Leyland Full Speed Ahead to Scrap Plant

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We reprint below sections of the resolution to be presented at the October 23 Conference on the Wages Struggle and the Fight for Costof Living Clauses, by the Organising Committee of the Campaien for Leyland Cars management and the National Enterprise Board are poised for a major thrust against shop floor workers. Their objective is to force in American-style wage agreements.

Leyland have set a November 1 deadline for the abolition of plant level bargaining and the introduction of centralised or 'corporate' negotiations.

This long-term ambition becomes an immediate objective now because Leyland are receiving the enthusiastic support of national union officials, in particular Scanion and Moss Evans.

These leaders have succeeded in stifling any opposition from the 200 or so convenors from 34 Leyland Cars plants.

In this process Leyland's 'participation' scheme, softening up convenors by sucking them into management and convincing them that first priority has to be the viability of the Company and not their members' interests has played a key role.

Latest act in this drama was last Thursday when Moss Evans manipulated his way around the remaining resistance of TGWU convenors Democracy in the Labour Mövement.

The vote at the TUC conference to accept the I2 month rule and the lack of any challenge by the 'lefts' to the Labour Party leadership at the Labour Party conference over the continuation of their wage cutting policies, shows that the trade union and Labour leaders • are determined to defend British capitalism by making the working class pay for the crisis.

The so-called 'alternative' policies offered by Labour and union "left-wingers'-nationalist import controls and reflation of capitalism-offer no real challenge to this perspective.

The determination of the working class has meant that several sections of workers have broken the 10% government norm.

But trade union leaders still fight to uphold the 12 month rule and for "responsible" claims. They still call for unemployment-creating incentives schemes.

What are required are straight wage claims. big enough to catch up what the working class has lost since 1974 and to defe id these increases with enst of livin g clanses a meeting in Eastbourne.

These convenors never held a principled objection to corporate bargaining. They wanted bargaining to be subdivided into area unitswhich in itself abolishes plant negotiations.

The 'virtue' of area bargaining was seen as the preservation of personal negotiating positions and prestige. But such opportunist opposition to Leyland's plan was easy meat for Evans.

He simply read the riot act on the financial state of Leyland. He threatened that the next f50 million in "public aid" , due on November 1, would be withheld if no progress was made.

Evans then put a carefully worded and completely ambiguous motion to the meeting, which could be interpreted as acceptance of the corporate bargaining principle:

"This Delegate Conference re-affirms its policy determined on 15 September 1977. Would however be prepared to discuss the principle of centralised bargaining in 1979, providing full satisfaction is achieved on:

A. Mutually agreed plant incentive schemes on November 1 1977.

B. Full staff status.

C. Comparability of wages."

The final 'conditions' are clearly a smokescreen for the main meat of the resolution, and will be surreptitiously abandoned.

The key passage "discuss the principle of centralised bargaining in 1979" leaves in doubt whether it means new discussions in 1979 or final implementation of corporate bargaining in 1979.

Whatever the convenors thought when they accepted this, Evans made it clear he regarded it as management's foot firmly in the door when he spoke later in the day at Brighton.

Although some "problems' remained, he said, the way was now clear to discuss further on the principle of corporate bargaining.

This was clearly understood Evans Leyland's Industrial Relations chief Pat Lowry, who promptly moved in and proposed:

*November 1 1977 to become the common review date for all Leyland Cars plants. Both sides to approach the government for dispensation on the 12-month rule to facilitate this.

*Where agreements expire before November 1, the Company would offer a 10% increase.

*A Leyland Cars negotiating body should be set up to negotiate on the 'fringe benefits' document thrown out by mass meetings in January.

*Incentive schemes to operate from January 1 with bein crease backdated to November played Evans' game of words by fraudulently claiming that unti November 1979 "plant bargaining would continue.

66 paint shop workers in British Leyland's Cowley Assembly Plant have been on strike for two weeks against Leyland attempts to impose speed-up on the paint tracks.

New man assignment sheets (produced by industrial engineers in line with Company and NEB requirements) call for a cut in the labour force from 66 increase in the hourly programme. shop to 42 paint workers along with a slight Management and Senior Stewards have been trying to persuade the striking workers to "give the new assignments a try" whilst the stewards on the sections have been pointing to the company's breach of the plant mutuality agreement.

Now that willing TGWU convenors have been hoodwinked the pace will hot up.

The Confed Executive meets at York this Thursday and, with Evans certain to use last Thursday's motion as his authority, it is likely the Company proposals will be endorsed.

The Confed will then call a meeting of all Leyland convenors on October 18 which seems certain to accept the plan.

But among Leyland workers feeling centres on the demand for more pay-without strings, deals or corporate bargaining.

In opposition to both right wing and Communist Party members whoswill back corporate bargaining. workers must reject the company plans outright and pursue in each plant pay claims to regain and defend living standards.

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PHOTO: Andrew Wiard, Report RESO_JF