An important feature of the strike at Imperial Typewriters has been the militancy of the Asian women.
Women have been to the fore on the picket lines. They are an active force on the strike committee and attend in large number the daily mass meetings. As Mrs Doshi and Mrs Ranjen explained to me We do not just attend the meetings, we speik up in them and put our point of view.
These two strike committee members, along with Miss Doshi, a younger worker, told me why they were on strike. They explained how being on strike had made them aware of the role they could play and what they intended to do when they have won their strike.
PAID LESS
"We knew that the Asian women in our section were being paid less than the white women workers. This was because we had to do three or four jobs at a time. The white women had only one joh to do so it was easier for them to make their bonus.
Mrs Doshi aid: Although 1 was a member of Nobody ever came and spoke to us about the union, we were never told about union meetings. The shop stewards who were white workers I did not want to do three or four different ed to do one job. But he always refused to do anything.
'The strike started at Copdale Road. They came to our section and said "we want support from you people". Tasked what is the strike about? They told me "We want better conditions shop steward."
'Tasked them what is a shop steward and they told me, I had to join the strike. I was in that type of condition. I had to do very hard work for bad pay. So I joined the strike, We were being cheated by the bonus system.
Mrs Ranjen had experience of the union, but said: When I complained to my shop steward she would say "I will go and see aboul this": later she would come back and say "there is nothing that I can do."
'Every three months there was a time keeper, tuning the job. They đo not tell us chat they are timing the job. They hide behind the hars and time us. There is no shop steward present when the jobs are being timed.
*The mabagement would say if you do 50 machines an hour that is 100 per сел!. Алуthing over, we gor bonus. But, when we started to do more then the management re-timed the job. Then they would say: "Seventy or even 80 is the new figure for 100 percent. This meant wages would drop because some ladies could not reach these new high ligures.
All three of the women went on the picker line right from the first day. "Our leaders told us: "Everyone must go on the picket line." We Red Weekly go on every morning, every afternoon and every evening.
FANTASTIC
Mrs Doshi said: 'It is fantastic on the picket line. I tell the people who are working that thes are scahs and traitors. They are just after money and do not care about their own dignity.
*Every day there is 3 mass meeting. At this meeting we discuss what we are going to do tomorrow. About 400 people come to the mass meeting and of these about 200 are women.
*The women workers- like myself speak up at the meetings. Anyone can express their views and put forward their suggestions. They pive us control over the strike, We all decide what to do.
•We take our children to the picket with us. When we go on the picket hine the children stay in the cafe across the road. Our idea is for everyone to be on the picket line - men and women. But the police stop this. If there are 500 picketers, then there are 1000 police standing there.
'Some of the white women workers have said "you are fools for coming out". We have the union it was something knew nothing about told them that it is they who are tools for staying in. When we win the strike everybody, men and women, white or black, will get better conditions. This is a light for all che workers.
We have to win this strike. I will stay jobs. I kept telling my foreman that I only wunt- right to the end. I will go on hunger strike before I go back to work unless we get our STAY OUT Miss Doshi had only been working at Imperial Typewriters for six weeks before the strike begin. She came out at the beginning, and like Mrs Ranjen and Mrs Doshi, she has heen an active picketer. Lik: them she says: I am prepared to stay out until the end, even though it may mean big sacrifices.
'Before the strike we did not think much about matters like trade unions. Now we have learned a lot, We know about the management. the union, the shop stewards, Bromicy, Weaver, everybody. The first time we saw Weaver, our factory convenor, was on television. We learned that Weaver selected the shop stewards who then came and announced they were our renregentatives "The union has not been helping us. They just take our dues from our pay packet." Mrs Dosh: says she joined the factory in 1972, but only got her umon card live montis aco When we have our own shop stewards we can, like we do now, comnunicate with everyone Ithink the way that we have fought our strike has taught us the way we should run the union.
'Now we have a mass meeting every day. When we go back we must have mass meetings, say once a week, to discuss what we should be doing. This is a way to orgarise ourselves.
We intend that a pumber of us women will stand as shop stowards when we go back years membership.
kept working. workers as shop stewards. Their nominations were ruled out of order by factory convenor, Reg Weaver. He said to be a steward they had to be union members for two years. Nobody has yet found "Weaver's two-year rule". One nominee had been in the union over two years and H Khetani was two weeks short of two Section 61 then downed tools. They put out leaflets and 50U Asian workers joined the strike. The great majority of white workers CHORIS From the heginning the strikers have encountered tremendous obstacles. The role of the union has been deplorable. Bromiley the local TGWU official, and Weaver, the convenor at Imperial, are old right-wing hacks. They have a long record of collaboration with the employ ers. The chaotic and discriminatory Bonus struc ture in the factory shows Weaver's efficiency as a convenor. The shop stewards were Weaver appointees, dependent on him for their positions. Weaver has even refused to talk to the strikers claiming that they have been sacked!
DENOUNCED Bromley, the junior partner in this duo, is less bright but more loud in the mouth. Fustly. be denounced the strikers for not going through the Part of picket outside Imperial's main London showrooms on Wednesday 3 July
PICKETED
Each day they have picketed the factory at the beginning and end of each shift. Every striker is expected to be on the picket line Daily mass meetings are held. All the workers are encouraged to participate. These meeting are tape-l and the strike committer then trans lates the recordines into a coherent set of The workers are Icarning that trade union ist is not simply a matter of electing "good officials to represent them. The experience of the mass meeting has shown them the need to run their own organisations and to be isvoived in taking their own decisions Ibey are now beginning to learn that the state is not some neutral benevolent body watching over the interests of all people regardless of class. The Social Security has claimed that they were sacked and therefore MASS PICKET - 16 JULY - 11 am A coach from Longor will ue waving King's Crass Station for Leicester at about 7.30 am next Tuesday Details, reservations, from Ann at 01:278 9629 IMPE