THE FINAL DEADLINE fo SOCIALIST EDINBURGH.
nist No. 5.
Capitalism
(Austria)
o Phoenix Pamphlets book senie or wide selection or alone Borent To Foster Role ur umpington internationalen, Box 3204, toeSno from Troop orders Advertising eate set us alie tha Wing, Dacorum Browns Lane Assembly weeks out of a possible 48.
been sent home shifts.
It was similar ham plant.
So. Worker Jaguar have at Ford. ers included:
realistic level. duction begin to policy of one in throughout the factory. DURING the past twelve months, night-shift workers at Jaguar's plant in Coventry have worked only 27 full Their average earnings before deductions have fallen short of negotiated rates by hundreds of pounds; they have in the middle conditions which not so long ago drove night workers at Ford to stage a riot at the DagenUnderstandable as that action certainly was, the workers at responded with an answer which ultimately will worry the car bosses more than the events reports.' The Jaguar workers recently thrashed out a series of demands which put the blame for the car etc. industry crisis on management, and which seek to protect the workers at Jaguar from that crisis. Demands formulated by the night-shift work•Management to be informed on we shall be organising to control production at a In practice this raises the central question of control - whether the production line is to be run at the whims of management, or whether the production line is to be run so actually working and "In directly affected by the level of proexercise * 'In the event of any shortages [which under present systems would cause a lay-off] we shall operate a - all in, to secure a system of work-sharing with full pay This demand points the ends to which the control of production by ine workers the workforce will be used: a system not of repeated lay-offs and drops in work while at the same time be guaranteed full weekly earnings * "in order to carry through this policy in a united and organised way we will need to have clear information on Jaguar/Leyland operations and links with component suppliers. We call for the Joint Shop Stewards Committee to set up a standing committee of investigation to collect this information and provide regular in snon-nand mis outlines d sys tem of 'opening the books' - that is, organising to uncover information on stocks, orders, available work, This applies particularly to Jaguar in view of the chaotic and anarchistic manner in which work has been organised at Jaguar WORK-SHARING The workforce are never told the real wnys and wnererores OTHE sudden lay-offs; a full disclosure of information on orders stocks, etc. would allow the type of work-sharing outlined above to be planned.
the event of a pending lay-off the true facts to be found out as to how long it will be and produc tion controlled to cover that lay-off.' * In the event of a return to work all stores and receiving areas to be that production can be controlled to avert further lay-off."
These demands tighten up other three, stressing the need for concerned to asser their right to control the level of pro and to acnieve ine Tur Taken as a whole, the great bene fit of these demands is that the unite and protect the workforce as whole t is not posed that sinc sections should take isolated pro test action to restrict productio but that the whole factory should b involved in co-ordinated and unite action to control production.
PRESSURE That is why these policies r ceived such enthusiastic backin from the Coventrv workers night-shift workers unanimously a opted the proposals at a ma meeting and took them to a fu meeting attended WOrKTOrCE 3,500 workers. Under pressure t senior stewards agreed to read o the proposals, and each point in tr policy was greeted with massi applause from the meeting But the senior stewards set out destroy this unity. Night-shift re resentatives were not allowed speak and the chairperson refused allow a vote on the proposals, sisting they had to go to a sh stewards' meeting first.
sals will be put on the shelf. Jaguar workers are not quite back square one. The basis for an effe tive and united struggle has be laid, and ine mass meetings c played the willingness of the wor ers to fight for such a policy.
It is clear however that the sen stewards clean obstacle to tr Tignt, and that through forging t unity of the workforce and struggle
RED WEEKLY 2 December 1976 5 unity of the left inside R & F. In practice it was the IS leadership of R & F which made this impossible.
The STA is an opportunity to show in pracuice tnat genuine unity of tne lei l possible in the NUT - a democratic unity, which is aimed at organising the lett to campaign amonest the mass o union members for united action against ume wovernment s Doncics
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