Phil Davies on the People's March JANE Phil Davies, Convenor at Schreiber's in Man-! chester been on for Shen-tie and now faces the of compulsory unreal redundancy. He is an executive member of the Furniture, and Allied Trades:
'From the very start of this march we realised it Wus political march because unemployment can only be solved by and getting a government proper socialist policies.
This is why I think the nor me ceo tender ship of the Labour Party is important ana ine poucy debate behind it. Even though many people are still working, redundancies and short-time loom over their heads.
There's a tremendous feeling of resentment in we ve seer that ordinary people Have OUi their houses all the way along the route to support us.
ed into a mass movement THE £15m offer for Rover Solihull BL car plant from a consortium of Midlands' business peoneeded in the car industry these days.
But if this consortium is serious it can only mean for the Rover worke. means buying up the Kover name or une cacab. massively rationalising the workforce and producing small numbers of luxury cars or pure and simple asset stripping.
Pave Involvement the Rover unions in talks with alternative buyers will Dave the way LUE redundancies. One of the o arme cown ine ones.
I'm going to have a meeting with all the marchers when I get back to Manchester and we're going to put pressure on the trade unions to organise the if the pressure is not kept up on the TUC and the Labour Party leaders ajier the march it'll all come to a full stop.
It's one thing to talk about unemployment behind a desk Congress house but it's quite another to get the TUC to spring into action. Shipbuilders declared itself bankrupt, having failed to get government money to prop it up.
Victim It was the biggest vic tim of the Heath • govern ment's 'lame duck' Dolcv. The 8,449 workers occupied against the closure and began a work-in.
The stewards called for nationalisation or failing that, for a private buyer to take over all four yards without loss of jobs.
But when a Texan businessman Wayne Harbin an offer for the Clydebank yard the stewards pushed through a separate deal creating the Marathon yard. The other UCS I'd like to see one-day national starling Same mainers railway workers and then the workers to bring JU Well down this government.
yards were later into a company called Govan Shipbuilders.
The private speculators got bargain workers picked up the bill. Cut Within a year of the end of the the workforce had been cut by per cent with the loss of 2,449 jobs.
Under the deal signed by the shop stewards with Marathon all unofficial strikes were banned for 4 years and a system of binding arbitration Was troduced resulting in large loss of earnings for those taking action outside of procedure.
At the Govan the shop stewards agreec to a 120 per cent increase in productivity.
At both Govan and Marathon despite having already sud lines were smashed Terea a pay Ireeze months a pay deal of only halt demanded was agreed.
Rover workers have no interest in putting Mr. Girov-Bevan in clover Ior the rest of his life but every interest in saving each and every job at Solihull. executve member the National Society of Metal Mechanics, from Birmingham:
I'm going to talk to my local Labour party in Erdington COCK and NALGO the local coversament union. which sponsored me, and tell them about the march.
I want to set up an acbring our sponsoring trade unions behind the unemployment campaign. Dene ve ou month and go home and do nothing you've failed in your object. You may just have stayed at Rome lover.
I don't think the TUC are fighting hard enough their backsides and did their backsides and something. I'd general strike against the government if I was charge.
The 14 May Day of Action last year wasn't properly organised. they really got organised at the TUC they'd get the bạcking of the trade unionists.
The Tories are holding the working class to ransom and they need to be shown they can't get away with it. Frank Stubbs Electromotors snoo stewards People's March for our occupation and want to thank Socialist Challenge and its supporters for all the help with management came to nothing the nume caos Mark Shaw, unemploy. ed seaman from Liverpool who marched all the way:
I think the march has brought home to • people how serious unemployment is. It's made people more aware of the plight unemployed espeIt's made people on the march more politically uwure. 6/618 branch 0) the I ransport the march and I intend to get actively involved in that.
I think there's a lot of hemlend ho bother. Fes people might going to be hard to get an union off the ground but the unemployed have been ignored for too long.
We've been on the outside looking In and it's about time in the cold and made our voices neara. I want lo see an unemployed section in every union for a start.
only now that emoloved beginning to show an inthe unemployed terest because they realise it can happen to them any day.
Laurence Scott the they gave us. workers are stepping up their fight for jobs after talks
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NOW! OU TORES KICK
£15m for Rover's - a joke, but a dangerous one
ple led by the Conservative MP for the Birm- ingham constituency of Yardley, Mr Gilroy- Bevan, is a joke in terms of the sort of money
of the last 'lame
Laurence scott occupation