Bosses' Bonanza

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more modest £278 million. But the tune of £207 million profit the five big banks had the biggest to the Electricity Council and laugh of all-with a cool £830 £130 million to the Central Elecmillion profit for a year of holding tricity Generating Board-a total of on to other people's money. £337 million. That is nearly £6 Meanwhile the public sector for every man woman and child in industries have also made full use of the country. provided under the Social Contract. particularly pliable trade union While workers scrape in empty pockets and wallets for the cash to enjoy a much needed summer break, the silence has been broken by a clamourous din of profit figures from Britain's major corporations, all of whom have been minting money as a result of the Social Contract.

ICI staggered laughingly to the bank with an incredible £540 million CFC smiled hannilv with a MUTINI the cheapening of labour power The National Coal Board, groaning about lazy miners who should work harder, netted £27 million profit. British Gas snatched £31.5 million profit from consumers, while British Airways, even with eight work-starved Concordes to support, managed to make a respectable £35 million.

MILKED But the really big money was in electricity. Hard-hit c onsumers with sky-high bills have b een milked to Top of the pile, cashing in on a leadership, which gladly agreed to both social contract wage cuts and massive staffing cuts, was the Post Office, which actually made £392 million-though £105 million "excess" is to be handed back in rebates to telephone subscribers.

Post Office boss William Ryland stressed how useful had been the 10,000 cut in telecommunications jobs and 3,000 postal jobs, and hoped new and similar productivity arrangements would be made again.

COMMITTEES

Trade unionists must take all these figures seriously. Only a short while ago every major state industry was proclaiming gloom and despondency and showing balance sheets deep in the red.

Elected trade union committees at local, regional and national level must take up the demand: Open the books of these firms and industries! Discover:

*How are these astronomic profits made?

*Who receives it? What work do they do?

*How werc earlier figures manıpulated?

*How do "loss making" nationalised industries assist these protit makers?

The that comes tom such investigations will prove dear gouge iRe need to nationalke the whole si mator industry without 05020018020 12327