Confusion reigns on new BL pay

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fight The Longworth mittee which is campaigning to save the local geriatric hospital from the axe of the Oxtordshire Area Health Authority is holding public meetings in Witney and Oxford this week, with a demonstration through Oxford on Saturday.

This demonstration starts at 1 p.m. outside the Cowley Road geriatric hospital whose closure by the AHA has already been announced.

A meeting of Oxford's health service trade unionists last week, chaired by Pat Ward, chairman of the NUPE branch which covers the Cowley Rd. Hospital, decided to set up a support committee for Cowley Road similar to that at Longworth.

This was an obvious embarrassment to Ward, who, along with NUPE Executive member Betty Ward (a part-time worker at Cowley Road) has previously claimed that Cowley Road workers have "accepted" its closure.

The Longworth Support Committee hopes to mobilise health service workers throughout Oxfordshire as well as other trade unionists in Plant, giving jobs.

As Mass meetings at Leyland's Cowley Assembly Plant last week were strongly recommended to vote 'No' in the company's ballot which is taking place this week.

It is quite clear from these meetings that Cowley will register a strong 'No' votesince the implications of voting 'yes'-to acceptance of a new grading structure and the loss of 7,000 , jobs-have been explained.

But the overall vote in Leyland is likely to be for acceptance because of the complete lack of information at Longbridge (where the workers are being recommended to vote in favour) and at the other major plants.

Not settled But the question will not be settled by this vote as far as many workers, opposed to the grading structure are concerned.

Bob Fryer, the TGWU senior steward at the Assembly Plant in Cowley told the mass meetings that he would be calling together production workers to fight the splitting of production workers into two grades.

He also promised to back any section acting to defend its manning standards.

No lead the neighbouring Body however, the leadership is no lead over the loss La result the is succeeding, in some timework areas, in getting rid of labour without replacement.

But mass meetings in that plant of 3,500 production workers voted, with only four votes against, in support of the stewards' position of opposing the introduction of two grades of production workers.

Similar mass meetings of Body Plant forklift truck drivers voted • unanimously to oppose their position in the grading structure.

An unofficial strike by nine delivery men is Tom Durkin, a member of the Communist Party and a leading member of GLATC was arrested last Friday.

His arrest-for being the 7th person on the picket line at Garner's Haymarket restaurantis the direct responsibility of fellow Stalinist and l TGWU Regional Secretary Sid Staden, whose agreement with the police to limit the picket lines to six-strong has given scabs and police a blank cheque to harass and intimidate strikers and supporters. scandalous agreement, «Day The consequences of this exposed throughout the of Picketing" called by GLATC and the Region 1 of the TGWU.

The police, clearly acting on strict instructions to prevent anything resembling a mass Wise at Grunwicks.

If the Grunwick strike taught the employers new methods of struggle it is clear that the 'left' bureaucrats Staden and Shorter are dete determined to continue their record of sabotage in this strike.

Repeating their scandalous level of support for the Day of Action on October 7, Shorter and Staden managed to mobilise

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taking place at Cooplands bakery in Scarborough, the North