Reopen Leyland Cars Pay Claim

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The minimum rates the Leyland labour force by Cowley mass meeting-warned of Leyland fraud British conyenors again. next into force on February 1.

Leyland will meet Monday to decide whether or not to press ahead with a combine-wide strike. •This is in response to the decision of management to disqualify the November and December "parity" payments-due under the wage deal accepted by ballot in December-and their decision to deter navment MALU of the new nationally agreed minimum rates due to come In these ment small which "ifs"

which would provide an £8 a week increase in night-shift allowances and a substantial increase in overtime pay.

Small print

order to disqualify payments, manageare pointing to the print of the deal contains a welter of and "buts" , and a of loose statements can be interpreted to sult management. • Despite these clauses, the deal was recommended to scrape the very people who are now (quite rightly) objecting to it-notably the national union officials and Derek Robinson, Longbridge convenor and a leading Communist Party member.

Management: now say that payment has been affected by last year's Drews Lane strike-which took place before the ballot -and by the road haulage dispute-which was outside of BL and took place in January!

This simply rams home the point made by some plants, notably Cowley, that the pay package was fraudulent from the start.

In fact Bill McLain, BL chief negotiator, produced the leaflet circulated by the Cowley Assembly Plant Joint Shop Stewards last 'November to "prove" that the trade unions were aware of all the pitfalls and should not be surprised that payment had been stopped!

Full support

There will no doubt be full support for the strike decision when It goes to mass meetings during this week!

The problem the demands of the strike as fo at Power in guar inteed n a minority at every meeting.

'Disruptive'

This could push him towards use of the optional Rule 15 clasue which threatens to remove 'disruptive' delegates, if he is to succeed in his mission of blocking policies in the interests of the working class.

The TUC had taken the precaution of ruling out of order in advance amendments to rule from the NUJ branch which sought to restore fortnightly meetings and to allow some challenge to the rulings of the chair.

The Oxford Trades Council must now be virtually the only union body in the country where there is no right to challenge the chair-and it has Wiard. Renor Report this special dictatorial status with the full backing of the TUC.

PHOTO: Andrew Wiard In the event none of the rule changes were passed, since there was little chance of a two-thirds majority for anything-left or right.

The AGM took place after PHO Power and Ward had circulated outrageous 'annual reports'-in which Power accused his opponents of threatening him with violence and Ward said that Dancy's (the secretary elected at the preyious AGM) crack-up (in reality a result of increasing political paranoia) was due "at least in part (to) the harassment that the other officers have experienced from those opposed to our elections."

Power also went into the Oxford Mail on the day of the elections with his absurd and unspecified allegations of threats of violence. tion of corporațion lęvel bargaining by November 1 this year, which is the culmination of management's strategy designed to put BL workers in a wages straightjacket.

This demand should be rejected.

The fact is that BL has used double talk, subterfuge and the confusion consciously sown by the media to get a deal accepted when they had no intention of paying.the money.

Both the ballot and the package should now be declared null and void and the wage claims submitted by the individual plants reopened.

Workers should traitors is Robinson, who last year gave management until December 3 to revise the package-but then, when they refused to alter it, recommended acceptance!

A lead is now required to reopen the whole wages issue and establish settlements which will defend the standard of living of BL workers.

New leadership And this is also connected to the struggle for a principled leadership that will fight in defence of jobs and conditions throughout the combine, presenting a clear programme on which to resist management and Robinson government plans for speedup and mass sackings.

This task is being undértaken by the Workers Socialist League.

Evans Now Labour ministers are joining the Tory campaign against the unions.

Ministers Booth, Varley and Rees last week met the TUC to discuss the introduction of secret ballots prior to strikes-in line with Tory policy-the possibility of no-strike clauses in the public services, and restrictions on picketing.

A basis for such restraints seems likely to be Moss Evans' TGWU picketing code.

Meanwhile the Tories stand in the wings, ready either to back sufficiently reactionary Labour: policies, or introduce their own attacks on the unions.

The construction of a principled socialist leadership in the labour movement has never been such an urgent task.

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