Massey's Sack 1000

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decision by members of the TGWU to return to work at Winsford's Metal Box factory marks a setback After several months speculation, a number of serious layoffs and the switching of many production workers to Two convenors machine maintenance and painting, MasseyFerguson have finally announced nearly 1,000 sackings-approximately one in five of the company's total manual workforce in Coventry.

The company has called for volunteers to be made redundant and according to reports in the Coventry Evening Telegraph have so far received 1,200 applications.

It remains to be seen whether sufficient of these will be accepted to cover the 900 hourly paid and 90 staff which make up the 990 redundancies at the Banner Lane and Baginton factories.

The crisis of leadership in Massey's is shown graphically by the fact that among the volunteers are two convenors and many members of the shop stewards committee.

Nevertheless the stewards have stated their intention to fight compulsory redundancy and also any shorttime working. They are arguing for block lay offs.

As Socialist Press has pointed out before, the crisis at Massey's has had a severe effect on component suppliers where there has also been sackings and short time working.

Pressurise

Union leaders representing the unions involved have called on the government to extend credit facilities to countries which cannot afford to buy tractors; or to buy tractors and give them to underdeveloped countries instead of cash aid.

• And they want the company to apply for a Temporary Employment Subsidy.

Coventry's 'four MPs have been called in to pressurise the government.

As we have argued before the key • programmatic demands for workers at Massey's and the component suppliers are work sharing on full pay and a fight to open the books'.

Answer

This is the only independent, working class answer to the mass sackings. Through the fight for these demands the way can be opened up for a fully nationalised, integrated tractor industry in Britainunder workers" management.

Massey Ferguson have shown they cannot provide jobs-the plant and machinery must be removed from their ownership without compensation.

The 'left' MPs in Coventry will no doubt complain about these redundancies and demand that the government 'ease the situation' If they were serious about their opposition to unemployment, if they were hostile to the firms which destroy jobs left, right and centre, they must be hostile to the present government.

They must prepare now a campaign for the removal of Callaghan/Healey and the building of an alternative leadership in , the Labour Party and the trade unions.

However since the entire record of these leaders, like that of the trade union bureaucracy, has consisted in slavish support for the Lib-Lab coalition and its policies, workers must not fall into the trap of waiting for the 'lefts' to act, but press ahead with their own independent demands.

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