[BL is publicly owned. For years it even…]

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BL is publicly owned. For years it even had workers' participation as a cosmetic to cover the real face of speed-up and tight-fistedness on wages Participation was kicked aside by the bosses when it no longer suited them. Now, several insulting pay offers and several ultimatums and closure threats later, BL is still setting the pace for managerial gangsterism.

Faced with a serious crisis, the BL bosses react no differently from private capitalists. Their answer has been to take it out on the workers. THE MARCH Throughout the 1950s and '60s the shareholders have pocketed fat divi- BL was nationalised in order to bail out the private shareholders. dends. If you invested £3000 in the British Motor Company in 1952, then by the time of the merger with Leyland in 1967 you would have Meanwhile there was very little investment. In 1969 BL had fixed assets of £969 per employee, compared to Ford UK's £ 2709, So when the world competition in the car industry became sharper, in the late BL workers came under attack, but the shareholders were safe. The government paid them 10p for every share, although the shares had been fetching only 64p the day before nationalisation was announced.

BL still has to pay millions every month in interest charges.

Nationalisation was not a way out of the mad international capitalist rat race in the motor industry. It was just another way for the bosses to For workers, the only answer is to fight for workers' control. The first essential is full information about management's plans - open the Having opened the company's books, BL workers should work out theis own work schedules, based on work-sharing without loss of jobs or * with combine-wide solidarity and the willingness to seize the factories if necessary, the BL workers can enforce this workers' control.

They cas establish links with workers in the car components firms an I the orber baat our fias in Britain and internationally, for a =m Engie for at megated. publicty-owned, car and components BL still sets pace for ga quarter of a million" in London on June 5".

TUC PEOPLES MARCHED FOR TOB There will be seven legs - from Glasgow, starting April 23, Land's End (May 11), Liverpool (May 9), Newcastle on Tyne (April 30), Keighley (April 27), Hull (May 1), and Great Yarmouth (May 21) -all merging to enter London on June 4/5.

The 500 'core marchers anil be selected by the Regional TUCS Foug Ine TIE SURE MOM I JOT SE COORS O 2I march along the way.

Ron Todd, chair of the national organising committee, told a press conference on March 28 that he expected "at least a OUR received £33,000 in dividends.

'60s. BL went onto the rocks.

organise themselves for that rat race.

books and end commercial secrecy!

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MESPOSE 1 Leyland AUSH