the hand of the steel union leaderships.
KEYWORTH, South Yorkshire steel strikers and members of the Transport and General Workers' Union, describe what happened.
It started at 6am on Monday of last week when the Dagenham plants were flooded with leaflets from the Ford Workers Group calling for support for the and for SLCCIWOLRVID TGWU drivers not. to cross picket lines.
A dozen militants from ISTC then started picketing parts of the Il weeks the loll leadership had sanctioned the unloading of steel at ford's private dock, and had turned blind when it was transportea to the rord plants Halewood and SouthScab It seemed that the concer Brian official for south-east scab steel but to stop the picketing.
Or so it appeared on the Monday afternoon wheT Brian Connolly told two of the ISTC members who had picketed Ford that morning to 'fuck off home'.
The had the Canick Ford situation in hand. 1611 just he meant was demonstrated the morning; for the first time ISTC officially sent pickets to but only to the press shop, se sold to stop noching but That Taesday, 18 March rat: redrarters fross Yaristire Picket de fast Ford driver i ach the picket line sak There have you been for 12 weeks and taraod rouad.
Internal transport stopped all day. There weren't enough pickets stop drivers round the clock. but the point had been made. All hell broke 10036 only one way to stop this place and that's stop the lot.' So by 5.15 next morning we were at the picket lines and the transporters were stopped for the day.
brought local TGWU official Mike Murphy on to the scene. He was down Thursday afternoon transporte alla interna drivers that the official TGWUR pickets Kolnerd la • Sheffield weren't official at all, but 'students' and 'miners' WElC When we tree to discuss with Murphy he asked us to leave the TGWU office - the Then on Thursday night, Bernard Connolly IorkshIre Cralis member of the South Yorkshire strike committee, WELL SCC Murphy and the convenors' panel next morning.
claimed their only concern had been to ensure their members received 80 pe cent lav-oft pay if Ford was shut down; that if the internal drivers were connects woma make an internal dispute and mean no lay-off pay byentuany, tie convenors agreed that steel pickets should stop all gasses, oil and DeLIOi CULCIALS ГОТИ complex, which should mean its 29,000 workers would b stopped within 3 to 5 days From Monday 24 Mareh a round-the-clock picket was all five entrances to the Dagenham estate.
Lessons Many Can learned week's events. The union leaders are •20 cent, no strings' are sabotaging whict strike effective through the national strike committee has also been So, in ine end, not have been Briar Connolly's week outside but it was the union movement of 'black and white,
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STRIKING steelworkers have finally won 'official permission' to close the Ford Dagenham car plant. But it took a week of independent action to force
Ford STEVE SLINN, TONY MARTIN and ANDY