9,000 Mber Fishing Lies to Go

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Lea by Derrick Robinson, the Stalinist convenor from Austins, a meeting of senior shop stewards from the Cars: Division of British Leyland, last Wednesday, accepted Company proposals which are a major step towards corporation level bargaining.

The meeting, which was convened by management under the Ryder set-up, decided to set up an ad hoc committee to organise common review dates and negotiate on common fringe benefits for all 64 Leyland plants.

Although, by way of an amendment, the meeting did not take a decision to negotiate the wage rates centrally - there is no other reason for common review dates except as a step towards this.

STAGES

In fact this was confirmed by Robinson under questioning at last Saturday's BMC Joint Shop Stewards Committee in Birmingham.

Full corporation level bargaining would in any case "have to come in stages" he said.

He went on to say that plant level bargaining is "outdated" -which is exactly what the employer has been arguing since 1968.

It is against Already Committr what is emerging or course is the real fruits of the Ryder plan. Robinson is only carrying forward the logic of "participation" which tackling the management's problems is that plant bargaining gives individual gropus of workers the right to struggle for wages.

Last Wednesday's decision is an extremely important move. Some major principles are at stake.

Agreeing to give up the right to negotiate wages at plant level and hand over to the national officials (and that is what it would mean despite Robinson saying it must stay in the hands of the stewards) is the same as accepting handing over wage bargaining, on a national scale, to a deal between the TUC and the government.

It would be a further attack on the rights of Leyland workers and subject them to further centralised control giving a considerable advantage to management.

Instead of the strong • sections leading on wages as in the past; the whole combine woula be at the mercy of the first ones to accept.

time for the struggles Ryder to be opened. the Oxford District se of the AUE! and the TEN: 19 British Leyland's Cowley Assembly Plant This gives good lead At the end of the one year trial typically imperialist attempt at gun boat diplomacy in confronting Iceland over her 200 mile limit instead of reequiping and reorganising the trawler fleets on the basis of nationalisation has now added to the mass unemployment in the industry.

Against such attacks it is right that the fishing grounds on which the Icelandic people are completely dependent should be defended. It was therefore inevitable that an agreement would eventually be reached on the limitation of catches.

DIVERT

By the policy adopted the Labour government has attempted to avoid its responsibility for the jobs lcst and diverted attention instead towards Iceland.

In fact, the Labour government has a lot to hide. one in every te trackermen ain unemployed with the figure in Hull reaching one in two.

James Johnson, Labour MP for Hull West and chairman of the Commons All Party Fisheries Committee, said of the settlement:

"The outcome of the settlement will be 30 vessels laid up through out the industry with the loss of 600 seagoing jobs, 450 of these in Humberside. And this. is an. optimistic assessment"

With this scale of cut-back it is clear that deep sea trawlers will not continue to operate from the three Humberside ports of Hull, Grimsby and Fleetwood as at present.

It is likely that two ports will close and the industry concentrated into one.

The implications of the cutbacks are that 9,000 of the 25,000 workers employed in the fishing and processing industry in Humberside will be added to the area's already high unemployment rate (now standing at 7,6%).

This could put unemployment in Hull higher than Belfast.

There is no doubt that many of the employers are happy with the outcome.

They have been allowing the fishing fleet to deteriorate for the past five years.

They and the processing employers, Birds Eye, Findus and Ross have been awaiting the opportunity for extensive rationalisation involving the speed-up and reorganisation of the work force.

The trawler owners are demanding £30 million compensation for trawlers which should have been scrapped years ago and clearly hope to make a killing.

The I&Gwu, who represent the trawlermen and fish dock workers are simply demanding decasualisation - which clearly is not enough.

The central demands must b. no compensation into private hands: the opening of the books o: the whole industry - inchuding trawler companies, port empt =t processing combines distribution chains - and i* presented for the natio e the whole industry.

The government m provide the cash to retar fleets to fish on new groanis -as the middle grounts - for = the existing boats are too larg