Struggle Against Banbury Sackings

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nonstration against spending cuts - NUT leaders will fight militant Only a few months after • redundancies were acpted at the Export Packing rvices plant in Banbury, fordshire, management we announced that a rther 350 workers - 40% of • remaining labour force e to be sacked in June. Eis, as a company, nas a mber of plants carrying out port packing work for Chrysler i Leyland. Now the Chrysler ntract is to be withdrawn as it of the reorganisation follow¡ the acceptance of mass redunacies in the Chrysler plants the trades union leaders.

CHOICE Now the Shop Stewards Conitee in EPS, having failed with a licy for short time working, to btect jobs last September, have clear choice - abdicate leaderP and prepare the ground for a eat, or adopt a fighting policy. The starting point of such a licy must be immediate occupaд of the plant on the demand it the books of ers be opened I information provided on the mpany's profits, losses, trading ationships, financial and aking link-ups, their suppliers I the terms of the contracts Ih the motor industries.

FULL PAY The Chrysler contract must be ained in Banbury or a system i work-sharing on full pay be wranteed with all jobs protecDemands must be placed on leaderships of the motor chers but not government cuts. industry unions that they protect EPS jobs. There must be no secret deals.

The union leaders must have known about the EPS redundancies long before they were announced. Why did they not warn EPS workers?

Once the EPS plant is occupied Shop Stewards Committees in Leyland and Chrysler must be approached for support. Chrysier jobs in Coventry and elsewhere must be defended with a fighting policy and not protected at the expense of the jobs of workers in other sectors of the industry.

Leyland Stewards must pledge that no work will be done in Leyland, which is normally carried out at EPS.

EPS is a part of the motor industry: Therefore the opening of the books of the whole motor industry must be demanded and the policy advanced of a nationalised motor industry including the export packing plants.

The fight against unemployment must begin. EPS can give an important lead. There is no doubt that the response would come from the working class. These redundancies would add 3% to the Banbury unemployment figures which are already well above the national average and would be a heavy blow at trade union organisation in the EPS plant which has established a principled record over many years.

The fight must begin. The only policy to unite workers and defeat the EPS managemenı outlined above.

At its meeting last Monday the 5/293 Branch of the T&GWU -the British Leyland Cowley branch - received a report back from its delegate to the Assembly on Unemployment on March 27th.

Arising from this the following resolution was adopted supporting the day of action called by the Assembly for May 26th.

"That this branch supports the call of the Assembly on Unemployment and calls upon the Automative District Committee of the T&GWU, the Confederation District Committee and the Trades Council to support a demonstration at 3.00pm on Wednesday May 26th and calls upon their members to join the NAC MAR The huge strong 10,000 demonstration through London on Saturday April 3rd demanding free abortion on demand showed that the National Abortion Campaign has kept the issue boiling away among students and middle class supporters.

However, the campaign still gives no direction to those forces attracted to the single issue of abortion in order to educate them in the reasons why the capitalist state is threatening to restrict the democratic right of women even further.

The fight also needs to be pressed harder with the working class movement.

Both the TUC and Labour Party conferences last year passed resolutions calling for free abortion on demand, but there was no evidence on Saturday's demonstration of the National Abortion Campaign taking up the fight through trade union branches and local Labour Parties to force the bureaucrats to act on these resolutions.

There were only a handful of trade union banners on the This attitude towards working class organisations must change it the National Abortion Campaign is to develop from a middle class pressure group to win the mass base of support in the working class movement necessary to win its demands.

The last BMC Joint Shop Stewards Committee held in Birmingham on Saturday 21st March decided to circulate shop stewards committees in individual plants urging that they investigate discrimination against women in the recruitment of labour and report back to the next meeting.

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WHATTHE FUTURE OF OUR NATION IF You DEPRIVE OUR CHILDREN THEIR EDUCATION