A HAMPSHIRE company is today at the centre of a bitter row over whether it replaced workers who asked to be paid the minimum wage.

Industrial Rubber of Fareham, which makes rubber components used or seen by millions of people, is accused by the general workers union T&G of sacking about 60 home workers for one reason only - that they stood up for themselves.

The manufacturers at Newgate Lane Industrial Estate have employed nearby home workers - many of them women with domestic responsibilities - on piece rates to trim off excess rubber from its components for about 20 years.

Products include the mouldings for reflective road studs - better known to everyday motorists as catseyes - and the impact end of walking sticks.

After the introduction of the minimum wage in May 1999, the home workers, who are known as trimmers, calculated they were being underpaid.

They first complained in 2001 when the shortfall came to light.

Hugh Kirkbride of the T&G says despite repeated attempts to bring wages in line with legislation, currently £4.50 an hour, a slow legal process allowed the company to "walk away from their responsibility" and now it has decided to ditch home workers in favour of factory-based staff.

In a public statement, he said: "There has been a series of tribunals and each time Industrial Rubber have been found not to be paying the minimum wage.

"Obviously our people are not popular with Industrial Rubber and they have now hired people in their factory on an hourly rate that meets the minimum wage and that is all we are asking for.

"Many of our members have worked for Industrial Rubber for years, and it appears that they have been sacked for standing up for themselves. "We've been trying to get the minimum wage enforced since it was introduced, but the tribunal and complaints system has been so slow that Industrial Rubber have been able to walk away from their responsibility.

"The company won't save any money by sacking our members, so we only conclude that thisis punishment for demanding that the law be

enforced. Our members are now left without work and we are urging the company to think again."

No one from Industrial Rubber, which employs about 120 people in the factory, was available to speak to the Daily Echo, which made repeated contact by telephone and e-mail.

One member of management hung up as the newspaper asked to hear the company's side.

The T&G aims to persuade Industrial Rubber, which also provides material for vehicle shock absorbers, to start supplying its home workers with work once again.

It plans to pursue employment tribunals against the company for failure to pay the minimum wage.

According to Mr Kirkbride, there were 58 home workers last week, compared to a one-time record high of 223.