Thank you for building our lab!
Last Friday, Pro-Test delivered an assortment of doughnuts, cakes and other treats to the construction workers building Oxford's new research laboratory on South Parks Road to thank them for their hard work.
The previous construction company, Montpellier, was forced off the job in July 2004 by animal rights extremists. Builders were followed when they left the sites and harassed at their homes and Montpellier's shareholders were scared into selling stock. This was a re-run of the campaign that forced Huntingdon Life Sciences off the stock exchange earlier that year. Cambridge University's attempt to build a similar research centre was also shelved in 2004 as the costs of providing security for the construction against the protestors spiralled: when costs had inflated from the original £24m to £32m, the scheme was abandoned, and animal rights extremism had won. Construction on Oxford's lab did not recommence until November 2005. The new contractors work under very unpleasant conditions: their site is effectively fortified and policed by a large force of security guards and they must travel in unmarked vans to disguise their identity. Many of them also wear balaclavas to avoid being photographed and identified by anti-lab protestors, who assemble most weeks to demonstrate loudly against the construction.
Pro-Test believes these conditions are intolerable, and wanted to show its support for and solidarity with the workers of the new construction company. We brought several trays of treats to the fortified entrance to the site, where a security guard, via a senior university official, accepted them on the builders' behalf. The Director of Construction later sent us a message of thanks for the support, expressing the builders' regret that they were unable to be photographed alongside us.
Media Coverage
The previous construction company, Montpellier, was forced off the job in July 2004 by animal rights extremists. Builders were followed when they left the sites and harassed at their homes and Montpellier's shareholders were scared into selling stock. This was a re-run of the campaign that forced Huntingdon Life Sciences off the stock exchange earlier that year. Cambridge University's attempt to build a similar research centre was also shelved in 2004 as the costs of providing security for the construction against the protestors spiralled: when costs had inflated from the original £24m to £32m, the scheme was abandoned, and animal rights extremism had won. Construction on Oxford's lab did not recommence until November 2005. The new contractors work under very unpleasant conditions: their site is effectively fortified and policed by a large force of security guards and they must travel in unmarked vans to disguise their identity. Many of them also wear balaclavas to avoid being photographed and identified by anti-lab protestors, who assemble most weeks to demonstrate loudly against the construction.
Pro-Test believes these conditions are intolerable, and wanted to show its support for and solidarity with the workers of the new construction company. We brought several trays of treats to the fortified entrance to the site, where a security guard, via a senior university official, accepted them on the builders' behalf. The Director of Construction later sent us a message of thanks for the support, expressing the builders' regret that they were unable to be photographed alongside us.
Media Coverage
- The Guardian
- ITN
- Times Higher (forthcoming)
posted by Lee at 10:06 PM
