Sham on 23 April to discuss the problems facing carworkers as the industry slips deeper into the capiimportant step forward, but comes none too soon as a second wave of short-time working, voluntary
ONES
£6 LONDON Wages councils - redundancies and a new productivity offensive hits the motor industry.
British Leyland itself is on the injection of state funds as a result of In its Midland factories alone, 25,000 labour force...
are now demanding more than 3,000 redundancies against an carlier figure their 52,000 manual workers on short- part of the softening up process for necessary, a surplus labour-pool in three to four rationalisation involving 20 lo 40 per production levels. cent cuts in the size of various labour Jand's share of the Uk market dropped March. Total repistrations last month were 111,450, Che lowest Manch figure in this direction CONFERENCE The Birmingham Conference next gramme of action for workers throughBut the trade union leaders who participated in the Ryder investigation huve fought shy of this position. In a accountable to those employed in the LEADING STEWARDS AND CONVENORS from the entire motor industry will meet in Birming talist crisis. This move, initiated by the British Leyland Combine Shop Stewards Committee, is an ment... We do not envisage the destruction of effective management and control of such an enterprise, but those responsibilities must have and retain the confidence of the whole It is this sort of drivel about "workers participation which will be served up at the Birmingham Con ference. But to smush short-time and voluntary redundancies, which are mass sackings and speed-up later on real measures of workers' control are WORK-SHARING When the car glants threaten shorttime, the repty snould be the demand for work-sharing with no loss of pay and under workers control Managemient claims for cutbacks in production should be assessed at face value by the opening of all the company's books on investment and sales to workers inspection. Shop meetings should then work out line speeds and shift schedules, and an avcrage working week with no loss of pay should be calculated for the whole workforce to coincide with the cuts in Such a plan should be prescnted to management and failure to comply mer with occupation. The recent action of stewards at Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port plant in occupying part of the lactory against the ro-introduction af lay-offs, coupled with the discussed at Birmingham. A contral demand that the workers should get a full week's pay regardless of the hours worked, was an impotlant step By concrast the stewards at Pressed Steel Fisher in Oxford (part of BMC's thronghont the motor industry ar the Cowley complex) bave demonstrated the utmost confusion on this issue.
There the stowards are demanding farcien compulsory redundancies on the The IG puts forward the following proposals as among those which should ba adopted at the 23 April conference:
Set up a Nat-chal Metee Actan Commuten. - Each foclury to hald misk meetings to elect delecates and decide poldei All decisions to be reparted back to muss iveting. -A anie-day watienal str ke an the day of the bropesed icoby of Part alent Thi o te te tuut sep powdrs moorseng the shap toor coast raon nuthe c un The Confmanen to pledge foli support ineloding solidarty strik action for pitg factory f ahtirg redundanc ies OEcu palians al al Tarturi, Brean zolt retind-nems -geinst ail sackings, Far wock shang with no loss of pay. - Ne mcneic m track spr-de No reduction in manning leush -Nesheck ome working Mork or full pay Hastie of the worker to vete manege ment a aus pa jea bos and manung levels -Spen the bocks of the industry to workers inspection -For the nationsiation af the entim mator idustre Sems- wihoul compensation basis of 'last in, first out' aginst short-time and voluntary redundancics Not only does this open the way for mass sackings later, bur it splits the workforce now. The failure of the existing plant leaderships to provide au adequate response to shorttime and 'voluntary" sacking; has led to 700 workers at Wilmot Breeden, Birmingham 'applying for 500 voluntary redundancies. A further 1,500 have volunteered for 3,500 redundancies at the Austin plant in Birmingham WORKERS DEMOCRACY This response is also a result of the failure of the plant leaderships to involve the mass of workers in the decisions affecting their future. Very few mass meetings have laken place, and eren where they have their function has been to rubber-stamp the shop stewards proposals.
But workers democracy is not just a nice idea it is the only way that a central united response can be worked out to fight the bosser offensive and lay the foundations for a workers plan to solve the crisis in the car industry in the interests of the whole working class.
This is all the more necessary since the companies are being helped all down the line in their plans by the Labour Government. The Ryder Keport on BLMC is now sitting on Tony Benn's desk but only an "edited" version will be published for the workers to see. The fact that the Labour Government is paying more attention to guarding the business secrets of the employers than it is to defending workers against redundancy is a sure sign of what Ryder will PROGRAMME Leaks and rumours already abound What is certain is that Ryder will call for st least 15 per cent redundancies out of BMC's 160,000 strong labour force and an injection of Il billion of money froi state coffers over the next seven years to carry through a modernisation and development programme.
The need for workers in the industry to produce their own programme for the industry independently of the employers has never been greater. Below we print the sort of prostamme that the Internatio nal Marxist Group thinks should he task must be the extension of the recent initiative of the Vauxhall stewards hy rising the demand of worksherng without lost vf puy and under the control of the workers ontl way to throw back the bosses offensire on short time and redunSam Joye aciding lt me acrosi