Airport blacking Jites

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to work on the recommendation of the shop stewards committee.

The vote had to be taken twice because the 5 negotiators were unable to convince the men that anything had been won. It was the intervention of Reg Birch, Maoist EC member of the AUEW that secured the return to work decision.

The 'settlement' itself gave the men nothing. The men were to return on the basis of 'agreements drawn up between the AUEW and British Airways management' of which the main point was that British Airways were ready to negotiate immediately on any agreed formula on shift pay which emerges from discussions between the AUEW and the wages subcommittee.

But at point the wages sub-committee was still refusing to meet the engineers to discuss a joint shift pay claim.

As the vote was taken some of the men stormed out meeting shouting "Sell out,, of the The AUEW leadership has also agreed with British Airways management to pursue the shift pay claim within the negotiating machinery, an agreement which has met with universal hostility from the maintenance engineers.

Several days after the strike ended the wages subcommittee in an unexpected change of stance, finally agreed to a joint shift pay claim with the AUEW and a meeting of the wages subcommittee and the five negotiators took place last week to finalise the claim.

Negotiations were expected to start early this week with British Airways with a deadline for a settlement of 13 May. However, with the shop stewards still refusing to take on the Social Contract and the union leaders preparing the way for a third phase of wage controls. British Airways management could onceivably, concede much of the laim safe in the knowledge that they would not have to pay it for years.

In the meantime, a number of aircrait on which maintenance work was carried out during the strike by supervisors have been blacked' by the engineers, who are demanding lump sum payments of £150 each in compensation for wages lost during the dispute.

British Airways management have refused to pay and have issued statements referring to a "serious situation" facing the airline as a result of the blacking.

Clearly nothing is yet settled at Heathrow but the shift pay claim will not be won until a leadership emerges which is prepared to lead a fight for the claim on the basis of destroying the Social Contract, which remains the obstacle to the men getting their money.

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At a mass meeting on April 27, the 4,000 striking Heath- row engineers voted to return