Socialist Organiser

The weekly of the fused Workers Socialist League, July 1981 to April 1984

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Socialist Organiser no. 51, 3 September 1981 · scan p. 15 · about 457 words

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workers. At the second Coxon had lust organised removal.

MOSES - ARRESTED FOR ON-PLANT THEFT the night of Monday 17th for theft on Plant and has beer.

ANXIOUS OF THEIR COMPANY'S reputation, so search carefully BLACK TRYING IO ENTER. LOOK CAREFULLY AT HIS CONTRACTOR'S DOCUMENI CHECKED. STOPPED, ESPECIALLY AI NIGHT, AND HIS IDENTITY KEEP HIM AI GATE, ASK HIS CLOCK NUMBER, HIS WORKPLACE, VERIFICATION WILL HELP. THEN KEEP HIM THERE TILL YOU Patrick Spilling THE SECURITY chief who ordered a 'stop all blacks' alert at BL's Cowley Assembly Plant has kept his job despite a severe reprimand from the company.

The fact that former policeman Ray Coxon has• not been removed from his job rests heavily on the failure of the plant union leadership to launch a united and determined campaign to have him thrown out.

As reported in Socialist Organiser last week, Coxon instructed gate guards at the Assembly Plant to stop every black man and hold him until his identity was checked. The reason he gave was that a black worker on a subcontract firm had been sacked for theft.

The sporadic stoppages by individual black workers reported last week grew into fairly large meetings of black workers on the plant. At the first of these, 200 workers, all but 40-odd black, were told by AUEW convenor Doug Hobbs that trade unionists could not demand the sack for Coxon.

TGWU convenor Bobby Fryer was loudly applauded when he dismissed statements that the letter was 'silly' and nailed it as racist. But Fryer said that protest action should be confined to 'those most directly affected' ', i.e. black workers.

Socialist Organiser supporters argued for coordinated stoppages of black and w nite workers to force Cos on's removal, pointing out that to leave black workers to fight 'their' battles was playing into the hands of management racism.

Kenny, a black assembly worker, told SO: "I believe what the union did was bad. It shouldn't have been just the black BE CHECKED. meeting the lines even stop running".

Coxon's previous attacks on Cowley workers have not been confined to racism. The company denied several months ago at a meeting with union representatives that there were plans to allow gate guards to body-search workers.

AUSTIN MORRIS GROUP Memorandum Security Officers - All Gates • 55 VOSES, 129 Oxfora n• Signed ... R. COXON for the gate guards to receive training in body conrohac scaivics.

Coxon is off the plant, on an extended training course.

There is no doubt that when the dust has settled he will return, and BL's racism will be strengthened by the failure of the unions to force his Date: Tues 18 Aug 81

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I.D. card back from him. all Cleaneis staff.

← Contents of Socialist Organiser no. 51

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