No joy for Thatcher

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but a halt to further serious contraction of the ÜK's They argue that there is "a In the wake of the hysterical displays of support for the Thatcher strategy so unconvincingly stage-managed at the Tory conference, British employers seem set for a far more sombre conference.

The CBI's fourth annual conference is to begin on 9 November, and will confirm that anxiety over the state of the economy and the effects of Thatcher's policies now predominates over previous years' strident demands for more anti-union laws.

Indeed among the seven resolutions tabled under the heading 'industrial relations' the most significant come from engineering employers seeking not more action against the IVIL LALU unions but a halt to further changes in the law until there has been "time for proper and considered judgement on the need and scope for further action"

Elsewhere employers who have so loudly beat the drum in the past for "free enterprise" and an end to "government interference" in industry plead for the Tories to act to reduce import penetration, reduce interest rates and energy costs and even help create new jobs.

U turn

The bosses from the CBI's hard-hit West Midlands Regional Council for instance call for Thatcher to do a 'U' turn by implementing an NEB-style investment programme:

"In order to prevent a industrial base, this conference urges the government to use North Sea oil revenues to provide direct assistance to trade and industry."

Steel and ceramic manufacturers moan about high energy prices, and even Delta Metal expresses some qualms of disquiet in a motion that:

"supports the government's onlines fne sentanilinn inflatinn poncy or comrung muduv!!, but is concerned that the action necessary to achieve this is causing major problems and damage in industry, as well as hardship amongst those who are losing their jobs"

Electrical and allied manufacturers show themselves worried that the Tory government which they and their fellow employers put in office is creating conditions for imports to wide them out of existence. strong case" for "selective" controls on Japanese imports. .

Textile and pottery bosses, too, demand measures to protect them against overseas competition, as do CBI regional councils in the North West, Yorkshire and Humberside.

Indeed even the patriotism British". Indeed even the patriotism of Tory industrial policy is tacitly called into question by an anguished demand from the CBI's Southern Region that:

"This Conference believes that the Confederation of British Industry should constantly remember that it is British"

Thatcher But though rank and file employers-beset on all sides by the savage effects of Thatcher's monetarist policiesmay be down in the mouth, they are still concerned with the best strategy to maximise exploitation.