[Workers at the Lucas CAV plant in Acton…]

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Workers at the Lucas CAV plant in Acton met last Friday to decide whether or not to accept the company's proposals for settling the 1978 wage claim.

Earlier in the year (while Phase 3 was still in effect) the unions had submitted an 11-point claim to management.

'The first ten points concerned things such as sick pay, long service awards and other fringe benefits.

The eleventh point called for a "substantial pay increase"

Any workers misguided enough to expect a "substantial wage increase" soon had their illusions shattered by the GMWU convenor John Cockran.

In his opening sentence he told the assembled workers that they had to negotiate within Phase 3.

He went on to explain that all of the fringe benefits had be negotiated nationally with Lucas, whose headquarters are in Birmingham.

Having outlined what 10% meant to various grades of workers in terms of hard cash, Cockran put the offer to the vote.

Action

Before the voting, however, he correctly pointed out that rejection would mean that the unions may have to take some action to push a bigger claim and that this would involve taking on more than just CAV or even Lucas management.

He claimed that nobody had broken Phase 3 and when asked how much the Ford workers received last year replied that that was enough of the comedy and it was time to get on with the vote.

Despite the one-sided way in which the proposals were put to the workforce and the lack of any alternative to accepting phases 3, 4 and 5 and so on, a large number of workers voted to reject the offer, which was nevertheless accepted. No advances will be made, however, until the shop stewards committee is led by people who start not from the needs and policies of management or the government but from the needs of the workforce.