BL convenors must call strike on pay

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PRESS BL convenors meet this Friday at the Radford plant in Coventry to make a crucial decision on the annual wage review.

After four months of vacillation, and a secret ballot in which BL workers voted by a large majority to reject management's 5% pay offer with 102 pages of Edwaraes strings, they are to decide Tens of thousands of workers from all over the country will march in protest at Tory policies this weekend. The huge demonstrations will reflect mounting anger at the endless barrage of public spending cuts, anti-union laws, runa way price increases, closures, sackings, speed-up and attacks on benefits and basic rights unleashed by the Thatcher government in the nine months since they were elected.

But even as they march behind their trade union banners manv workers will be wondering about the next step in the fight. Bitter experience has time and again proven that mass demonstrations alone-however impressive and representative of the working classcannot defeat governments.

And the Fory government has not embarked upon its savage policies by accident or mistake.

Everyone of their attacks on the working class has one aim in view: to weaken and divide the nroanised lahnur movement and to increase the rate of exploitation of workers throughout industry in • order to raise the profits of private employers and bankers.

Mounting evidence of a runaway recession in British industry, that the course is set for 2'million unemployed and that production this year will actually fall comes as no surprise to the Tories: it is precisely through such measures that they hope to force the least profitable sections of private industry to the wall, close down "loss making" sections of nationalised industry, and sell ofi profitable operations such as the Post Office-in order to provide a profits bonanza for the strongest elements of the capitalist class.

This is why the confrontation now taking place in the steel industry is so crucial for the working class. Steelworkers, who have seen jobs by the thousand axed with the collaboration of their union leaders, recognise that unless a stand is taken now they face a further 50,000 sackings combined with a massive cut in real wages and a wholesale attack on hard-won working conditions.

An unprecedented wave of revolt from the ranks forced the steel union leaders to take a stand on wages-while trying to keep the jobs issue separate. The steelworkers have now been out nearly ten weeks in the forefront of the fight to defeat the Tories. Their national strike otters the pertect rallying point for joint action by the millions of public sector and other workers seeking a means of defending jobs, wages and services.

UNION LEADERS

what action to take. The Joint Negotiating Committee are to make a recommendațion to the convenors-but they are not rèvealing beforehand what that recommendation is to be.

But it seems likely they will recommend no action. Edwardes has laid off 15,000 workers in various plants precisely to ensure that the leadership of the : BL unions remain paralysed.

Tied politically to defending the "viability" of BL, the convenors are vulnerable to this tactic- the meeting will have repercus sions far beyond BL itself.

The steelworkers. are locked in battle with the Tories in which they have become increasingly isolated.

*If the JNC refuse to give a lead or recommend no action the decision will rest with the convenors. They must reject the vacillation of the JNC and vote for strike action in line with the mandate from the membership.

A strike now by the 100,000 workers in BL Cars would break that isolation and open a new phase in the struggle against the Tory. General Strike TUC knifes Ireland conference ...p.4 Terry Eagleton on Sartre. ..pp.6-7 Steel .. • p.11 A united strike would be a major step towards building a general strike to bring down the Tories.

If the BL convenors vote for no action or for partial action the Tories will be greatly strengthened. 'The Leyland Action Committee is calling for a lobby of the convenors conference and are calling steel workers to join them in that lobby.