Step forward for motor industry workers

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5% 1A C LORD WORKERS 5%15 AT THE FLEET STREET OFFICE OF THE DAILY TORYGRAPH...

The reason for calling the conference was explained by the chairman.

Every struggle in which programme was fought for within one particular sector led to the necessity for unifying with other carworkers.

In Chrysler the solution to the takeover and closure threats couldn't just be centred on "Open the books" within that firm leading to its nationalisa tion.

Such a policy would lead to the nationalised firm competing against workers in privately-owned Ford and Vauxhalls.

It is necessary to direct towards the nationalisation of the whole motor and components industry and banks as part of a planned socialist economy.

The chairman's opening remarks were followed by a report on Fords by a member of the Ford rank and file combine committee.

No information He described the build up to the 1978 strike-and the continvous battle to get the £20 claim in opposition to the right wing who argued for a "substantial" claim.

Once the claim was adopted no information was put out by the bureaucracy.

The "Ford rank and file combine committee" put out a continuous stream of leaflets into all the main plants as well as distributing claim badges and tee-shirts.

NOIN During the strike they put out weekly bulletins, but the bureaucracy did nothing to involve the membership.

Workers were discouraged from picketing and only two series of mass meetings were held after the seventh and ninth week of the strike.

Still meeting

The speaker said that he himself didn't think the committee had turned enough into the official union movement.

The committee was still meeting.

This report was followed by one from Vauxhalls given by an Ellesmere Port worker.

He described the run-up to the Vauxhall's review. Here, the bureaucracy had done nothing but play up problems that were obviously there.

In Liverpool where workers had just seen the closure of Leyland's Speke plant, Vauxhall management was saying Ellesmere Port was not profitable and threatening cutbacks.

Quite obviously this was different from Fords.

The chance of a joint fight with Fords was sabotaged by Ellesmere Port's TGWU convenor, who said workers had to "watch their step" because of the state of the company.

The Vauxhall speaker described the fight against this line around the demand for "opening the books", , but this battle had been unsuccessful.

Many of the. problems Vauxhalls such as lack of information from the Joint Negotiating Committee were the same as Fords.

The Leyland report was taken after the lunch-break. This went into the background to the 1978 review, explaining how the bureaucracy had removed the plant's leadership in Cowley Assembly in 1974, how they had fought back and re-won their positions.

The run-up to the review was described, and the fight against the acceptance of corporate bargaining, with the battle centred on the Cowley Assembly Plant. The powerful campaign around the "Leyland stewards for the 1978 Review" committee, leafleting and meetings, and the turn into the official machinery was explained.

The speaker then showed how the union bureaucracy both reformist and Stalinist then battled successfully, after the Drews Lane strike to get back to corporate bargaining.

Even though there was a 2-1 ballot vote for the 5% the militancy was rising rapidly now that the haulage and tanker drivers have won at least 15%.

One inescapable conclusion from the reports and from the discussion was that any move to get a fight off the ground in the motor industry came at once up against the twin barriers of the right wing and the Communist Party.

The discussion was wideTHESE "END OF CMILISATION AS WE KNOW IT" STORIES ARE GETTING RATHER STALE -TANT WE PICK ON A GROUP OF WRECKERS?

HELLO, O'FISHALL -WE'RE AFTER SOME DIRT ON WRECKERS AND EXTREMISTS - CAN YOU HELP?

WELL, THERE'S THIS BUNCH)

OFWRECKERS KICKING UP AGAINST MY DEAL WITH THE POLICE AT GARNERS L20 ON THI PAY three months time.

motor industry. ranging, cc itain ng report from BMC: ervic =, from Lucas' CAV plant it Ar ton and from Longbridge.

One of the Ford workers urged that : we should not overestimate ourselves: "we can't pretend to be what we are not"

This defeatist view was answered by a Leyland worker, who pointed out that at the same time we must also realise what effect just a small group had had on the whole Leyland There was also discussion of the failure of the Ford group to fight for the demand of a cost Ford strikers demonstrate of-living clause in the wage agreement.

The conference then voted to add "Defence of manning standards" and "For a 35-hour week" to •the CD LM's programme.

It was agreed that a pamphlet on the crisis in the motor industry would be produced and that there would be a further conference in about Whilst there remain obvious differences in the political direçtion of the leadership of the Ford group from that of the WSL which is at the centre of the CDLM, this conference was a big step forward in bringing carworkers, together to discuss around the programme necessary for workers in the PLEASE SIR! I BELIEVE THERE'S WHAT ABOUT A GROUP OF WILD TROTS CALLED TUMERIC AU'S THE SOCIAL WORKERS PARTY LOT, SIR?

AH!.. SO THE COMMUNISTS ARE AT WORK UNDERMINING YOUR POSITION?

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ESS In the biggest coordinated strike action since the 1926 General Strike, 1½ million public sector workers on Monday demonstrated their bitter hostility be described as "low paid" and encouraged by the 14% pay offer made to 30,000 water workers, more and more sections have also been demanding that their leadership drop their bankrupt strategy of calling only "selective" strike action, END TOW 1S Poid Nowe st 260 ist insults theLow Paid NUPE save. NUPL says 5,60

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My stall AT THE FoT.

PAY MAKE 14- OFF THE DAY