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Thursday meets Dren's homes Tory/Healey alliance in Bury.
Weekly of the growing fight back our Party members ists.
Bolton 7! Demo against of a council meeting, action have been made. *To fight the cuts effectively means fighting the Social Contract. It means fighting unemployment and the cuts in living plains:
The words are those of lan Stevenson, a nember of Radcliffe North Labour Party n Bury. He should know a thing or two about the cuts, because Bury has become a by-word for the choppers of the Labour The Tory Council, backed by a number of Labour councillors, recently announced full implementation of Healey's policy. El million is to be "saved' in all, with une £320,000 being chopped from social services and £400,000 from education. Nurseries, centres for the handicapped, child- vices. Says Hackett:
• all are targets for the lan Stevenson last week described the cuts as "savage', but he also told Red *there was a spontaneous and immediate response by social service workers, LabOmer trade This has taken the form of a 2,000 accoraing lo hackett strong demonstration, a 400-strong picket criticised:
and a pennon against the cuts signed by 20,000 people. There has also been a sit-in at the majority threatened Hillcrest. Hostel and, perhaps most important of all, further plans for These plans are being formulated as a tant, Mark Hackett, a member of Prestwich Labour Party and of the local government workers' union NALGO, exdecideo to try to set up a cam paign against all the cuts. This was the idea behind the recent labour movement conference. I moved a resolution in my branch calling for the District Labour Party and Trades Council to call a con ference and to support the occupation of occupation itself had stemmed from the activities of the Bury Action Group Against the Cuts in Social Ser "Whatever criticisms one mieht have about the action group, it has done an excellent Job in terms or publicity and action. It has also operated in the most democratic way, with all the decisions being taken or ratified at public meetings open to all those active in the campaign.
But if the conference recognised the success of the campaign, there were others who could be 'One of the main feelings we all took away from the conference was that th of Labour councillors have lance me labour movement in bury. on! Tour of the eleven Labour counciliors have supported the action group, and many of them even voted with the Tories Bury, has done nothing to help the campaign, dissociating himself from it for fear of "embarrassing" the Labour Government."
This criticism does not apply to all Labour rar leader stevensor records that local councillor Derek Bowden has played a very important part in the campaign — in and out of the council chamber', while councillor Collins has pointed to the millions souandered in police spending' in arguing against cuts in wellare services Both Mark Hackett and lan Stevenson are determined to continue the fight back Both are members of the committee set up by the local conference, and among other active cy are yu to colecunton mation aboul the exact effects of the education cuts. Mark Hackett explains:
•We will be approaching the teachers parent-teacher associations, school governors AGO. ete to ser what they feel and what they can tell us. Then we will try to arrange similar for example, how the cuts affect women.
Although Ian Stevenson admits that there is still a long way to go', he is also rant woen ne savs that he acuvies ort militants in Bury have shown it is possible to launch a fight back now'.
The local Tories, their Labour fellow travellers and Healey may just have taken
"sympathetic to the problems created by the loss of jobs'.
announced that they intend to invest £1.5 million in deepens.
and the confusion gives way to total bewilderment.
Sir Arthur Knight's view is predictable.
He has blamed lazy workers. But that is easy to dismiss.
Even the bosses' favourite journal, the Economist, admits that last year the company 'did quite well in its efficiency drive. Moreover. the threatened Skelmersdale plant has witnessed only two strikes in eight years.
The other favourite scapegoat is cheap imports: "Import controls' has been the cry of both employers and those who put themselves forward as representing the interests of workers. Thus the backers of this solution range from the employers' British Textile Confederation to Jack MacGougan, general secretary of the Tailors and Garment Workers' Union.
As far as textiles are concerned, the allegation of cheap imports is directed against the underdeveloped countries of During the last financial year the textile giant Courtauld made a profit of £48.3 million. During the same period they cut their workforce by 10,000; now they plan to sack another 4,500. According to union leader Jack Jones, however, the chief of Courtauld, Sir Arthur Knight, is Put the sackings, the profits and the supposedly kind employer together and you get confusion. Add to this that Courtauld have also production facilities' at their plant near Derby, and the confusion Note, finally, that according to The Times the threatened Skelmersdale plant has been given government grants averaging £3,500 per job, explanation, and why are over 4,000 workers faced with the sack?
Asia and the countries of Eastern Europe.
That is. it is aimed at damaging poverty stricken workers of India and those countries whose means of produc tion are not controlled by a small band of capitalists.
Blame First, note what the purpose of the import controls argument is: it is to switch the blame for the state of the industry onto foreign workers. trick in the imperialist book. It is called 'divide and rule'. Its aim is to produce scapegoats.
Second is the fact that Britain actually enjoys a trade surplus in textiles and clothing. Last year Britain exported £6.3 *improving So what is the Photo: JOHN STURROCK (Report)
This is the oldest ported in this industry. millions worth of goods more than it imThird is the fact that while Britain does longer be needed. import many more men's suits and shirts than it exports, these imports are based on a British export. For the UK has a trade surplus in textile machinery of £147.5 million. These exports would dramatically decline if there were blanket import Fourth is the consideration that if the importing of shirts and suits was prohibited, the effect on the standard of living of all workers in this country would be damaging, because all would have to pay much more for inese necessities RED WEEKLY 18 November 1976 5 Government's "Temporary Employmen Subsidy' they have been given ES million. They have also received many more millions from regional employment pay ments, training payments, special em ployment aids, and the like.
For the 4,000 plus workers at Courtauld who now face the sack, this money is wasted - no more than a memento of the wasteful industrial policies of successive governments who hand out millions to the bosses while those bosses continue to record huge profits.
Reason As with the talk of lazy workers and the advocation of import controls, these hand-outs solve nothing. In finding what would, we must first find the real reason for the problems at Courtauld. And consider these facts:
* Two of the factories threatened with closure manufacture women's tights, for which there has been a 40 percent fall ir demand in the last couple of years.
Even sir Peter Carey, Permanen Secretary for the Department of Employment, told the textile industry earlier this year that in many areas it had failed to get onto the bandwagon - especially in relation to exports to the EEC'.
* Courtauld itself, besides blaming "lazy workers', has admitted that weak demand and product obsolescence' is res ponsible for some of the closures chronically bad SATS adas management, unable to see the trends, take advantage of export opportunities, or buy suitable machinery. It is not all Courtauld's fault. They operate in one of the most unpredictable markets of all manipulated by fashion writers, pop stars and similar trendies. it is a totally un planned and unforecastable industry. It operates at a dog-eat-dog level. It is a classic free enterprise system