Now listen, love'

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Now weeks of strike had ended And gathered for a spree Were poor but happy workers Who'd struggled mightily And won two cents an hour, or maybe it was three.

All was friendliness and cheer, Till a simple girl began To ask some questions impolite Of a leading Labour man Who was busily expounding A ten year contract plan.

The girl was young and puzzled A rank and filer she 'How come' she asked, 'that you receive Six times more pay than we? I cannot see the reason for Such gross disparity.

The leader bristled as he spoke It is because we're able To push the union enterprise Around the conference table And know our wage scales and talk...

Make sure that mine's Black Label!' Another leader joined the fray Known for his verbal darts 'And don't forget statistics, And differential parts And escalator clauses And cost of living charts!' Now listen love' , a puffed, A cagey little guy Who talked to government ministers as well As he managed the small fry, "Take my advice and hold yo tongue, It's better not to pry!' The union members were impressed By these superior men, But some still said the girl sense, And some said more but then They didn't know what else to say, They were peaceful union men.

Now come on, let's not spoil the fun, Forget it. Have a drink! A lively brother interposed, with an impish little wink, We'll settle this some other It's later than you think.

Hear hear! Good lad! the members cried, Someone proposed a cheer For wise intrepid leaders, And all of them drank beer, And talked about another rise Perhaps four cents next year.

Rob Join the Labour Com on Ireland, BM Box! London WC1N 3XX.

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The 1081 citin. "Vanity Fair uns a hio multinational nutting us nut on the streets' Vanity Fair was a big multi- understand how anyone could national putting us out on the have voted for her. Socialist Organiser no.139 July 7 1983 Page 14 IT'S WEEK 16 for the strikers at Greenings engineering factory in Warrington. The 350 workers are as determined as ever to slog it out with the bosses until they back off from their attempt to wreck trade union organisation in the factory.

Last week a three day occupation came to an end peacefully when the strikers decided to comply with a court order. They vacated the factory in an orderly and dignified manner, still determined to continue their dispute.

Last Monday there was what convenor Arthur Conheny described as 'a good turn-out' on the picket line. There are no scabs.

But the strikers think there must soon by an effort by the bosses to get scabs into the factory and open it up again.

The dispute was originally about compulsory redundancies. Three quarters of the 80 workers slated for redundancy have since gone voluntarily.

The central issue in the diapute is now management's determination to break union organisation in the plant once and for all, and the workers determination that they won't.

It has become a clear issue of working class principle. The longer the strike lasts, the more important labour movement support becomes - support both moral and financial.

Please send donations and messages of support to Len Blood, 26 St John St, Newtonle-Willows, Merseyside. 'THIS IS probably the most sol. id strike we've ever had" , declared the CPSA branch secretary following the one day all. out strike at the British Library on July 1. The strike was part of the official CPSA dispute now entering its third week.

Management have used the tbreat of suspensions to force DURING last month, Inverwear the company that took over the Lee Jeans factory after the long and famous workers' sit-in against closure there - went bust..

Stạn Crooke spoke to the former convenor, Helen Monaghan.

What were relations with the new management like when the sit-in of 1981 ended and Inverwear.took over?

There was a very good relationship. We went in with the understanding that everything was going to be above board and discussed out in the open. But it wasn't anything like a workers' cooperative?

It was a straight-forward takeover.

No. I would say that they realised the importance of communication with the workforce. In some ways it might be said that we're in the situation we're in today because they didn't take advantage of us. At times when we were out of orders, the management didn't lay people off although there was no work for them.

Did you stay in the same union [National Union of Tailor and Garment Workers) that you had been in while employed by Vanity Fair?

Yes. We thought that it was better to stay and fight than run. When did the firm start running into difficulties?

Dickie Dirt, the firm's main customer, went bankrupt in March 1982. Until then there hadn't been any problems, He had originally taken out an order for 10,000 pairs of jeans for three years. After he went down, we were struggling all the time for orders.

We needed new customers, and the order from GAP Leisurewear kept us afloat. But in November of last year they ran into trouble too.

For the first four months of this year there were discussions about a rescue plan involving the Scottish Development Agency, the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Industrial and Commercial Finance Corporation. The plan was finalised in April of this year.

The rescue plan involved 45 redundancies. How did you see STEA this?

We thought that it would prevent closure. In that month, it seemed doubtful if any of us would survive.

The banks said that they would not put money into a factory the size of the one we were in then, with a workforce of 140. It had a capacity for 15,000 pairs of jeans a week, but we only had orders for about 6,000.

So to put money in would not They wanted 45 redundancies and asked for volunteers. They got some, but other redundancies were compulsory.

We were laid off for a week while we moved to the smaller premises we're in now. The same week Gap Leisurewear went bankrupt, and that was our last major customer. We moved into the new factory on the Monday (June 6) and the receiver came in on the Wednesday (June 8): street. It was not doing it because of a lack of money or orders. It was doing it because its grants had run out and it was moving on. This time, though, there was no money or orders, just debts. So who was there to fight against?

The Glasgow papers are talking about another possible takeover, by a Scottish consor. thim. Do you know much about this?

No. Only that there is a con• ran a me of tedion. sortium with a senous intention If the deal comes off, I don't know how many jobs it will involve. That depends on how many orders and customers we have.

Do you see your own closure a i need man Bal cora. part of a pattern that will con We need to fight back for a

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TROOPS OUT NOW!

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