they were bust. and wo have launched a cracy. Special E2,000 Fund Drive to be met by the Please don't let us down-rush all you can afford to: Red Wealdy (Special Fupd), 97 Caledonian Road, London N.1, You won't jobs. When Ferranti brought out the begging bowl, they made sure the odds were stacked against direct action by Ferranti workers in Edinburgh, The 5,800 workers, one third of the company's entire workforce, were starting a week's holiday when their bosses announced That's not to say that the workers" "leaders were standing by, ready to occupy to enforce job security. After all, the local AUEW office is one of the bastions of right-winger John Boyd's faction in the bureauBoyd's backs weren't slow in making their position clear on Ferranti's The line of regional organiser Ernie Leslic and convenor Doug Rooncy was thar the English plants might go to the wall, but the Scottish plants were viable, Under nationalisation? on, no, the last thing they wanted was outside interference in their attempt to save In one proposal, they offered the employers mass redundancies, destroyed any attempt to create the maximum unity of Ferranti workers, and gave an open invitation to the SNP to make its divisive, racist interventions in the Scottish workers" movement a major focus in the clection.
But the treachery of the rightwing has been met head-on by the demand of tive labour councillons, hacked by Pilton Branch of the AUEW, that Ferranti's be nationalised under worker control. Their stutement says:
We regard the state of Ferranti as a devastating indictment, not merely of the Pomano company, our or capians enterprise in general. We., demand the immediate and outright nationalisation provisos: (1) minimal compensation -if any of the present owners ate in dire financial simits we should vive them unemployment besefit; (2) ... the nationalised industry he under workers control at all levels... and in all cases of nationalisation: (3) ... the Labour Government legsiste to force all companies to open their books.. to their work forces."
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Anti-fascist militant Peter Cooper, who two demand charges