Shipyard stewards decide to hold national conference

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BRITISH Shipbuilders' national shop stewards' combine committee met on Saturday February 4 to hear reports from the yards on their reaction to the enabling agreement signed by the Shipbuilding Negotiating Committee of the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions, and the local shipyard managements' proposals in line with that agreement.

Judging from the reports from most yards, management plan to introduce exactly the same type of across-the-board flexibility and use of subcontractors, term contracts, etc. that were rejected last year at mass meetings. In fact a national strike was called against those proposals.

However, the reaction from the stewards seemed very different this time. Most said that it was up to the individual yards to accept or reject flexibility.

The only thing that was agreed was that a national meeting of all shop stewards should be called to discuss the way forward now that the so-called Blackpool Agreement has been discarded.

The Blackpool Agreement has become a bit of a myth. Some stewards believe that British Shipbuilders actually gave an agreement not to implement enforced redundancies. But what it actually says is: 'Until alternative avenues have been exhausted, there will be no compulsory redundancies declared, and then not without further consultation with the Shipbuilding Negotiating Committee.

The national shop stewards' meeting should take place within FACTS&FIGURES By Martin Thomas US imperialised?

IN 1983. the TIC laeworld's greatest exporter of tou we vo - long the capital - was a net importer of capital.

The latest figures published by the Bank for International Settlements, covering the third quarter of 1983, show an inflow of $40 billion on capital account.

Reasons for this turnaround seem to include a decline in overseas lending by US banks, and a big rush to invest in the US by (especially) European capitalists. There are also substantial capital flows into the US from Japan, the Middle East, and Latin America.

Where the money goes ONE of the major flows of capital into the US has been from Britain.

No.28 December 1963 Paper of the women's campaton Later tor Waneirs Movement Fightbart Riant the next ten days. By that time the yards should have made a decision one way or another on their local proposals, and the deals that are supposed to be signed by February 10 to get back A decision has got to be taken in the yards to oppose these flexiBetween 1979 and 1982, British total assets abroad went up from £194 billion to £399 billion. That includes short-term assets. But long-term assets also increased.

The stock of direct investment abroad (in branches or subsidiaries of British firms) went up from £30 billion to £49 billion. The stock of portfolio investment foreign stocks. shares and bonds) increased faster, from £12 billion to £38 billion.

More and more, British insurance companies and pension funds have been investing in foreign securities rather than British government bonds. (The percentage of their funds that they have put into British company securities has remained fairly stable).

The Tories' abolition of exchange controls has stimulated this flow. But it is also closely associated with more deepgoing economic changes.

Capital has flowed into Britain too fast, too. The stock of private direct investment from abroad into Britain grew from £21 billion in 1979 to £31 billion in 1982; portfolio investment grew from £4½ billion to £7 billion. But foreign investment in Britain used to be mostly in manufacturing. Over the last few years it has shifted dramatically into oil and into services, with only a minor part now in manufacturing.

Meanwhile British manufacfrom the government. have been in on that too.

under private ownership. ment.

conditions.

bility deals and all that goes with them. Any yard that does say no will be up against the union leadership, and those yards that have accepted the deal. But the alternative is more closures, more redundancies, privatisation, and an attack on the trade unions in British Shipbuilders.

turing companies have shifted more and more of their operations overseas.

Israel's economy.

A RECENT article in the Financial Times gave some instructive facts about Israel's economy.

Israel's national income is a bit over $20 billion per year. Of this, about 30% goes in military spending. (For comparison:

Britain and the US put about 5% of their national income into military spending, and most West European states less than 3%. Syria, however, puts in 17%).

About 15% of the national income, however, is contributed by straight grants from abroad.

And Israel is also more heavily indebted than any other country in the world - its foreign debt per head is seven times Brazil's, for example - but much of its debt is long-term and/or at low, fixed interest rates.

Israel receives between one-quarter and one-third of all the US's foreign aid. As an Israeli Labour Party politician put it, IT LOOKS more and more as if