Pressed Steel Speed up

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The Edwardes/Ryder speed-up plan in Leyland is continuing with the aid of collaborating convenors and officials.

In the Cowley Body Plant the right wing leadership of the TGWU is the method of leaving individual sections to combat problems on their own.

Ever since 1971 the rank and file has managed to stop the company using stop watches and so the industrial engineers have had to rely on arguments of effort not being enough.

Six months ago one of the leading right wingers allowed the stop watch onto his section the Marina final-lines.

Since then everywhere over the rest of the plant the company has been quoting this precedent. But they have been successfully resisted up until last week.

The company declared they were going to force the use of the stop-watch on the MaxiPrincess final lines.

The right wing successfully isolated the section which in reality had tremendous support all over the factory, so that when they held their meeting they were given a false position of the lack of support and they voted by a narrow majority to accept the stop-watch.

This shows the problem is clearly one of leadership. While the members remain strongly opposed to speed-up, the right wing continue to use their position to force through the company's plans. to fight in defence of jobs and conditions.

But the new Executive, peppered with Broad Left, Communist Party Stalinists, 'Militant' supporters, SWP and IMG members, has to prove in practice that it represents a qualitative improvement.

The last left-wing dominated Executive climbed down ignominiously in the face of a government lockout threat. And the new Executive has no coherent policy for resisting the cuts.

A principled leadership is needed to fight for strike action wherever jobs and conditions come under renewed attack.

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