SUPPORT THE STEEL STRIKE THE TORIES want a showdown in steel. The wage 'offer' - representing no new money — came in the same week as the announcement to the Corporation wants another redundancies.
This is in addition to the 15,000 jobs that will be lost as a result of the closure of the Corby and Shotton steel plants, which was announced last July.
Sir Keith Joseph has made it clear BSC chairperson Sir Villiers that the corporation balance its books by nest March or make the "necessary" cuts.
This makes a nonsense of ibe Tories' caIm that the intervene in negotiations management and employers.
Industry Secretary, Keith Josept is in effect chief executive nationalised industries.
Productivity The miners were able to settle for a 21 per cent pay rise without any productivity strings despite being told that there was no money for riss on per Tories esperally ibe LoE Confederation, ibe confident thai the steel morkers are a soft option.
As well as the closures and mass redundancies, what's on offer to the steel workers is a wage cut, through the removal working week and weekend working, producuivity dealing, and money when inflation will reach 20 per cent this year.
The Tories' plan is to rationalise the steel industry by shrinking the present production capacity of 21.6m tonnes into line with demand, now at 17.6m and BSC will probably notch up an even bigger loss in 1979 than its £309m deficit previous corporation has lost over £1,000m since 1975.
Looking at figures like these it would seem that the arguments of the mass medra. Tories, management that BSC's problems are which read or prazy viler paid which lazy, workforce'), foreign and a cash cnsis must have some foundation.
Symptoms A cash crisis does exist in BSC and British steel is being undercut by imports. But these are symptoms, not the disease.
The crisis in the steel industry is a structural WIC. The heart matter is that the British steel industry failed to adopt the oxygen methods after the Second war, Instead the owners clung to the outdated open hearth method.
of collapsing profits.
Only the the Steel 60,000 take this.
job loss.
Investment Charles Rodar. Ravenstai DIOT AS the astraitine restructuring the industry.
эсте GET HI DEN TE 0 = 9 7 Ribbons guaraniced still falling.
year. The nationalisation was overpaid competition, hived off to the private sector.
OI the steel private To modernise the industry would have taken around £4,000m at 1967 prices in a situation state could spend this kind of money. BSC was formed by the Wilson government in 1967 to step. the investment required was the need to scrap old plant with resulting mass The aim was that instead of the 30 or so major steclmaking plants BSC should concentrale production al five planis. These were to be Scuntborpe, Port Talbox of the insector progra ISE LEI I became dear * solid not storay or at de marised industries are regularty accused?
The simple truth is that private capital was not prepared to invest in L BOST modern, steel mills in West Germany, Japar and the USA had cut 14 major British companies to ribbons. British capital needed bailing out and Harold Wilson obliged. The 16-year gap between the two nationalisations meant that the today are much more acute than they on clear capacity and production during the BSC in the 1960s was to eliminate costly and outdated plant on a large well. through massive restructuring in bulk production to serve sections of British industry which would have to owned specialised producers. Profitable sections of the industry will be owners and their Tory representatives the industry has been to extract the maximum profit from steel at the least risk to their private capital. They have not been interested in a British steel It would be fatal for the labour SHOTTON • 6,400 JOBS TO GO LLANWERN • 400 JOBS LOST WHITEHEAD PANTEG CLYDESDALE CŁYDEBRIDGE • UNDER THREAT LANARKSHIRE • TO BE CLOSED DALZELL • UNDER THREAT RAVENSCRAIG/GARTCOSH 7,390 men • UNDER THREAT HALLSIDE CRAIGNEUK GLENGARNOCK EBBW VALE ORB/COOKLEY PORT TALBOT • 2,300 JOBS TO GO TROSTRE/VEUNDRE ibe Brinse ser has to be made "viable profitable can re-expanded. That is to accept the need for massive rationalisation The workers' interest is to defend their jobs and living standards. The fate of British steel is responsibility. The farce of worker directors and union officials like Bill Sirs who sit on the BSC board at present and who are powerless to stop mass sackings and closures makes this What is needed is a campaign based on the independent self-activity of the rank and file steel workers. The national strike on pay must become an all-out strike against all job loss as Mass meetings workforce should elect steel action committees in every plant to run the strike. It was strikes led by such rank Velindre and Trostre turned back Labour's plan to cut the wages bill by £179m at the expense of These committees will have to immediately move to shut down th private steel mills. Bill Sirs has said that they are exempted from action and has even suggested that 10,725 men 9,235 men 1,030 men 960 men 2,615 men 1,150 men 395 men 1,110 men 605 men 1,385 men 290 men 4,400 men 2,750 men 12,485 men 5,250 те that be ise strike before x side's Protection not their vuccessful and the closure plan were needed is protection against a reduced sion or technical change. What should workload should be shared by same number of workers with no loss taken up in the course of this strike -not after it. If it isn't then the strikers will have no answer to the attacks from the management and the Tories that their strike will only drive the with no loss of pay would unite all conticis, struggle in secondary wrangles about whether this or that plant closes work-sharing with no loss of pay This is why BSC is so keen to get rid of it. Far from being sacrificed, this gain must be extended BARROW WORKINGTON SHELTON JARROW CONSETT SKINNINGROVE ROTHERHAM RIVER DON SHEPCOTE LANE SCUMTHORSE COLEY IT IT 300 Co whether through reces A fight for this demand must be The demand for work-sharing and avoid tying up the the principal o 2,545 BEWSEY RD/MONKS HALL 1,075 ml BILSTON/WOLVERHAMPTON 2,505 mel • 2,000 JOBS LOST 325 гл 4,335 • 430 JOBS LOST HARTLEPOOL/STOCKTON 3,075 ша REDCAR/LACKENBY 17,685 • 1,200 JOBS LOST 1,045 STOCKSBRIDGE / TINSLEY 8,135 9,540 2,440 • 400+ JOBS TO G0 2,361 17,385 11.02 • 5,000 J0.5 10 60 strike to begin on 2 January.
dancies on top of the 25,000 it had demanded earlier ment for BSC to show a profit Socialist Challenge 3 January 1980 Page 3
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more for steel from abroad, and to provide basic steel for the privately-
to the strike paid to see okes hoo workin & December the ISTC