THE GMB posse rode in from the south and along Victoria Road.

They were on their way to a tussle with the Carillion gang down at the Great Western Hospital.

Now, as regular readers of this newspaper know, the posse says the gang’s been treatin’ ‘em mean and not lettin’ ‘em have enough time off for proper visits to their kinfolks back home.

T’other side of the coin is that the Carillion crew’s accusin’ the GMB of bein’ mighty unreasonable.

The feudin’s been goin’ on since before Christmas. In the latest set-to, the GMB says Carillion’s breakin’ the law by bringin’ in folks from elsewhere to cover for strikers.

That makes the GMB madder’n a wet hen, and they hit on the idea of pressin’ their point home by hirin’ a stagecoach and drivin’ it through town just like they say Carillion’s drivin’ one through the rules.

We caught up with Andy Newman, head of the posse’s Swindon outfit, who told us the Carillion gang was the lowest bunch o’ hornswogglin’ claim-jumpin’ varmints west of the Pecos and north of the Ridgeway.

Actually, now we come to think about it, he didn’t say nothin’ like that at all. We better make that real clear just in case anybody’s fixin’ to do some lawyerin’ on us.

What he really said was: “We’re trying to draw attention to the fact that in our view Carillion are in blatant defiance of the law.

“The law says you can’t use agency workers to cover for strikers. It is to make sure unions and employers can sit around a table and solve problems.

“An agency called SkyBlue Solutions, part of Carillion, have brought in agency workers, and we have complained to the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate. The potential fine is £5,000 per worker per day.”

The GMB later transported its stagecoach and horses by truck to protest at SkyBlue’s site in Bath. Carillion spokeswoman Jane Smith said: “Carillion denies it has recruited temporary workers to cover striking staff.

“Carillion has long engaged a bank of casual staff via SkyBlue at the Great Western Hospital, Swindon, but nobody has been recruited as a result of this strike action.

“We are extremely disappointed with the tactics that GMB has chosen to adopt today with the coach and horses, which has had an impact on the hospital by slowing down traffic, including ambulance movements, around the site.

“We feel this is inappropriate and irresponsible behaviour on a hospital site where patient care should be the priority.

“Throughout this dispute Carillion has continued to make every effort to resolve the issues raised by some of its employees at the Great Western Hospital.

“A thorough investigation is being carried out into their grievance, but this is being hampered by the unavailability of employees who have delayed attending meetings to discuss their grievances because they are taking strike action.”