Stoke Claim

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The first London hospital work in at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson On Friday 7 October TGWU shop stewards at BLMC Cowley Body Plant received the company's reply to their claim for an increase of £33.64 a week on top wages with a cost of living clause.

That reply was that Leyland were not willing to break the 12 month rule unless it was done through the shop stewards accepting their corporate bargaining offer.

Ever since the claim was agreed by an overwhelming majority of stewards the right wing have been preparing to get it dropped.

NO INFORMATION The main basis of this preparation has been ensuring a complete lack of information to the membership. Many of the members didn't even know the claim had been submitted. This silence was supplemented by delaying tactics which meant that Friday's stewards meeting was held a week after the claim was meant to have been paid.

During this period the right wing created a massive diversion with talk of 'incentives'. They claimed incentives offered a way to win money without a fight.

This is because of course the company is also talking about incentives.

So with most workers having just come back off a long lay-off through the Lucas dispute; with a large number on the Marina track just starting another lay off; with the company again threatening closure; and with the recognition that the fight against the 12 month rule would also be against the TGWU leadership the right wing considered now was the best time to make their move.

In the usual tradition of the right wing, no mass meeting was held. Individual opinions only were taken.

PROCEDE

Indeed where meetings of sections were asked, they pronounced clearly in favour of proceeding with the claim.

But through the technique of asking a handful of individuals none of this class solidarity could be felt.

So sure enough, when the

Service & Parts

DivisionUNIPART stewards meeting discussed the claim the company reply was simply noted and the claim 'left on the table'.

PROP

The work of the Communist Party was essential to this right wing sabotage. CP members have openly argued in favour of Company-wide bargaining and against proceeding with the claim on the grounds that their members wouldn't fight.

Such arguments provided prop for the right wing.

Workers at Chrysler's Stoke Plant in Coventry are still pursuing a 25% pay claim passed by a mass meeting over a month ago.

Increasing pressure will be brought to bear on these workers, especially now that Chrysler's other main plants, Ryton in Coventry and Linwood in Scotland, have voted to accept the Company's 5% offer which was deferred under Phase 2.

In a recent meeting representatives from Ryton joined those from Stoke in rejecting the 5% offer.

However, stewards recommended acceptance at the Ryton mass meeting last week.

The same meeting rejected company proposals for changes in sickness benefit, security of earnings and incentive schemes.

Jul l

PHOTO: Angela Philips, IFL protests of various kinds.

Yet there is a widespread recognition that protests to David Ennals et al have never saved the hospitals already closed.

The government and the Area Health Authority can simply ignore this kind of activity.

A Workers Socialist League leaflet distributed on the march pointed out that the fight against the cuts, to be successful, must be based on strike action, not a policy going cap-in-hand to the authorities.

The demand must be that the hospital workers unions pledge to call solidarity strike action in other sections of public services, and call on unions with members in industry and the docks in East London to do likewise.

Such a perspective for the fight stands in sharp contrast to that (pursued and peddled by the Communist Party and otherst of simply requesting Labour councillors to "speak out or protest to the Area Health Autorit:

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