Swindon Unions Must Defend Jobs

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Swindon is fast becoming an unemployment blackspot. Redundancies at a number of factories in the Swindon area in recent weeks have sharply increased the already large number of workers unemployed.

In the period since the war full employment has been maintained by a steady influx of medium sized light engineering companies into the town. Except for a brief period in 1971-2, the number of workers on the dole has remained below the national average. But the latest figures from the Department of Employment show that 4.1% of the working population are unemployed and a further 1.4% are on short time.

•SACKINGS Three small companies have sacked 250 workers in the last two weeks, and they have been joined on the dole by at least 200 men from British Leyland's Pressed Steel factory who have accepted voluntary redundancy. At Square D, an electrical components manufacturer employing 1,100 workers, 40 are to be made redundant in the near future.

The prospects of finding jobs when there is such a rapidly increasing pool of permanent unemployed are very slim. No sizeable employer is recruiting labour in a situation where each in turn is ANNUAL DELEGATES CONFERENCE no real proposals IO for concrete action in the for womens' rights.

The emergency motion opposing the Abortion (amendment) Bill put by the NEC was passed with opposition from the right wing and WRP delegates. The WRP argument was that the motion "did not go far enough" and solve the crisis of capitalism by "calling for the nationalisation of the banks and major industries without compensation, under workers' control" '. In fact all the WRP motions were lost or referred to the NEC, not presenting any concrete answers to the problems being discussed. Their motion on the government's Education cuts was largely correct but ended with the usual WRP programmatic calls of: 1. Occupation of all work places threatened with closure, 2. The demand that the Labour government revokes all spending cuts in education and nationalises the banks and basic industries without compensation and under workers' control.

NO COMMITMENTS As a result the NEC was able to get it referred to them, committing them to nothing. The motion of course gave no concrete proposals or aims to workers in education which can be fought for in their place of work.

The NEC also manoeuvred to avoid discussion on the EEC so the amendment calling on Clive Jenkins to stop campaigning with MP was a guest speaker and spoke against the EEC but by cutting out the motions on the agenda and the discussion, the platform prevented delegates from asking him why the "left' MPs would not fight Wilson or call for any action by the Labour Party NEC to campaign against the Market.

The discussion the Shrewsarced into short ackings.

At present, both the AUEW District Committee and the local CSEU committee have adopted a programme of transitional demands in order to fight for the defence of jobs. The programme which includes the demands for a sliding scale of hours, opening of the books and an end to business secrets, was drawn up after the defeat of an occupation struggle at Plessey Inter-connect. The same bodies ahve also agreed to hold a meeting of all the town's working class bodies to discuss the unemployment situation. As yet, the meeting has been put off apparently because the speakers invited, trom the Labour government and the AUEW have declined to attend.

At its May meeting the Swindor Trades Council set up a sub-committee to "tackle the unemployment problem". . Its only terms of refèrence are ludicrously to "work closely with the local council" in "attracting alternative employment' to the town, but do not put forwar‹ a single point of programme for those workers whose jobs come under the axe.

The AUEW District Committee has such a programme to defend jobs - and this should be acted on. The right wing dominated Trades Council only uses the new subcommittee to avoid mobilising the working class in defence of jobs.

bury Two was taken after much delay. A motion was put calling for iction to be taken to, amongsi other things, secure the immealate release of Tomlinson and Warren. This was re-emphasised to the NEC when the mover of the motion summed up before the vote. He didn't mean 'vague discussions with MPs' or ASTMS legal advisors drawing up new proposals for the conspiracy laws, he meant action to secure the immediate release of the Shrewsbury Two : including strike action. This motion was passed.

Due to the usual "pressure of business" most of the motions on the Health Service were removed from the agenda, but the two main composites were put. They both contained transitional demands for the defence of the NHS. The first called for a black on private patients the abolition of private practice inside and outside of the NHS, the injection of more fil ence into the NHS and the setting up of committees of trade unionists of health service workers and consumers to examine the books and the running of the Health Authorities. The NEC opposed the motion and called for its rejection but it was carried overwhelmingly. (This was the only vote that went against the NEC recommendation). This was clearly due to it putting a concrete programme for the defence of the NHS. The second NHS motion, carried unanimously, called for a sliding scale of expenditure to maintain the NHS and defend it against inflation.

The Conference showed, the clear role of the trade union bureaucracy in defending the Labour government in spite of calls for Healey's resignation because of the Budget. It did not attack Wilson, defend Heffer against his sacking or call for the ASTMS Parliamentary Committee to fight for the removal of the Labour right wing.

Nevertheless the Conference did adopt a programme for the defence of the NHS, a call for immediate action to release the Shrewsbury Two, opposition to the Abortions (amendment) Bill and support for the workers sit-in at Imperial Typewriters. The test now is how these policies are acted upon by the ASTMS leadership.

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"reactionary elements and known racialists" was not put. Peter, Shore