Gas Workers Must Expiude Officials' Sell-out Ls' Sei

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into car parts •smash-up!

JAN-CARL RASPE The deaths on October 18 of three leading Red Army Faction figures has presented the West German government with more of a problem than just abating liberal now surrounding the incident.

As President Walter said last Thursday:

"It presents the danger that our country splits itself into two enemy camps in which each blames the other for terrorism."

Survivor

In response to the supposed suicides and the prospects of the fourth member surviving the ordeal to reveal the circumstances of the attack on her, the West German state immediately set ANDR work reached the cells, the apparent deafness of the guards to the gunshots etowas ignored.

More importantly though has been the effect these deaths have had on ensuring even tighter state repression. While speaker after speaker at Schleyer's funeral was appealing for a world wide campaign against terrorism, all three parties in the Bundestag were busy agreeing to new legisiation designed to further restrict democratic rights and fuelling the already raging anti-radical witch-hunt.

Trials of suspected terrorists are to be drastically speeded up, and all defence lawyers will be excluded from court hearings.

Investigators will be authorised to tap phones, open suspects' mail and conduct indiscriminate searches for evidence.

AMED

INE THAT HeRE All the special police units (the BKA, BGS, BSV : etc) will be reinforced and yet another so-called anti-terrorist group set up.

The activities of the latter were illustrated at the funeral of three members of the RAF on 27 October in Stuttgart.

Body searches

Hundreds were on duty in riot gear, checking all mourners' identity passes and conducting body searches.

German press reports suggest that not a single trade union bureaucrat or MP has come out against these moves.

The task of demolishing the anti-working class legislation of the SPD/FPD coalition government and seeing to it that a workers' investigation into the deaths of the three takes place, assumes even greater urgency.

In a criminal bid to sell out the British Oxygen strike-the pay strike with potentially the biggest yet industrial power-union officials have persuaded convenors to recommend calling off action in support of the 30% pay claim.

The officials, headed by "left' TGWU officer John Miller, had set out from the action which threatened to beginning to head ofi drive a coach and horses through the 10% pay guidelines laid down by Chancellor Tenacity Yet the tenacity of the strikers has been proved beyond doubt in the course of the three-week strike.

As the Financial Times pointed out:

"The roots of the strike. .. lie in their unwillingness to accept single figure wage rises, suspicion of productivity deals, dislike of complicated company work agreements .:. and resentment... at the way the company has handled negotiations.' If the convenors' line and the deceptive line put by Miller are rejected, whole sections of British industry could be threatened with closure within days, and the full claim could be forced out of BOC management.

Productivity Instead, Miller has argued for a return to work for an undisclosed "substantially improved offer" which Miller has hinted would then be made by management.

This offer is almost certain to be tied to productivity strings-in other words an attack on manning levels in BOC.

If Miller gets his way, then from waging a war on BOC in defence of their living standards, the strikers will now face the prospect of an offensive being taken up against them to force increased effort and job cuts.

This is the product of the reactionary line now being implemented by every union official in pay disputes that challenge the 10% limit.

Rather than strengthen and spread action to crush the pay limit and the right wing Lib-Lab coalition that spawned it, union bureaucrats see the preservation of this structure as the means of clinging onto their own privileged positions.

Launch Fresh evidence that Leyland's books, and plans and production methods need to be thrown open to workers in the firm came this week with news of a plan to scrap £2 million of perfectly good spare parts.

Thousands of parts have already been destroyed by order of the management because Leyland dare not offend private dealers by offering the surplus spares cheaply.

Car seats have been slashed ariels bent, wheels sawn in half, manitolds crushed and carpets shredded in machines.

John Power, a senior shop And when full-time officials move consciously to defend their entrenched interests, a conscious policy and a clear plan of action are the only answer.

*No productivity deals or incentives!

*No 12 month rule or 10% limit.

*For catching up rises to make up for losses over the last two years, linked to cost-of-living clauses to compensate for inflation!

As we go to press convenors still have to win support for the deal at plant level.

Continue

BOC workers must reject the spurious 'deal' hatched secretly between Miller and BOC management and foisted on their convenors by a wafer-thin two-vote majority.

They must vote at mass meetings to continue the strike for the full claim, and call for an extension of the blacking action that had already paralysed bosses' attempts to break the strike.

inquiry Power steward at BMC service, Cowley who broke the news, said he had watched the smash up for years. Why?

Leyland's arrogance was supreme:

"We know our business. We know the best way of going about it.

The main reason for the scrapping policy is to protect

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public opinion concern- ing the ugly evidence