The situation in Manchester has reached stalemate with a hardening of positions on both sides The Red Mole 15 May 1972 Page 4 The fight for the engineers' pay claim in Manchester is hardening up. Since the last report in The Red Mole there have been a number of settlements, some good, some not so good. Over twenty factories are still occupied, and in many cases it looks as if there is still a long fight ahead.
There are at least two factories where in recognition of this, the question of locking out management is being seriously discussed. Clearly, coming between the railway union leaders climb-down and the impending confrontation in the docks, the widespread adoption of such a tactic could have very favourable re percussions in other disputes. So far the local union leadership has tended to discourage locking management out, but the fact that management and scabs are getting more vicious is encouraging still more militant tactics. In two incidents, at Edmestons, Eccles, and Glynweds, Audenshaw, pickets have been injured by vehicles breaking through picket lines. Another weakness of the way the dispute is being fought is also being felt: secrecy. In a number of cases, including one place that went back, the men have been deprived by the policy of the district of any information as to what good settlements have been made. All they have heard is rumours of bad ones. Despite what has been done by such bodies as the Gorton and Openshaw Joint Shop Stewards Liaison Committee, the lack of diffusion of information remains a serious weakness. All in all the situation in Manchester is at a stalemate, with a hardening of positions on both sides, Unless there is a breakthrough at a big combine, it is likely to stay that way for some time.
Manchester IMG this is an official ALEW. STRINE Dont Break the Picket