The strike of Asian workers at the Mansfield Hosiery mills in Loughborough seemed to end in victory with the signing of an agreement giving Asian workers the right to train as fullyfashioned knitters. But the struggle has still not ended.
The white knitters have now demanded that of the 28 trainee Asian workers, 8 must withdraw or they will refuse to train any. This is a further attempt to preserve the best jobs for white workers. As the strikers' bulletin stated: "It is precisely these sort of pressures from the knitters that the Asians have had to put up with for ten years". At a mass meeting the Asian workers made it clear that they would not give up one trainee post. After ten weeks on strike they were not prepared to abandon the principle for which they have made such sacrifices.
Throughout the strike the Asians" position has been that any division between black and white workers only plays into the hands of the management. They have, therefore, continually called for united action against threatened redundancies, and even allowed the imported white scabs to remain in the factory to avoid future divisions in the factory.
But while the union officials' response has been to seek an agreement sayisfying both sides, the Asian workers realise that now they must stand firm and united. United action of the workers will remain impossible while that unity is based on the subjection of the Asian workers. The union officials have only shown their bankruptcy by refusing to force the white knitters to give way.
The racist attitudes of the white knitters have been strengthened by the presence of 15 members of the Powell Supporters Group, a National Front-based body, in the factory. This has reinforced racial prejudices based on fears of unemployment or loss of status. But only united action of the workers, called for by the strikers, will enable them to banish these fears in a struggle against the threat of redundancies caused by rationalisation in the industry.
In an industry with a high proportion of women and immigrant workers it will be a hard task to bring about united working class action. But the fight of the Asian workers in Loughborough for no compromise with racism is a sign post for future struggles.