Jobs Massacre
Socialist Press1980 1980-05-21Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 10 →
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The monumental slump that is under way as a result of the Tories monetarist strategy for starving British industry into profitability has brought yet another crop of redundancies and closures.
Among the foremost victims are workers in the car and components industries, in which there is a growing world-wide crisis.
BL Chairman Michael Edwardes warned last week that even more jobs are to go, on top of his planned 25,000 cutback in the Leyland workforce.
And in the Tories' other prime target for attack, BSC, union leaders formally committed to opposing redundancies have negotiated the axing of 6,000 jobs at Port Talbot, which is to be run down to hail production.
Further sackings have been agreed at BSC's plant in Cleveland. and are almost agreed at Lianwern in South Wales. Another steel plant in Warmington is also to close.
These sackings go a long way towards BSC's target of 52,000 redundancies, and are accompanied by the other prong of the Tory offensive-bonus schemes offering extra cash for accepting increased workload and a slashed workforce.
Meanwhile in the car component industry, Lucas is planning 2,800 sackings; Wilmot Breeden is negotiating the loss of 300 jobs at the two Birmingham plants, and GKN Sankey is cutting 638 jobs with the closure of its Cable St. Wolverhampton plant and cuts at Telford.
Textile bosses too, are pressing home their attack on jobs in the bid to restore profitability. Courtaulds last week announced two new factory closures, with a loss of 670 jobs, on top of recent plans for over 1200 sackings in Lancashire and in Northern This spate of cutbacks and closures spells disaster for the working class. It must be resisted through a determined policy of occupation, supported by strukes and blacking action.
The demand must be for the defence of all jobs through a programme of work sharing on full pay under the control of elected trade union committees.
In the fight for this policy workers must demand that the employers' books be opened to trade union committees to expose the anarchy and profiteering that lies at the root of the current wave of redundancies, and underline the necessity for the nationalisation of basic industry and the banks, without compensation under workers' management.
INTERNATION COMMITTEE INTERNATIONAL SUMMER