Edinburgh TOTAL of 2,500 workers at Edinburgh's Ferranti factory have been on strike for eight weeks for a 25 per cent across-the-board Despite management manoeuvres, support for the strike is rock solid. If won the strike would give skilled workers £84 (compared with f67 now) and the labourers £60 (compared £48) for a 40-hour Management ‹ ve various tricks smash the strike. First a campaign was launched • shop convenor Dougie Roonie, alleging that he was using strike to seek high is office in the A maganering Union Workers.
When the smear fell flat, management changed its tune and said that in fact Roonie was about bought off by management. : But that slander too had no effect.
As for the claim itself, management's first tion was to treat it with contempt. Then an attempt mauc lu divide the strikers by offering different increases the skilled workers labourers although both offers were small.
The rejection of this offer led to proposals for ingradie. This offer and bonus increase. was sent out to every striker accompanied by a letter warning of all sorts of nasty things if the offer wasn't accepted. The workers posted back the letter to management.
The strike has been officially supported, and the workers say that if they win this particular dispute they will gladly come out again in national claim. There particular enthusiasm for campaign for a 35-hour week. York By Lewis Emery RUMOURS circulating in York would have it that the engineering strike will end on 4 December. That *non-union sources' told workers at Vickers As the Vickers workers point our it wine not bat first time that management and indeed everyone else knew what was going on before the rank and file workers.
A toughening up of the strike is now very much needed if it is not going to tray edges.
Although the strike Vickers remains per cent solid, the trend in this isolated and largely nonindustrial town is towards local deals.