Photo: JOHN STURROCK (Report)
Over 300 young people marched through Birmingham on Saturday 7 February to protest against youth unemplowment. The demonstration was organised by Birmingham Trades Council Youth Advisory Committee, and had the support of the Trades Council. Birmingham AUEW East District Committee, Rover Solinull shop stewards Committee, the wational society of Metal Mechanics. Birmingham National Union of Teachers and several political organisations.
speaking tor the Youth Advisory Committee. IMG member John Graham demanded the recall of all trade union officials and Labour leaders who refused to carry out policies in the interests of the working class. This was attacked by a Commfacing youth. unist Party speaker as bringing "personalities into politics But their real reasons tor saying this were revealed wen tne CP claimed that the demands for opening the books, nationalisation under workers control and work-sharing with no loss of pay - the only measures capable of defending the right to work - were calling for socialism now. Instead the Government had to be pressurised to change its policies. And presumably leopards asked to change their spots.
No doubt these conflicting ideas will find expression in the bulletin which is being launched by the Youth Advisory committee as a torum or depate in tne labour movement or how to fight unemployment and the specific problems that the third of that particular trinity finally discovered that however brick. And last week Linwood workers built their own brick house.
They resolutely refused to cave into Varley's threats about their solid strike endangering the Government's £162 million 'rescue' deal.
factory in St. Johnstone be paid an extra pound to bring them up to the businessmen that 'the Government is not in the business of subsidising industrial disruption leading to permanent loss-making' was the hot air of a somewhat deflated wolf.
1,000 short of getting the 6,000 'voluntary' redundancies that were still withdraw from the UK if its annual losses rise above £60 million million. The documents signed by the Government and Chrysler reveal there has been an ominous silence on this part of the deal since it was level Chrysler would have to take another look at the deal.
save jobs in collaboration with the bosses and the Labour Government, which is spearheading the attack on the right to work. Any money put into a company by the Government is intended to finance redundancies through speed-up and productivity increases. If the Government is not already being withheld.
for the opening of Chrysler's books and demanding nationalisation under workers control, then militant action would have followed. As it basis of a programme of action to save all jobs. That report concluded by calling for nationalisation under workers control.
is possible to fight the Wilson Government. It is still possible to resist implementation of the Chrysler-Government deal. All workers should absorb this lesson and those of the earlier Chrysler fiasco as a necessary part of taking forward the fight back against unemployment. Many workers at Chrysler's Linwood plant may well be contemplating the lessons of the 'Threee Little Pigs' this week. Readers will doubtless recall much a wolf may huff and puff, it can't blow down a house made out of They demanded that the 50 packers transferred to Linwood from a small Linwood rate. And following the traditional 19 hours of talks, they won hands down. Wilson's protestations in front of an audience of Birmingham The tragedy of Linwood and other Chrysler workers is that this lesson has been learnt too late to save many of their own skins. Chrysler is only demanded as the first stage of the rescue scheme. Now it has been revealed that despite government subsidies of 450 million this year, Chrysler may Varley has emphasised that the Government will not go beyond £50 that there is no specific agreement to cover losses above £60 million. And signed in December. It was only broken when Gwain Gillespie, executive vice-president of Chrysler Europe, told the Commons committee of enquiry into the Chrysler affair last week that if losses rose above the £60 million GOVERNMENT INVESTMENT A clear lesson emerges from this. There is no future in attempting to satisfied that this is being achieved, it is as willing to withhold investment as any capitalist firm - in fact, investment money for British Leyland is What flows from this is that militant independent class action is the only way to defend the interests of working people. A pound a week may not seem much. But this struggle shows that if Chrysler's senior stewards had been willing to give a lead in the fight for the right to work, by campaigning was, the report on the real cause of Chrysler's crisis produced by research workers at the Whitley plant was simply a negotiating counter - not the Last week Linwood workers scored a small but significant victory. It
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YOUTH ADVISORY 01