special measures measures to deal witn short-time working consecutive days. In what is termed financed equally £230 million.
from the exchequer. InIS government joining the dole queues.
ELECTION IN MIND the dole queuespermanent feature of British capitalism in crisis.
cost an estimated £1,000 million. week.
LEYLAND JOBS In the car industry, Levland plant at speke in Merseyside.
Moreover, a central part of Phase 4 is for situation.
house construction.
teachers are unemploved.
PLAN FOR FIGHTBACK production for profit.
direction.
VITAL TASK autumn: by Ford workers.
allowed to happen any longer.
unions.
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Socialist Challenge 23 November 1978 page 2 THE Queen's Speech from the Labour government included unemployment. them are the beefing up of state training and retraining schemes and The latter would entitle workers on short-time to a taxable 75 per cent of normal pay for each day lost up to a maximum of seven 'normal' times, employers could claim back half of the cost of short-time working from a fund by an increase in neir National insurance contributions and by the Exchequer. This first "tier' of the new scheme is not intended save any jobs. It is estimated that it will cost The second tier concerns what the Department of Employment calls periods of high unemployment' such as now. If employers can prove that they put workers on short-time as an alternative to making them redundant, then they can claim the rest of the cost back will cost t260 million hopes that it could keep up to 150,000 workers from The scheme is clearly introduced with election year in mind. But it will win few votes, for whilst a few workers will be kept away from - and this is not to be scoffed at —the scheme does nothing to confront structural mass unemployment, which is a The scheme is strictly cosmetic and is in line with existing government policy. The underlying principle is collaboration with the employers to save jobs through a variety of government subsidies. By the end of the next financial year, the policy will have The government parades statistics claiming to show that, but for this policy, the number officially unemployed would be at least 172,000 higher than the present total of 1,430,000. However, the reality of government policy on unemployment is rather different.
Callaghan has indicated that any reduction in the working week must be "self-financing" and be considered in the light of Phase 4. The government backed the Post Office when it refused to concede the demand of the Post Office Engineering Union for a 35-hour Callaghan has given full backing to the plans of Michel Edwardes, who has already closed the The Edwardes plan ultimately involves the shedding of some 30,000 jobs in Leyland -which, inturn, will mean hundreds of thousands of jobs threatened in related industries and areas. And just the mention of steel and railwaysreminds us that Leyland is no exception in the public sector. productivity deals". Such deals can mean only one thing: further job loss. Industry Minister Varley's commitment to technological advance irrespective of whom it benefits can only worsen this With hundreds of thousands of unemployed building workers, the Labour Government refuses to launch a crash programme of grossly inadequate health hundreds of hospitals are being closed and staff laid off. With oversized classes, schools are being closed whilst more than 50,000 A trade union plan for a fightback is vital. This would not be based on collaboration with the employers through lavish subsidies. A firm declaring redundancies should not be given hand-outs but should be nationalised without compensation. By placing it under workers control, hours could be cut to save jobs. The Lucas plan has shown how socially useful products could take the place of wasteful The TUC voted overwhelmingly in September to include the demand for the 35-hour week in pay and hours negotiations. Implementation of this policy would be an excellent step in the right The demand has been included in all the major claims this engineers, public sector workers, and so on. But the Ford settlement agreed by the unions includes no reduction in hours. This kind of thing must not be Among ERNESTMANDEL, the Marxist economist and leader say, *we
RALLY
ERNEST MANDEL will be one of the main platform speakers Stalls, exhibitions, speakers on Zimbabwe, Ireland. Iran, Latin America, international youth struggles Friday 24 November, Camden Town Hall, London SKAN+ BLOT'+ SAFRICA+ H'BLOCK + HAdNEY GIRLS PROJECT+ POLICI OPPRESSION+ LETTERS + CLASH do not take up arms against the socialist state, The stalinist modelen in the eyes of the millions of workers throughout the world. We are opposed " them and will offer full support to all those fighting for socialist democracy Order from PO Box 50, Our socialism will be infinitels more democratic than what existe in 'socialism' in the LISSR and Eastern Europe have discredited socialism
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