Workers must act to save Times jobs

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£8.00 ,14.00 £9.00 £10.00 A little over 24 hours before Times Newspapers announced the sale or closure of its titles the print union SOGAT announced what "action" it was going to take over the death of the Evening News.

All Fleet Street members were to be urged to take all-out strike action-between 1.00 pm. and 2.00 pm. on the day that the paper closes this Friday (October 31)!

This tragi-comic response to the loss of hundreds of jobs has highlighted the truth about the print unions.

Because of the hopeless way in which the unions' leaderships are wedded to the viability of the newspaper companies, the unions appear to be helpless to combat any all out attack.

Ironic

This may seem ironic, since the print unions resisted for l1 months in 1978/9 the frontal assault on their organisation at the Times and Sunday Times.

The distinctive difference however was that then the union could see an 'amicable' solution (the withdrawing • of the management ultimatum) whereas now they see only the abyss.

The decision to close or sell the Times, the Sunday Times and the supplements was given to the editors only 24 hours before the unions were called in to hear sentence.

It marked a change of course by the management of the multi-national giant International Thomson Organisation.

In 1978 the intention was to batter the print unions into submitting to one employer. In 1980 their intention is to batter them into submitting to capitalism in general.

The papers will be saved so long as the print unions sacrifice their chapel power as part of the To Thomson the question of who will own paper under such conditions is secondary so long as a capitalist or 'consortium' of capitalists can establish their ability to control.

This can be seen from Lord Thomson's statement:

"We have been unable to secure the cooperation of important sections of the workforce on a reliable and consistent basis. I believe that a change of ownership could provide Times Newspapers with the opportunity to create a new and constructive relationship with its staff"

It was more clearly expressed by Richard Marsh, chairman of the Newspaper Publishers Association, who proclaimed the news as "the best thing that could have happened for Fleet Street"

In 1978 the managerial demands were never defined beyond rhetoric about technology.

The New Statesman earlier this year revealed documentary evidence that senior management on the paper did not know during the lockout whether direct input by journalists was or was not one of the demands.

At the end of that lockout Socialist Press described the outcome as "a draw" , in which the unions had shown themselves strong enough to resist management attacks but unable to go on the offensive.

Losing money

Times Newspapers-owned by the holding company Thomson British Holdings Ltdhas been losing large sums of money. It expected to lose £15 million this year before tax and has borrowed £70 million from its Thomson parent since 1967.

But this is not just another example of the collapse of profitability. The Times has lost money for most of its history, while the Sunday Times is still profitable.

The large element which does not appear on the balance sheet is the ownership of a prestige instrument of the British state.

Now the Times is to be the scorpion that will whip the rest of Fleet Street into line.

Print union reaction has been predictably supine. The TUC's Printing Industries Committee said it wanted to create the right atmosphere to attract a buyer.

Owen O'Brien, NATSOPA general secretary, said:

"Sooner or later we have got to breathe a bit more sense into the national newspaper industry. Otherwise we will not have an industry. Maybe a new management team and a new owner might be a solution.

But whoever it is our people must agree to honour their obligations and act in a responsible way. If there are difficulties they have to be resolved round the table not by turning the machine room into a battlefield"

White flag

Well the machine room is a battle field and O'Brien's members are lined up for execution. His white flag will give them no protection.

Joe Wade, capitulating for the NGA, said:

«We believe it is in the best interests of all unions that their members should, despite their undeniably angry reaction, continue to produce the newspapers without disruption because that is the only basis on which we can seek to persuade Thomson International to reverse this decision, or if that is not possible, to provide a basis on which a new buyer or buyers can be persuaded to take over the various titles"

The journalists on the Times -who had been scornful of the pro-management stance taken by editor Rees-Mogg during the lockout and their own strike this year have now fallen in behind his 'democratic dressing' in the hunt for another buyer.

Rees-Mogg made it clear that any journalists stake would depend on them putting up money to buy their own jobs, and being subservient to a more traditional capitalist.

In practice the demand iS that the journalists-most of whom are in the NUJ-declare themselves with management, against the printers.

Rees Mogg directly linked his campaign to the Times' defence of the state.

"Many of our institutions are under threat; the Times fights for them and now the Times is going to fight for her. self"

The proven defensive strength of the print chapels is no longer adequate to meet this threat. They have first to counter the treachery of their own officials.

Workers' strategy

Secondly they have to devise an independent workers' strategy for the fight, which rejects messiahs in the shape of Robert Maxwell (who acted as executioner and undertaker to the Scottish Daily News) or in the shape of Rees Mogg.

Far from creating a climate for a new buyer the workers must create a climate for a workers' takeover.

Occupation of the plant is now an immediate necessity. A call to other Fleet Street workers to come out in their support would produce an immediate response.

The print workers and as many journalists as possible (many but not all of whom are nakedly pro-management, pro-capitalist) must be brought together to fight for the papers to become democratically controlled papers independent of all employers.

The first task is to challenge the right of the employers to hurl the workforce onto the street. That cannot be done by turning to any other capitalists.

The employers want ideologically unchanged papers printed outside London and the breaking of the unions.

The workers must demand the strengthening of the unions and the breaking of the ideology.

Scan page 11

A meeting of British Ley- scene for this Monday's adopted by the convenors.

A meeting of British Leyland convenors has voted to call simultaneous mass scene for this decisions.

Now, with BL this year outadopted by the convenors.

BL workers have received pay increases of 5% in 1978 and