Scottish iobs disaster

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ON top of all the savage 10 • destruction already carried out in Scotland in recent years, Scottish workers are now threatened with another round of swinging job cuts.

Top of the current hit-list is the Ravenscraig integrated steelworks, which faces either complete closure, or the closing down of the major part of its operations.

At Ravenscraig itself, 5,000 jobs are now at risk, plus also - just in the short term another trieso in associated indusThe entire production of the Polkemmet colliery (1,400 jobs) goes to Ravenscraig; steel is British Rail's biggest freight customer in Scotland; steel and associated industries consume 5% of the total electricity output in Scotland, and the drop in the demand for electricity would. in turn lead to further job losses in mining, etc....

Unemployment in the North Lanarkshire area, where the plant is situated, already running 21.6%. Closure of Ravenscraig would lead to a jump of 50% in the unemployment rate.

Nor is Ravenscraig the only section of the Scottish steel industry under threat: Clydebridge is closing on November 13, with a cost of 575 jobs; the closure of Parkhead Forge (350 jobs) has also been announced; Glengarnock and Dalzell would inevitably be shut down in the wake of any closure of Ravenscraig.

Not even Clydesdale and Imperial Calder are safe. They produce for the North Sea oil industry, currently a at a low ebb. The axing of 50 jobs at the Clydesdale tube works was announced at the beginning of October, and two days later over 130 redundancies at the Imperial works.

In the Central Region of Scotland, scene of recent collapse of the Carron Iron Works, the major threat to jobs is in aluminium: the possible closure or cutbacks at the British Aluminium (BACO) rolling mill in Falkirk, due to 'rationalisation' in the wake of the takeover of BACO by Alcan UK.

(BACO lost £3.7 million in the first six months of this year; in the same period Alcan UK lost £13.2 millions: By the logic of capitalism therefore the latter took over the former, a welcome boost to BACO shareholders. During the merger talks the value of their shares jumped 40%).

BACO employs 2,500 workers in Scotland, and the jobs of another 7,500 workers in service industries 'are dependent upon BACO's operations. But Alcan UK has 'expressed confidence' in the BACO plants in the West Highlands, Fife, and Glasgow (a total of 1,400 jobs). The major threat is to the BACO Falkirk mill (1,060 jobs).

Other major threatened job losses in Scotland include the closure of the Hunterston oil-rig terminal (1,100 jobs), which has now run out of contracts, and the closure of the Kinneil colliery (324 jobs). Other job losses could result from cutbacks in rail and road transport, the possible closure of a number of Job Centres, and cutbacks in Direct Labour Organisations throughout Scotland. Fighting back will be easy.

But the only effective campaign is one based on the strength of the working class.

It would be kidding ourselves to think that just raising the right demands will automatically galvanise workers into action. Organising for action will take a real fight, against a variety of obstacles, not the least of which is the present leadership of the unions.

But unless we de that work, literally tens of thousands of jobs in the Scottish region will go.

Stan Crooke