Cowley Plants Demand £27
Socialist Press1978 1978-09-06Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 12 →
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This Thursday ja mass meeting will be held of the whole manual workforce of Leyland's Cowley Assembly plant, to endorse a pay claim formulated by the stewards.
The main content of this claim is for £27 a week across the board (which would give the production worker a wage of £100) as well as the demand for a cost-of-living clause.
The stewards are also claiming a 35 hour week.
In the neighbouring Leyland Body Plant, TGWU stewards also voted for a £27 a week across the board claim despite the fact that the senior stewards advocated simply putting for. ward a vague claim for a "substantial" increase.
Although the Body Plant claim does not include a cost-of-living clause it includes most of the same demands as the Assembly Plant.
Both of these claims are to be submitted at plant level and to be payable on November 1.
This is of great importance because the Communist Party and right wing throughout Leyland cars have been attempting to present a fait accompli of a corporate, nationally negotiated claim.
Up to these moves, no other plant in Leyland had even submitted a claim for the review.
No pay claim had been worked out in Longbridge and when the Leyland Combine Committee met two weeks ago, CP convenor Derek Robinson failed in his bid to gat the principle of a corporate claim adopted.
The plant claim from the Cowley Body Plant marks the reversal of the position previously fought for by the right wing leadership-calling for a meeting of senior stewards to adopt a corporate claim.
This November review has revealed another of the weak sides of the Leyland toolroom committee. Roy Fraser, as union steward for nearly one thousand AUEW members in Cowley has not even formulated a pay claim!
Differentials
In other words instead of giving a clear lead to fight the SOC contract, Fraser is conce ra 'ig everything on different"a"
The Cowley claims could be a major development in the struggles in the motor industry laying the basis for breaking up corporate, bargaining and defeating Phase 4 of wage control.