Liverpool, Bradford, and Shipley.
closure яге company's plans.
GEOFFREY SHERIDAN reports.
When Industry Varley and Kaufman nounced in Parliament earlier this year that Lucas Aerospace was to receive E8m of State funds, the Government dida'! even pretend that this would Lucas wants to sack 2,000 of the 12,000 UNDIECES in It5 acrospace division by the carly The plant closures already scheduled Liverpool, Shipley — are just the start.
The company.
Government's backing, to open two new plants in these towns, But in Liverpool alone one of the highest areas of unemployment — that will add another 930 workers to the dole Lucas: Acrospace emplarys 1,450 mainly highly-skilled workers in Liverpool. provide jobs for only 500. NO SURPRISE None of this will come as much surprise to supporters of The technologically streamcconomy THE GOVERNMENT has generously handed Lucas Aerospace E8m to sack over a thousand workers in union leaderships negotiating alternative work for the plants facing obligingly complying Ministers | machinery and productivity an- deals replacing workers — is part of the Labour Government's contract with bosses.
And when the union leaders show every sign of complying with these developments behind closed doors members can rightly feel very and angry indeed. That's now the situation in Lucas Acrospace. the Eric Varicy and Kaufman have answerco a total questions raised by Labour MPs in the Common about the corporate plan drawn up by Lucas workers through their combine shop stewards COHELILE.
Each tinie.
Ministers said they welcomed the plan — which puts forward will a wide range of technologically advanced products designed to meet people's needs and that the combine committee should pursue the plan through Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions.
As corntittee was concerned, the Confed was union bureaucracy writ large. But with the announced closures, the Covernment and union leaders insisted that the Confed had to supposedly be the channe for negotiations With the agreement of the with the Goverament and Lucas man agement, drawn from the shopfloor at Lucas Acrospace have been set up by the Confed, ostensibly to produce alternative proposals for the threatened plants the In charge is Roy Granthani, general secrelary fresh from his enthusiastic support for kers.
policy against the closures has their been to impose a total halt on Many movement of equipment or personnel from the Liverpool Bradford and Shipley plants.
Gerald With the setting up of the Government am it e Government's coffers, Lucas agreed with this. It said it would maintain the status quo. take no steps to go ahead with is ramonasason program. the Industry while discussions on the future structure of the company took place.
SILENCE At the however, Lucas informed the the Shinie stoppering tee movement of equipment and combine know-how from the plant, they would all be locked out. announcement has been parties 1 BU magazine reported, of the APEX, from Grantham & Co.
combine committee's been entirely inactive.
the presence [Ran nominall MCLA later ALEW TASS end of last month, Ferry, Conted preventing facilitate This meekly acquiescing in something The model is u Yach dition meter.
silence from Grantham | ridiculous complaint and the other Confed leaders. The The 13 July issue of The Engineer reported a Lucas spokesperson as saying that the establishment of the working combine. parties was a mere formality: The He claimed that. Lucas's demanding plans to close the factories had affected," the working party just represented the next step in the negotiating TASS The article added: This was confirmed by the Department of Industry. Still not a murmur But Roy Grantham has not On 12 July be was sent a letter by Alan docility Whitney, personnel director at treasurer Lucas Acrospace, objecting bo of two shapfloor member Mike Cooley and Phil Grantham duly obliged. A informed Whitney that the two would go, in spite of the fact that Cooley former president is already work facine dismissal because of li work on the corporate plan Teacted with fury, Its secretary, Ernie Scarbrow, has told Alex tered that general secretary of the *In the midst of all this the Confed has allowed itself to Falls in line.
the Lucas management in their plot to carry out this outrage (to sack Cooley) by to turn it off: a mains unil you for 25p. can use on the continent; and a And combined tuning/battery conIf you've already got a radio, the winner can decide to choose un optional first prize: a 150 book token from The Otber So order your tickets now at 10p each or three catch our sole basis for this complaint is that Cooley and Asquith are TASS members who are associated with the combine the Immediate recall of the Confed representatives so that they can discuss "this whole sorry business with the Confed officials Meanwhile the leadership of , which is dominated by the Communist Party, is still considering" its response 1o an Bacar Or Cues managemen! to stop Mike Cooley spending THE OHME CUTDOTEL DINI Among those enraged by this Danny Conroy, of the combine committee, and a Broad Left Union's national committee He told Socialis Chullenge: *Ir Lucas attempes anything with Mike Cooley, they I have to fight me. It will be a war of attrition. There's many of u who worked on the corporate plan, and i think my hours off must have exceeded appalled at attitude of some Government departments, and we're shal -а commpany can complain about ine membe ship of the working parties and TASS leadership supposed. to be militant, It's a mystery to me why they aren't defending Mike Cooley.
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