ALAN THORNETT.
of the Leyland there. tanr.
They're absolutely determined nothing can movement in the fifties.
decline of the car industry.
production. rales.
should be treated with the comtempr it deserves.
in the sun. strike coula bring down the government.
treme nature of this Tory fion berween management and unions.
- draw up pay claims bargaining and pursue them rigorowsly.
defended.
make a strike official in advance?
Prepare Three quarters of a multion sacked as a result ship of the trade unions.
Logical @ SETORe.
сонилиса exstence of me governmem on te nae.
through trades councils to get solidarity.
other unions are responding.
in them sitting Socialist Challenge 29 October 1981 Deputy Senior Steward at Cowley, gave his view of the mood workforce at a Workers Socialist League meeting in Birmingham on Tuesday of last week. Socialist Challenge was THE VOTE for strike action was overwhelming At Cowley there was only a handful of votes againsr. There's litle doubr that Edwardes threat increased the vote.
I can't think of any kind of precedent for such a vote. To be threatened with the sack, thrown on the dote and then to vote for strike action, the vote is extremely imporThe workforce are quite clear where they are going. Dubly 'll find it dificult. The company will find it difficult.
There's a myth been built up about carworkers over the ignores the role they played in forging the shop stewards Because of that role and their past militancy they 've been a consistent areer of the empiovers ofensive They've puid the price for the economic recession and the Bur carworkers are still one of the most well organised They control the point of Uf they stop work they can paralyse the engineering industry, affecting a quarter of a million jobs.
This year's wage round, we argued for 20 at Cowley; it was fought through and adopted by negotiators.
A change took place in the leadership. The Joint Negotiating Committee met and passed a very hardline resolution, the one that was put to the mass meetings — no further negotiations unless substantial offer made on main Why did this resolution come forward? Grenville Hawley (National Officer of the Transport Union) was very militant at the convenors' meeting on 9 October. When a secret ballor was discussed he suid the suggestion Terry Duffy has even pointed out that this So what has happened? Pressure from the ranks for more cash is great but aiso it's a reaction against the exgovernment. The draconian us back to Taff Vale, have created a situation of disloca You only have to look at the TG WU's record with the head line "4% NO WAY!' And the executive's resolution on the basis of free collective The general exprivate and public sector living standards should be This represents a substantial shift in the TGWU, a substantial shift in the AUEW. When did the AUEW last Ir's clear that sections of the trade union leadership are prepared to back some struggle against the 4 per cent.
In Cowley the workforce is getting stronger. Now that the sacking threats come out, wages have become less of an issue. The procedure's been exhausted on the annwal wage rev hat BL is saving is that we've no right to strike, that we'll be in breach of our contract on 1 November. If they can sack us under wese conations what sar sake 1s our right to have a union. 58,000 workers sacked at a stroke!
The way we don't address ourselves to the Edwardes' threat is to say it's a blujf. We have to prepare for it happening. It becomes an issue for the entire trade union movement if these sackings occur, for the whole memberWhen the Pentonville Five were pur in prison the TGWU called its trade groups out in the docks. This was enough. If the BL membership face the sack the TGWU should immediately call on its trade group among carworkers to come out and call on the rest of its members to Hugh Scanlon called his membership out when the AUEW funds were seguestered. Ir's logical that the TUC should call a general strike if 58,000 workers are sacked at Ir's umprecedented. That sort of action would put the Ir's a very bad mistake to wait until 1 November. We should be campaigning now in other trade unions, and When Edwardes decides what to do on 1 November he will look at how the On the 4 per cent, those that are now waiting for answers, like the local authority workers, there's no point back and allowing themselves to be If BL is cracked, the 4 per cent will most certainly go through. This will give the green light to Tebbit's antiShop crack it. TINE TO EOL/ARO
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August BL offered us 3.8 per cent. Bonus