Occupation the way to fight for jobs

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Accoraing w one wuru- will do any otticial duties no oar cus has recethed eek milion on that day. Transport and million publie service workers from Scottish Electricity = tion. But BACO got that organised by the whole stake in the first place with labour movement, then the a £21 million loan from the company will be forced to government. And repay- There are BACO plants London'Net and printed bilatend orset trubt krzisirwas WONt sendardles 40, hotmecessarily epresert the views of the SOA.

Published by the Socialist Organiser Alliance. 28 Middle Lane.

THE WAY to start fighting back for jobs has been shown by workers' occupation of a cross-channel ferry in the South of England, the aluminium smelting plant at Invergordon, in the far north of Scotland, and Dunlops, Brynmawi,

South Wales. • Workers at Invergordon voted unanimously on January 6 to work in to save their jobs.

Feeling against the closure, which would mean the loss of 890 jobs at the smelter itself and 1800 jobs indirectly dependent on it, is so strong that even the managers are working as usual 'as a sign of cooperation' Archie McCreevy, an electrician at the plant, a Labour district councillor, and elected leader of the work-in's action committee, says the work-in's aim is to 'pressurise the Government to keep the smelter open. A government agency should operate the smelter for a reasonable time to allow other arrangements to be made for its future operation' The Highlands and Islands Development Board has stated its willingness to do this if the government agrees. But the Tories are unwilling to pay out money to save jobs - though they have handed out plenty to British Aluminium bosses for nothing.

Waived

to buy out its stake in the Hunterston B power stament, of that £21 million has been waived!

In addition, BACO has had some £79 million of other bills waived.

The Invergordon workers are weak on their own, especially since BACO has deliberately clogged up the smelter by a sudden power switch off, and it will cost El million to clear. But if BACO workers: in other parts of the country take solidarity action, and blacking of BACO products is The TUC could make a start by following South Yorkshire. Already 8,000 workers there have voted to back the local Steel and Engineering Committee's call for a 24 hour general strike against Tory policies on January 25.

The South Yorkshire Association of Trades Councils and the four Labour councils in South Yorkshire (Rotherham, Barnsley, Doncaster and Sheffield) have also given backing. No Labour councillor think again. in Kinlochleven, Fort, Willisland.

Direct action to save their jobs has also been taken by 200 seafarers occupying the Sealink cross channel ferry 'Senlac' . They are fighting against British Rail's plans to close the NewhavenDieppe ferry.

Solidarity action from the ship officers' union - a one-day strike on all Sealink ferries on Friday 8th - shows the kind of backing needed for workers' occupations to save jobs:

A 'good industrial relations' record is no protection against closures - this is graphically demonstrated at Invergordon, where there had hardly ever been any "trouble' . But at Dunare expected to come At a meeting on Monday 1lth, support was promised from Firth Brown, from Ambrose Shardlows, from UCATT, and from Tetley Brewery GMWU. South Yorkshire Steel Crafts committee leader Bernard Connolly is calling for craftsmen to picket the steel plants in response to the IST's refusal to support the strike.

The one major force as yet missing from the mobilisation, apart from the ISTC, is the Yorkshire NUM.

lop's Semtex plant in Brynmawr, South Wales, the bosses are using the occupation of the plant for the past three weeks as an excuse to shut down the whale actors, NOONS white farter i retu

* South Yorkshire Day of Action Against the Tories: Monday January 25. March starts 10am, Carlisle St, Sheffield.

The 45 workers occupied to stop 60 redundaneies. Now the bosses claim that they have 'no alternative' but to close the entire plant.

This escalation of threats from the bosses needs to be met by an escalation of action from the workers. But despite all the speeches about the horrors of the dole queues, practically nothing has been done by the TUC to support workers fighting for their jobs.

Protests like the People's March are no use unless they are accompanied by industrial action in solidarity with workers trying to save their jobs. This has been clearly shown at Laurence Scotts. The Scotts workers gave a lead - but they need mass backing from other workers (especially in the NUM) to impose blacking and help their picket lines.

Without broad labour movement support, individual groups ot workers, as at Invergordon, are torced back into dead end tactics like looking for alternative buyers for their factories.

The TUC should put its money where its mouth is for once, and organise national action to back tre thousands of workers all over the country on strike or in occupation to save their jobs. ish Rail management, infuriated at the prospect of continuous disruption of services by the two-day strikes, have threatened to lock out the strikers.

The struggle has provided a new focus for workers seeking a way of fighting the Tory offensive - since it is plain for all to see that behind the shoulder of the blustering Peter Parker is a vicious Thatcher cabinet.

Since the industrial action started with a national overtime and rest-day working ban on January 4, the rank and file has responded with astonishing militancy.

Haymarket depot in Edinburgh got the dispute off the ground with a one-day strike on the 4th.

Scottish_region ASLEF members then called for a lobby of the executive on the 11th, demanding an all-out strike. Southern Region members, who, under the official policy of a ban on rest-day working, are carrying a disproportionate burden in the action, went for an escalation with a number of lightning Last week a mass meeting at Victoria on the Southern Region drew an attendance of over 200 ASLEF members. The executive were told that if 'flexi-rosters' were conceded, the membership would make sure that the EC would be voted off and made to work them themselves!

Escalated The meeting also passed a resolution calling for the dispute to be escalated by stages to an all-out strike. The motion, though supported enthusiastically and passed with only two votes against, however fell short of the clear call from Scottish Region members for an all-out strike as of midnight Sunday 17th January:

With the official decision to go ahead with the planned two-day stoppage, plus a further two days next week and a ban on all Sunday working, it seems that even the ASLEF EC is increasingly aware of the tremendous anger and mili«tency * of the»-member, mood in the rank and file.

Sixty ASLEF members, half of them from Scotland, arrived at the union's headquarters on January 11. Representatives of the executive assured the lobby that the EC would be willing to talk to them once they had come out of session. A decision had been taken, we were told, to boycott the Railway Staffs National Council talks at Rail House in Euston.

Quite by chance, one of the Scottish contingent looked out of the window, only to see Buckton and Co. piling into a taxi. They had decided to go to Rail House after all, and rather than face their own members, some of whom had come 500 miles to see the executive, they did a runner out the back door!

An immediate decision was taken that the lobby make its way to Rail House to contact the executive. Security guards and. BRB officials were amazed when Rail House was suddenly invaded by sixty angry ASLEF members.

The subsequent decision of the executive to go ahead with the two-day strike was undoubtedly partly influenced by the determined militancy of that lobby.

Within the NUR the last week has shown that the lead taken by ASLEF has inspired many guards throughout the rail network who never had a chance to say 'yes' or "no' to 'flexi-rosters' Walk out Already guards at Waterloo have walked out, and at Kings Cross the • guards ed by a lobby of the N head office by 100 Kir Cross guards, during wh time the service'. out Kings Cross station y halted.

Kings Cross branch ASLEF has now taken ste to set up an unofficial lia on committee in the Lond area to coordinate acti during the strike and present an alternative case of a climbdown by 1 union leaders.

With the decision guards at a number depots to take unoffic action and to challen Weighell and his rott compromises, there is ni more than ever a need 1 joint- ASLEF/NUR stri committees to be set up preparation for an alle strike.

The BRB are determin to get 'flexi-rosters' . Th are displaying the sort ruthless brand of manag ment that is the hallmark Edwardes in BL and N Gregor in British Steel.

Battle lines There can be no dou that the Tories have giv every encouragement the BRB in the prese dispute, : because t goverment now feel th the time is right to take • railworkers.

ASLEF and NUR mem ers are in a ferocio mood, and are ready anc willing to meet the cha enge of the BRB and ti Tores. That militan rannot be channelled in half-hearted, intermitte stoppages when batt lines are so sharply drawn AIl ASLEF membe must demand that the E take up the Scottish Regir call for an all out strike.