New Town closure

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UNIGATE has declared its intention to close its factory, Scot Meats of Bletchley on 12 December.

If we allow this closure it will immediately mean the loss of over 1,500 jobs in the Milton Keynes area. The Joint Shop Stewards Committee have stated that it will oppose any attempt by the Company to enforce closure.

We realise that it is not only our members' jobs that are at stake but the future of the community.

Milton Keynes trayed by the media as a boom area but the reality is different.

Support Already we have 6,000 unemployed in our area. Any new factories opened are capital intensive with a low demand for labour. Many of the firms moving to Milton Keynes are ciosing factories in other parts of the country thereby increas ing overall national unemployment.

To successfully fight to retain our jobs ' will need not only the st port of our own commun but the strength of 1 labour movement. At t moment we need financ support to build our fighti fund and pledges of yo support for our struggle.

Donations and messa of support to Scot Me Joint Shop Stewards Cc mittee, c/o John Owe Lancaster G¿ Bletchley, Milton Keyr MK36.

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untaown at St Mary's FACED with Ford bosses' plans to slash over 16,000 jobs between now and 1984, to achieve "Japanese' levels of exploitation, a well-attended national conference of Ford shop stewards met in Coventry on Sunday 20th.

It endorsed the claim prepared by the full-time officials, for £20 increase, a 35 hour week, improved pensions, and earlier retirement, and laid plans for a campaign among rank and file Ford workers.

Ron Todd by Clifford Tuckman.

"TRADE UNIONS must develop the political dimension in their activities and work to support each other in job struggles."

So spoke Tony Benn to a rally of Scotts workers on Wednesday 16 September.

He went on to say:

"What is happening here affects you and your families but the reason that Laurence Scott has become known throughout the labour movement is that the same thing is happening elsewhere in this country." This point was emphasised by a speaker from the sit-in at Barnes Flexible Packaging, who are following Scotts example by occupying against 200 job losses.

Tony Benn also addressed an 1,800-strong rally at the Free Trade Hall the same evening where he pilloried the Press Godfathers for their slavish support for capitalist interests.

Scotts convenor Dennis Barry slammed the official union leaderships: "We'll be sticking so close to Boyd and Duffy in our fight for reinstatement - we'll be like the first Siamese twins to be joined after birth.

"They've participated in getting us sacked at Scotts, and an industrial tribunal has the London office.

"No way are we going to let this one die quietly. We are going to hound them to their graves.

•"Last week the press complained that Ken Cure (AUEW EC member) had been drenched in bad eggs "This is no way to conduct But the union negotiators are still indicating willingness to talk on the Ford bosses' new plans for manning levels. And when Ron Todd or other officials say that the 35 hour claim can be phased in over three years (presumably at the same time as Ford management want to phase out more than 16,000 jobs), that is a green light to Ford that hours is not an important part of the claim.

Every factory needs to organise mass meetings to win support for the whole claim. The stewards need to meet nationally again, both to monitor progress on the campaign, and to ensure that the full-time officials do not back down.

The claim is formally submitted on October 9, and is dated from November 23. But Ford workers should be looking towards a link-up with other workers in the pay front-line, with slightly different settlement dates.

The next national meeting of stewards should invite delegations from other groups of workers now coming up against the pay policy of the Tories and the bosses.

STEPHEN Gormley negotiations and discussions.

"What they don't realise is our lads cruldn't have afforded to buy the eggs -they were donated by local corner shops.

"It's easy for editors and SDP leaders to talk about the "proper way to conduct discussions" • Most of them were born with a canteen of cutlery in their gobs, never mind a silver spoon.

"I've had to fight all my life for what I've got - and here I am at 57, still fighting."

The situation now is that 300 of the original 650 workforce are still on the roster - yet the number of activists involved on a day-to-day basis is about a tenth of this number.

The key tactic for bringing victory at Scotts must still be the imposition of a mass picket at the Mining Supplies factory at Doncaster - but the stewards feel they don't have enough strength both to picket the Scotts factory in Manchester and launch offensive operations on Doncaster. IN THE PAST seven years, unemployment in Cambuslang has risen 500 per cent.

In that time the workforce at the Hoover factory has dropped from 5,400 to just over 2,000. Those two thousand are now having to fight to keep their jobs.

Oppose At a mass meeting on Thursday 17th, there was an unanimous decision to reject plans which include redundancies and a ten per cent wage cut. It was also unanimous that if the company closed the factory, the workers would take whatever action necessary to oppose that, including occupation.

Convenors from Hoover's three British factories will discuss the situation with AUEW officials at a meeting on September 29.

Wörkers at Cambuslang will be fighting for:

* No compulsory redundancies, guarantee that the factory will remain open, agreeing to any An important initiative in linking up the isolated struggles in Manchester, however, would be the launching of an inter-site coordinating committee that could centralise tactics and experience in the jobs fightback, and this is under review by Scotts stewards at the moment.

If, for example, only a couple of stewards from each major plant in Manchester came forward there would be sufficient comrades to launch a picket at Doncaster Also important is forging links with the workers at Scotts Norwich factory, already facing redundancies.

Unlike other papers on the left, Socialist Organiser does not believe in gilding the lily. If a new initiative is not launched soon then defeat for the Scotts workers is inevitable.

The demand for a labour movement inquiry into the affairs of Scotts and the enterprises it supplies is also growing.

In the past few days, information has emerged which casts a sinister light on the involvement of Joe Gormley of the NUM and changes.

* No reduction in wages. All future increases must be in line with the increase in retail prices.

The company must increase its products range at Cambuslang.

* Stop the rundown of UK production.

Convenor Eddie McAvoy told Socialist Organiser:

"Everyone is determined to fight this time. Over the last five years the company has given us ten survival plans. We have accepted all of them, and they all failed.

"We recognise the problems of the company... But the company has to realise that the workers have financial difficulties. With shorttime working our wages have been cut by 20 per cent. Overall our pay is 24% less than we think it should be, while the directors' wages have gone up by 115.9% in the last three years"

"The philosophy behind wage cuts is the company taking advantage of the high Derek Ezra of the Coal Board in a conspiracy to sabotage Scotts.

On Tuesday 31 June Joe Gormley, acting on a request from the CSEU, contacted Ezra for discussion on Scotts. The ostensible reason was to discuss whether the NCB would switch its tender for machinery from Mining Supplies to other sources.

The real dialogue however was rather different.

In fact, Gormley reminded Ezra that a year before, the NCB Pension Fund initiated a project that resulted in the financial destruction of Scotts and the eventual laying open of the company for takeover by Arthur Snipe.

Moreover, a court case is now beginning in which the NCB Pension Fund (Deputy Chairman, Joe Gormley) is likely to be named as part of the conspiracy to destroy Scotts.

The gist of the court case is this. Last year two directors of a Laurence Scott subsidiary, PPD Engineering, collaborated with Hambros Merchant Bank to take over Harland Simon Ltd., a competitor of PPD which they managed.

The wheeler dealings of Roy Ashman and Henry Lally, the two directors, left Scotts with a deficit of £900,000 in 1981 instead of expected profit of £500,000.

The real irony of the situation of course is that Snipe based his case for closure on false figures and that Duffy drawing official status.

They argued that if there's no redundancies at tories will have to close »i' Scotts - then all tive tacMessages/money: G.Fryer, 20 Round Croft, Romilly, Cheshire. unemployment level, using people's fear. There were two recent examples of workers in this area accepting 10% cuts. They've all lost their jobs.

"If people are foolish enough to believe that the savings made by a 10% wage cut is enough to make the company viable, then they're kidding themselves. Any money the company saves by wage cuts will end up being paid out in redundancies.

"Anyone accepting wage cuts is financing their own redundancy."

There are also rumours that there will be massive redundancies at the end of October. The company, in its half-yearly report to shareholders, stated that it had made losses of £6.1 million, a lot of which was redundancy payments. It expects losses to be even higher at the end of the year, and intends taking 'necessary measures' that is, more redundancies.

However early in July it was revealed to the courts that Ashman, Lally and Hambros had plotted to undermine PPD's position, in order to reduce the share price and force Scotts to sell PPD to them.

It was also revealed that Hambros asked the NCB to jointly finance the project.

At first Ezra. and Gormley refused - but the NCB's subsidiary Coal Industry Nominees Industrial Investments (CINII), backed Lally and . Ashman and bought 33% of the shares in Scotts' rival company - Harland Simon.

Documents

In an attempt, to extricate itself at the court hearing - the CINIl offered to hand over incriminating documents to both sides in exchange , for a guarantee that the prosecution ignore CINIl's role in the affair and that the three defendants do not sue CINII.

The offer was rejected.

Needless to say, both Gormley and Ezra must have been heavily involved in their own subsidiary's chicanery.

As far as the interests of Scotts workers are concerned, all this dirty washing needs to be dragged out into the open. A labour movement inquiry should be initiated to expose. these "Poulsonite" dealings.

Indeed, socialists in the NUM should seize the opportunity of the forthcoming Presidential elections to demand of Scargill that he institutes a labour movement inquiry into these shady dealings.

From Scargill's profile at the moment, you'd think he was standing for election as the Abbot of a Trappist monastery.

Come on, Arthur, be having you! r'év i s .... „cobre IT IS now only a matter of weeks before the proposed implementation of the goyernment's latest attacks on St Mary's Hospital, Hariow Road.

From the first week in October, some consultants are to be moved to St Mary's in Praed Street or St Charles, and the run down of the wards due for the chop is to begin.

The plan is to close Ward 2 by October 19, which *is also the date given to stop the normal ambulance service to the hospital. From then it it is meant to be an intermittent service with the emphasis on "walking wounded"

However the resistance to these plans is growing. Staff on Ward 2, backed up by the other workers, have pledged themselves to resist the rundown and closure, and the London ambulance service convenors have repeated their decision to continue bringing patients while the medical cover is there.

The fight back was greatly strengthened by a motion passed by the stewards in the North-West London District of the Area Health Authority on September 14.

The stewards decided to call urgent membership meetings and propose:

*Support for the day of action on 3 October; ' *The blacking of any equipment moved from Harrow Road;

*Refusal to work with any staff moved from St. Mary's Harrow Road;

*The pledge to call immediate supporting strike action if management takes any steps to attack the occupation by forcetully moving equipment OI patients, while full services are still being provided by the staff;

*Refusal to work with new statt employed on short-term contracts - full contract staff to be employed instead;

Special offer for the new weekly: £3.50 for three months, £6 for six months, £11 for a year.

erase.

Send to Socialist iser, 28 Middle Lane, London N8.

Sorry. An overflow of industrial reports and Labour Party conference coverage means that we've again had to postpone the continuation of John O'Mahony's serialised article analysing Tony Benn's ideas on 'Britain as a colony'.

Apologies also to other contributors who have found their articles squeezed out lack of space.

*All branches to call on their national executive committees to give full official backing to this action.

Meanwhile, the attacks on the unions in W9, particularly centring on the ancillary staff, have been shown to be a general rule in this AHA (Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster).

Strike action has now spread throughout hospitals in the south district as a result of management victimisation of a porter.

When he lodged a complaint after being assaulted by the hospital administrator at St Stephen's Hospital, Fulham Road, he received a final written warning after 15 years' service!

St Stephen's workers came out and have been maintaining effective picket lines.

St Mary Abbots and now Westminster Hospital are also out on supporting strike action.

The ancillary workers in W9 are itching to take action against their very determined management.

Rita Maxim, who has borne the brunt of the harassment because of her unswerving stand in defence ot manning levels, is now off work with high blood pressure and appears to have some symptoms of a stroke.

This has been caused entirely by the actions of the domestics management.

The intimidation of other domestics is continuing in a cold, calculating manner.

There is no doubt that further action will have to be taken to remove the authority from those who are doing this dirty work.

In this context the Day of Action on October 3 takes on huge importance. It is perfectly timed to bring together the opposition to these attacks,.

After assembling at 11 am, outside the main entrance on Harrow Road, the demonstration will pass Paddington Green Children's Hospital, which recently won its fight against closure and St Mary's, W2, as well as the local Tory MP's surgery in Bishop's Bridge Road.

Lunch will be provided and there will be exhibitions on display of cuts struggles.

Gerard Vaughan has been invited to justify his cuts at the debate in the afternoon and there will be a fundraising disco in the evening.

It is vital that there is a massive turnout with banners on that day.

Most important will be a large presence trom local tenants' and community organisations and of trade union banners, particularly representing those unions involved - NUPE, IGWU, GMWU, COHSE pue ASTMS.

None of these unions can afford to sit back and feel happy with the support they have given. This struggle is a direct showdown with the government over its policy of cuts.

Workers all over the country have got their eyes on this dispute to see how the unions will take up the Messages of support and donations to Alyson Bunn, Ward 13, or MIck woods, Porter's Lodge, St Mary's Hospital, HarroW Road, London W9.

----- pull-quotes -----

just found against them for sacking research workers in

by Scotts workers. "It's dis- graceful" , the Mirror said.

and Boyd also accepted this falsity as the basis for with-