigners for the Bill. Recalling the strike, she said: "There were attempted suicides and people lost their homes.

"Even now, five years later, the effects it's had on people has been terrible, and the effect it's had on the town has been devastating."

Mrs Winter joined the United Campaign for Employment Rights on a voluntary basis and is vice-president of the group alongside retired left-wing Labour MP Tony Benn.

Mr Benn, and employment rights expert John Hendy QC, drafted the Employment Rights (International Obligations) Bill in a bid to make it an offence for workers to be sacked if they are legally undertaking strike action.

The Magnet workers were deemed to have broken their contracts despite an overwhelming vote for strike action in an official union ballot.

Mrs Winter still travels around the country speaking about the strike and the battle for a change in employment law.

For the third year running, she will be joining 500 leading women from across the country at the Women of the Year awards in London.

She has also been selected as a delegate to attend the TUC conference this month, where she may be picked to speak.

She said: "We're hoping that other Labour MPs will raise the Bill again in the new parliamentary session."