To Strike Attacked

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It's been a very quiet week over Easter with only £59.63 coming in for the April monthly fund, bringing the total so far to £239.53. This clearly leaves us with a lot of ground The £2,500 Special Fund moved forward by only £1 with a donation from a supporter in the BL factory at Cowley. A major effort will have to be mounted by our readers and supporters to get us back on target for this Published by Folose to for the Worker Socialist ever l WR BL management have made it clear to BL's National Negotiating Committee that they intend to wages structure.

The structure is central to the corporate bargaining system which BL is trying to achieve-a system which would place wage negotiations in the hands of full time National officials.

The new grading structure is opposed' by the bulk of the 90,000 manual workers, in BL Cars because it widens differentials and puts the majority of production workers down to grade 3.

Management have made their move in an effort to use the two week old strike by 4,500 of BL's 9,000 craftsmen as a lever to get the hew structure in.

They hope to da this either by persuading the craftsmen's leaders to drop the demands of the strike and settle for a return to work on the basis of the imposition of the new grading; or-even worse for all BL workers-by the defeat of the strike.

Management would then have the power to dictate terms.

In their bid for these objectives, the door has been opened for management by the national leaders of the major unions in BL.

They have given complete support to unprecedented scabbing and strike breaking which has kept the BL plants in production-even if at a reduced rate.

This has meant that vital plant and equipment has been repaired by supervision and managers.

in some cases this has involved managers in expensive suits climbing into roofs with welding torches to get the tracks moving.

But right wingers such as Terry Duffy, President of the AUEW, have not been content with active strike breaking.

Duffy has joined with BL chairman. Michael Edwardes in what has become the biggest witch-hunt against a strike leader for years.

Soon after i Edwardes Leicester Trades at Victoria Park AUEW leader Duffydenounced strike committee chairman Roy Fraser as "simply out to wreck the industry" Duffy weighed in with an lunatel a ticon rangers and his activities.

Echoing Duffy, the AUEW Birmingham District Secretary described the United Craft Committee as "BL's demolition squad".

The last time BL engaged in such a massive witch-huntagainst Alan Thornett in 1974it signalled the start of a protracted assault on manning standards and on the power of the shop stewards movement.

This time, even if the witchhunt is successful and they achieve their immediate objective of forcing in the 5 grade structure, it will not end there.

They will use that victory to carry through the speed-up which they have noticeably failed to achieve up to now, along with the proposed 7,000 redundancies required by the parity package.

Until now management have failed to make any significant inroads into manning standards in most plants.

Now in the Cowley Assembly and Body piants, resistance to manning cuts has forced management into recruiting labour well before redundancy targets have been reached.

In forcing in their new payments plan BL have laid a careful strategy.

In order to split the unity of the plants, they now intend to pay the so-called 'parity pay. ments' to those plants which have met their productivity criteria.

They say five of the 34 plants have met this criteriawhich has been. unilaterally decided by them-Swindon, Cowley Body, Cowley Assembly, Common Lane and Llanelli Pressings.

These • payments, which differ in each plant will only be paid when the new grades are accepted Or successfully imposed by management.

Until then the money is being banked by the Company.

These carefully laid plans of the management make it crucial that the scabbing and strikebreaking is stopped.

The craftsmen's demands for a substantial wage increase and separate negotiating rights are legitimate demands which they have the right to fight for with the protection of the trade union movement.

All BL workers must act to defend the craftsmen and stop a major: defeat taking place.

To do this production workers must refuse to operate equipment repaired by management or scabs.

This is not easy, because of the attitude of the Duffy leadership and because it leads to layoffs without pay-but it can and must be done.

In the Cowley Assembly Plant a start has been made. The TGWU shop stewards committee meeting last week adopted the following resolution:

"That this TGWU stewards committee deplores • the scabbing by supervision and management. The committee also deplores the actions of those trade union leaders who are supporting this scabbing"

This resolution must be translated into action. Bob Fryer, convenor of the plant has said he will support any section which acts on this resolution.

The craftsmen's strike remains strong despite exaggerated press reports that 'hundreds' are drifting back to work.

is true that a few electricians have returned in Cowley, but this is offset by the probability of more plants joining the strike after the Easter holiday.

It is crucial now that the strike is spread and strengthened.

The LJNG and the convenors conference (which meets as we go to press) should throw out the hated corporate bargaining package and unite BL workers behind a struggle to restore the fight of individual plant bargaining and the presentation to management of proper wage claims to restore wage levels. to make up in the next seven days.

fund.

Oxford weekly tote wit Scarc :ely more than 400 marcher: s took part in two separate demonstrations in London on Sunday against British imperialism in Sinn Fein called a demonstration from Hyde Park to Kilburn Square; After a dispute over speakers (Sinn Fein allowed no other speakers on their platform) the Irish Republican Socialist Party called their own march through Kilburn at the same time.

Given the extreme likelihood of fascist attacks on Ireland marches it was an act of criminal folly for two separate marches to take place.

Defence The physical defence of anti-imperialist forces demanded one march and the fact that both marches escaped serious attack does not mitigate this.

As it happened the IRSP march, supported by a handful of SWP members, totalled no more than 75, vastly outnumbered by police.

Sinn Fein pulled more-perhaps 300-350. Apart from thosę marching under green flags, the WSL contingent was the largest. The RCG, RCT, Maoists and UTOM also supported.

WSL placards and slogans demanded the immediate withdrawal of British troops; the restoration of political status for republican prisoners, an end to the torture, blacking of supplies to the British army, and called on Scargill to drive out the NUM-sponsored butcher, Mason.

The WL cut across nationalist slogans with a call for a workers' republic of Ireland.

A leaflet handed out by the WSL saluted the courage and endurance of Irish republicans but contrasted the class approach of the WSL with the nationalism of Sinn Fein.

"We reject any notion ND should be sent to: Socialist Hill, London NW5 1HR.

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forcibly impose their controversial new five grade

Mobilisation against National Front march No platform for fascists April 21,,1975 Assemble at 12.00 noor

London Rd., Leicester. PHOTO: Laurence Sparham, IFL, PHOTO

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