Shipyard J sell-out looms tance from the bank- PHOTO: Chris Davies, Report

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to Socialist Press Please send me trial sub/six months/one year Tili struggre against wage control, cuts Send to Socialist Press, 31, Dartmouth Park and redundancies The recently announced redundancies of a thousand jobs at Cammel Lairds on Merseyside has produced dubious, empty noises . of resisrupt reformist and Stalinist leadership.

The local Boilermakers' official, Stalinist Barry Williams, guardedly told the press that:

"We will fight all the wav to ensure that none of the men at Birkenhead lose their jobs through enforced redundancy."

The clear and conscious implication is that voluntary redundancies are perfectly alright!

In making this defeatist statement, Williams is not alone.

Echoed

He echoed the words of John Chalmers, Boilermakers' leader and senior Confed official.

Speaking at the conference in Newcastie called by the Confed on Thursday 23 August, Chalmers declared that:

Chalmers "Not one man leaves the yards... There will be no compulsory redundancies of any kind anywhere."

A British Shipbuilders spokesman correctly assessing the embryonic sell-out was reported to have concluded from this that, after the conference:

"They (British Shipbuilders) had not changed their plans. The redundancies could still go ahead but redundancies could be carried out on a voluntary basis:"

However, in a document presented to the stewards at Lairds on the same day as the Newcastle conference, RATI Trial sub (UK):

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Address Hill, London NW5 IHR. British Shipbuilders stated that it was "highly unlikely" that the required number of men from the Birkenhead yard would volunteer for redundancy.

This is because British Shipbuilders stated there are no other shipyards within travelling distance and the issue of forced redundancy notices was therefore necessary.

The situation is further complicated at Lairds by the current strike of 150 fitters who are in dispute over the number of men accompanying ships on sea trials.

They are preventing ships being put through these trials and, ' therefore, delivered until agreement has been reached.

* Williams took time out from his plans to worm in Inlantra, and alanar volullary reaunaancy al Cammell Laird to speak as an honoured guest from the opening platform of the SWP's 'Right to Work' march last Saturday. His speech received enthusiastic support from assembled SWP members.

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The main Cowley BL plants, along with few others nationally scabbed on the national engineering strike and attitudes hardened they would call for a further unofficial mass meeting on Wednesday, this time calling for fresh elections for convenor.

Faced with a collapse of the action and the whole situation being turned into an antirage 11 resist any further improvements, improvements which are badly needed if we are going to establish realistic wages.

"We as shop stewards have done our best to carry out our union's instructions, but now, taking into account the views of

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