Talbot iobs retreat

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The decision of a mass meeting of Chrysler/Talbot workers at Linwood to reject a stewards' recommendation for a strike against the sacking of 1,500 workers is a setback which will soon be heartily regretted by all those concerned.

There is no doubt that the Talbot workforce was under massive material and political pressure to concede to management.

The financial impact of the recent 14-week lay-off at Linwood has been very heavy on many workers-and the prospects of a/long and bitter strike over Christmas is always hard to face.

Add to this the industrial devastation in Scotland in which tens of thousands of jobs have already been axed under the Tories, and in the midst of which Talbot management threatened that the entire LinUNION DUES wood plant would there was a strike.

And, worse still, Talbot stewards were calling for strike action only in order to bring about a system of work sharing -in which every worker would face a loss of earnings.

The necessary call was for a specific policy of work sharing on full pay, backed up by the occupation of the plant to prevent its closure.

But the need. for such a policy has not evaporated with these sackings: Talbot management, their appetites whetted by this retreat from the workforce, has demanded that workers immediately demonstrate their "ready willingness" to increase productivity.

It can only be a few months before such speed-up brings a fresh round of sackings or a confrontation with workers in defence of working conditions.

In today's capitalist crisis every surrender to management simply paves the way for further attacks.

Instead of doing anything, therefore, the Executive has put forward a lengthy resolution for consideration by the Conference Over 100 workers attended a put lic meeting organised by the Trades Council of the small Yorkshire town of Todmorden last Monday.

Opening the meeting, Jim Conolly, the Trades Council chairman, spoke of the need for workers to learn the lessons of history-referring to the betrayals of the General Strike -and posed the need for organised resistance to the cuts. Jim Stirton, NUPE official for Calderdale, repeated the call for resistance to cuts and all attacks on living standards.

However only the finest of gymnastic performances allowed him firstly to avoid even a shred of criticism of the inaction of NUPE's national leadership and secondly not to mention a single concrete policy to defend workers interests.

Later reports to the meeting from Halifax and Rochdale of planned hospital ward closures YOU'RE LOOKING PLEASED, OFISHALL-IS IT GOOD NEWS FOR THE TRADE UNION MOVEMENT?

WELL, YOU COULD PUT IT THAT WAY.

ALL, WHEN THEY'RE UP.

THEY ARE UP...

wow already we have seen how the determination of teachers to fight is being confused and diverted by moves similar to the still failed to encourage Stirton even to raise the paper declaration by COHSE and NUPE of support for the policy of workins to prevent closure.

The need for a programme to defend the independent interests of workers was stressed on the platform by Barry Turner, a NATFHE regional council delegate and member of the Skipton Trades Council, from the local branch of the Workers Socialist League.

In outlining the betrayals of the union leaders and the Labour 'lefts', he argued for an action programme of demands to include occupation and supporting strike action . to prevent closure, encouraging workers to follow the example of the St. Benedict's occupation in Tooting.

Redundancies, said Turner, must be opposed by work sharing on full pay under the control of elected trade union committees.

A fight, he stressed, is needed in the trade union move«AFTER ALL, LAST WEDNESDAY'S DEMONSTRATION IF 40,000 CANT BE BAD-NETHER AWKWARDLY BIG OR EMBARASSINGLY SMALL!

BUT I THOUGHT YOU WERE ALWAYS AGAINST THAT SORT OF THING VD THEN, WHEN THEY'RE Y'RE DOWN.. intention to dismantle the state education system.

the ment to open the books of the public services to reveal the profiteering by private suppliers, bankers and contractors as part of a struggle to nationalise these firms, without compensation, under workers' management.

in explaining the links between attacks on workers in the private and public sectors Barry Turner stressed the need for councils of action to coordinate and lead struggles and organise the overthrow of the Tory government.

He further moved that the meeting send telegrams to the head offices of the AUEW and TGWU deploring their failure to declare strike action in defence of Derek Robinson, the victimised BL convenor, official.

The motion-passed unanimously by the meeting-called for immediate official recognition and demanded that the union leaderships organise national strike action.

Bradford Trades Council member and 'Militant' supporter Keith Nairey echoed the need to DOWN and the banks, without compensation under workers' management, as the basis for a planned socialist economy. resist the Tory onslaught and called for the building of campaign Committees to fight the cuts.

However his further suggestion that it would be a revitalised Labour Party imbued with the spirit of Cla! Cross, which would lead workers to socialism was met with some scepticism by workers in the audience.

Perhaps this was in part due to Nairey's refusal to call for the removal of the Callaghan-Healey The Socialist Workers Party's intervention at the meeting came via a leaflet which began by claiming that 'Anger is not enough' and then went on to outline only partial demands for occupation to fight closure.

Their contribution to leaflet issued by the Calderdale Action Committee against the Cuts is summed up by an utterly confusing demand which reads 'Jobs threatened with redundancy must be opposed by industrial action if necessary"!!

WAUA UWAST O.K. LADS- HAND IN YOUR!

BANNERS AND DISPERSE!!

...THEN MARCHED THEM DOWN AGAIN!

...BUT WHEN THEY'RE ONLY HALF W THEY'RE NEITHER UP NOR DOWN..

•.. AND THATS HOW I AIM TO KEEP

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SOCIALIST ESS The rat at the end of the sinn Fein demo ST

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Lant Kear TRITAINE ORCENTRATIONA