being threatened.
HOOVER has made huge redundancies in what used to be the maior source ment in the area. Out of 5,500 workers in the 1970's, only 2,000 remain, including nearly 200 women.
Until recently, redundancies had been voluntary. mananacal nas asked tor murter fos to o - s0 ll the semi-skilled areas and 100 manasenent. Women workers were told that over 100 of the jobs for the chop would be theirs. Breach This move clearly breaches an agreement between Hoover workers' union engineering union, AUEW and management, that redundancies should be made on a 'last in, first out' basis.
But the AUEW don't see things this way at all. Judging ev lis treatment of women. appears all too keen to lend management a hand in sending its women members down the TONOFor example, when the announcement was made, union joined the management in refusing to allow the women to discuss their position. The women were forced instead to call a special meeting in their own time.
Over women attended and decided to vi tailse temselves to fight the redundancies. They agreed to upon the Eoual Opportunities Commission to take up their CasC azalis! Hilallazcucil instituting discriminatory lay WOMEN workers at Hoover in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, have been told that their jobs will be the first to go in the latest round of redundancies at the plant.
HELEN SLYMOVICS and VERA McELHONE visited the factory and spoke to the women whose jobs are Toffs. The EOC has agreed and Icuunualicics dIC frozen. the the all the for All the women feel that the real fight should management over lobs but the local AUEW leadership is proving lo be a real obstacle in organising any fight at all.
110W The women work mainly in the semi-killed GINT CO COLD ST FOR IR IRON LA LADY Women workers support every struggle - now the unions have jobs. Although be received equal shop. No women in the plant last eight years.
COMMITTEE they have pay since 1975 thev are denied the chance to work on the assembly lines, , in the die-cast, foundry or painthave been pat Goode. recruited to the plant for the They feel that the source of Ine STRIKE they nave bee restricted in this way to subPat Goode a shop steward at Hoover told us, 'After equal union and the conbeen bulding bridges Bill Bish, SolOnave for and not barriers.' But Bish has stated that he would prefer to take redundancy himself than let women go on the line.
encourage good working relations between men and women union members.
Stewards For instance, the men in the sub-assembly line did not want wiln lo years ex perience at Hoover, to represent ihem as shon SLCWal bagging department. The GM COOKSON (Socialist challenae)
this division between the men and women by allowing the seven men involved to have their own male represenwhile Pat Goode represents 40 women.
Jackie Trailor, the only woman steward until the recent dispute, has been transferred to the canteen without any protest from the union. Here it is inCcasas difficult for her to represent her members in the sub-assembly section.
Jackie told us. positive discrimination for equality, the union is trying to tie us up in knots. She is als the only woman on the AUEW district committee where port for the women is note orupcoming either. The district secretary and the divisional nave said that the will not support the women il they take their case to an industrial tribunal.
As Jackie says, 'The district committees are nol interestea in women workers. The union should have fought for job sharing no loss of pay • rather than all this backbiting Line women at Hoove: agree that, if properly led, the men would have fought for jobs for all the workers. Unfortunately this is not likely in the present circumstances and the women are continuing to fight on their own.
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STELL CANOL