Sheffield return
Socialist Organiser1983 1983-04-14Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 16 →
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ISTC leaders yesterday called off the 9-day strike against redundancies by Sheffield steelworkers.
The dispute, the biggest in the steel industry since the national strike of 1980, started when BSC arbitrarily announced that 90 jobs were to go at Aldwarke and Templeborough works in Rotherham. On top of this BSC also said it was going to cut shift patterns, again without consultation.
The response was solid, and ISTC members at the two plants walked out on the Monday when the redundancies were due to start. By Wednesday April 6 all eight BSC plants in South Yorkshire were at a virtual standstill.
On Thursday April 7 ISTC members at BSC Scunthorpe came out in support for 24 hours.
By the weekend, however, cracks were beginning to appear. Other unions, such as ASTMS and End Offset (TU). TGWU, were still working normal ly at most plants. A group of steel workers' wives at the Stocksbridge plant distributed a leaflet urging the men to return to work, and BSC locally sent a "personal letter' to all steelworkers urging a return to work.
The response from the craftsmen, crucial to the success of any strike, has been patchy, and ISTC members at Stocksbridge began to return to work.
Bill Sirs, the IST's right wing leader, held the strike to South Yorkshire, when it is patently obvious that only a national strike coula win the dispute.
Without a national struggle, BSC will be able to play off one plant against another as they have done so often in the past.
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