| ative also posed a direct threat to workers' unity. At the end of July Eric Varley, the new Industry Secretary, stated that the British motor-bike industry would get no more government subsidies. For the NVT management this meant the opportunity to announce the closure of its secondary factory in Wolverhampton with a loss of 1,200 jobs, and a cutback of 500 jobs at its major factory at Small Heath.
On 11 August the workers at Wolverhampton began a blockade of their factory demanding the continuation of motor-bike production there and stopping the transfer of parts necessary for continued production at Small Heath. NVT, by claiming that the blockade of the Wolverhampton workers and the competition of the Meriden co-operative posed threats to all jobs at Small Heath, effectively divided the work force. This was a particularly cynical manoeuvre since within two months the management would be calling in the receiver to its Small Heath factory.
DIVISIVE ISSUE
The workers at Small Heath picketed Meriden demanding that it cease production to protect Small Heath jobs! The workers at Meriden, because of the co-operative, saw no need to mount a joint campaign with the other workers in the motor-bike industry to pro tect jobs. The Wolverhampton workers, seeing the crisis of the British motor-bike industry and the worsening conditions in the co-operative, are meanwhile looking for a foreign buyer to purchase their factory.
In the given situation the co-operative became a divisive issue, cutting the ground from under the feet of those militants who had benationalisation of the whole motor-bike industry to protect jobs. A struggle on such a slogan would have mean a political struggle aimed at the Labour Party and Government. It would have put Benn, Wilson and the other leaders right on the spot, demanding in whose interests they governed.
Over the past few months there have been 500 redundancies at Small Heath, and another 500 were scheduled before the end of the year,
red weekly 13 november 1975 social democracy 9