Stc Closure Threat

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A new and vicious blow against jobs in the East End of London was struck on 15th. December with the sudden announcement that the 1050 jobs at Standard Telephones and Cables (STC) in North Woolwich will be 'phased out' over the next year.

STC is part of the multinational International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (ITT), which, amongst its many activities, has manufactured arms for Hitler, and worked actively with the CIA to overthrow the Allende regime in Chile.

CLOSED

In recent years it has rationalised its British operations by closing down its factory on the south side of the Thames, and it now says it is moving all cable making in Britain This new threatened closure is a further step in the destruction of the entire dockland area. Not only have jobs on the docks themselves been gradually eroded over recent years since the Devlin report, many parts of the docks having virtually ceased operations, but there have been large scale redundancies at Tate and Lyle's as well as in most of the other main enterprises in the area.

The once great industrial complex of North Woolwich and Silvertown now echoes with the sounds of demolition, and the disused factory immediately next to STC, owned by speculator Harry Hyams of 'Centre Point' fame, was in the process of being knocked down in the days before Christmas.

Meanwhile, even before the announcement of the record December unemployment figures and the STC closure, there were 5000 unemployed in Newham and the East End of London, and only have decided that enough is enough and that the time has come to stand up and fight for the right to work, by whatever means are found to be necessary.

This feeling of determination was strongly reflected at the first mass meeting of the workers from the factory on 22nd December. Speaker after speaker at this meeting drew attention to the opponents they had to face, fighting the job-cutting policies both of multinational firms like ITT, and of the Labour government.

NO ATTACK The talk was militant in favour of the retention of cable making at the North Woolwich works. The workers have said that they have no desire to attack jobs at Newport or anywhere else, but they have the skills and the equipment to produce cables needed for any modern nationalised.

While Nigel Spearing, (the local Labour MP), however, promised in general terms to help the struggle, he made clear he would not fight for immediate public ownership.

Preliminary action to defend jobs at the factory began on 23rd December. Since then, no STC equipment has been allowed to leave the plant. Arrangements are in hand to allow submarine equipment to go to the factory at Greenwich to emphasise again that there is no quarrel with other workers.

FURTHER ACTION

A meeting of the Action Committee is due on the 2nd January and the first proper discussion with management on the 6th. These meetings will have to be a prelude to further action at the plant.

In the first place, the elected committee of trade unionists must demand the opening of the books of STC and ITT to discover what the employers intend to do about cable making production.

What deals have been entered inte shout the freshold land on developers so interested in the near the site? Are they intendir build the big pleasure ground the rich in dockland that has so strongly rumoured?

The answers to these quest can only be discovered througl struggle of the workers at N Woolwich, in cooperation with workers in the other factorie the company, and other threat factories in the area.

Nationalisation cannot be j "long term aim" , as claimer Spearing at the mass meetin is something he and other as well as the union leaders fight for and is the only way i end of guaranteeing jobs. An begin the struggle for nati isation the workers must pr to take possession of the plant.

At the plant itself, full occ ion will be necessary to enfo policy of work sharing on full and to achieve nationalisa Twelve hour shift working largely ended by trade union a during the last year. Further a will be needed to guarantee

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Page 8 SOCIALIST PRESS, Wednesday December 31st, 1975