COWLEY: MILITANCY Strike sold out

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The outcome of a strike called in the Cowley Assembly Plant of British Leyland last week by the extreme rightwing convenor, Reg Parsons, was a setback in the struggle against speed-up.

Parsons called the strike, in defence of two workers sacked by management for trumped up clocking offences, as a result of pressures arising from the growing militancy in the industry.

Parsons saw it as a way to attempt to break out of the isolation into which he has been forced in the Cowley plant.

The response to the strike was overwhelming; the majority of workers welcomed the opportunity to hit back at a management which had been on the offensive for over two years.

Meeting after meeting backed the continuance of strike action until reinstatement was won.

The T&GWU officials wete brought in and the right-wing moved quickly to head off the surge of militancy which had resulted.

A secret deal was cooked up on the Friday afternoon but not revealed to the mass meeting on Monday.

At the Monday meeting a return to work was obtained, the rightwing claiming a complete victory.

It was then, after the return to work had taken place, that they agreed to suspension and removal of the two men from their jobs.

In other words the company had achieved what they set out to do. They would have prefered to sack the workers concerned - since one of them had challenged his workload on the Princess track - but they settled for moving them off their section.

For the management this establishes an important precedent and will be used to attack other workers who present them with any obstacle to speed-up.

But the factory cannot return to where it was. Management have made a limited gain, but militancy has risen substantially.

Once again the readiness of the working class to defend its conditions : was shown clearly in practice.