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Socialist Organiser1982 1982-01-28Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 8 →
Read from the scan by machine and not corrected: expect misread words, and now and then a caption or a line from a neighbouring story. For anything you quote, read the scan.
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A BL carworker spells out the message on closures A dawning recognition by of components, we can the mass of workers of drastically cut costs, and what Edwardes' 'corpor bring our productivity of ate plan' really means, is labour in line with our Edwardes plans to cut the logic this argument is Leyland Vehicles workforce insane. For if you farm out har half frismos here ON THURSDAY January 21, five thousand hands were raised in support of a strike call by shop stewards at the giant Leyland Vehicles plant near Preston, in opposition to Edwardes' proposed 4,100 sackings in the Leyland Vehicles Trucks Division.
The next day the 3,600 workers at the Bathgate assembly factory followed suit, and struck. The only support Edwardes has obtained for his 'corporate plan' in the Truck Division has been from 740 workers at the Guy Motors heavy truck site, at Wolverhampton.
As far as the Truck stewards are concerned, a threshhold has been reached. The period of retreating before Edwardes' stratagems has finished.
Jimmy Swann, AUEW convenor at Bathgate, put it well: 'Nothing goes out. Nothing comes in! If we stand firm and fight back we can stop it' @BL Fightingback This policy was ratified at a meeting of 200 stewards from BL plants last December, when an embargo was imposed on the transfer of work and machinery between factories.
The planned job loss in the Truck Division (for 1982) is:
Albion: 180 jobs to go. of gear box production.
Bathgate: 1365 jobs to go. Tractor production to be sold off.
Guy: 740 jobs to closure of plant.
Leyland [Bus]: 450 jobs go. 'Rationalisation' Leyland [truck]: 1405 jobs to go. Cutback. in engine production.
Initially the strike was triggered off at the Leyland Technical Centre after a fitter was suspended for refusing to work on the new MT207 truck. This product is a new model launched under the rationalisation plan.
The major reason for such a colossal vote in favour of all out strike action, howev. er, lies much deeper.
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CLOSED IT LAVENDON : 90. competitors'.
But even by capitalist production to smaller enter- ine engine anu gtai vus prises while your international competitors are pouring massive funds into research and development, you will fall behind technologically, and - in capitalist terms - you dig your own grave.
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Scan page 9
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