By Pat Hickey, Deputy steward, Rover Solibull THEEDWARDES plan to run down BL won overwhelming support from BL workers in the ballot. Seven to one voted for his plan company by getting rid of 25,000 jobs.
This is clearly a victory for BL management, and it could also easily VICIOry government. The Tories offensive against the nationalised industries involves paring down and breaking them up to prepare for the re-entry of private ownership.
This has already been begun in the Post Office, the telecommumcatons section is to be split off from the loss-making posts.
The plan for Leyland fits into this scheme of things loss-making. sections, modernise and then sell it off bit by bit.
The only barrier to the Tories' and the bosses' plans is the strength of the union organisation in BL what has been severely threatened by the ballot result.
It is a setback for all BE workers. Why has this happened?
. senior the plants.
'slim the crucial in management.
BL's troubles.
Tory plans to lop off 25,000 jobs.
that was all.
lucrative Edwardes' appeal for shed the trapped; they pare it down, oppose the bosses' ballot.
Arthur
miners' leader, last weekend, - this is proper response to such should be:
ballots, and conducting their own.
MEDICINE The central blame for the situatior. in Leyland must be laid at the door ot the Communist Party leaderships in CP leaders like Derek full-time convenor Longbridge, BL's biggest plant, were accepting the Ryder plan, participation This lies at the root of much of Communist Party-dominated Combthe national shop steward's committee - may have opposed the They called for a No vote in the ballot, but They didn't organise a campaign for that No vote, in order to counter the mammoth publicity devoted to La Yes. More significantly, participation has them completely Scargill, the Yorkshire the Labour Co-ordinating Committee conference explainca wlal LIte a Daliol 'Big business is now interfering in occasions are most Recently we -fightback action sheet 3 THE Defend saw the ballot in BL, backed by the comprehensive and ordinated campaign...
JAILING of Charter
supporters in Czechoslovakia at the end of last month has been followed by a further crackdown. Nine active supporters of the Committee the Unjustly Prosecuted Last ridayre on ned us police Friday basis 'anonymous letter' which 'stated the intențion of destroying an important building and assassinating President of the Republic'.
Among the nine were two sons of Otka Bednaroya, the VONS activist in two of the Revolutionary Socialist Party jailed along with Petr Uhl in 1969; and one • the mosi popular singers the underground.
However, the use of the terrorist appears to Have been outrageous to deceive anyont, we went to press it seemed likely that nine would be released. continued vigilance by the labour movement in the West is obviously necessary to prevent further attacks from being pressed home.
JAROSLAV SUK, former member and one of those arrested Relgocrest pressure of blackmail that if they didn't vote for the survival plan they the were all going to be out of work..
conduct this sort of dirty tactic insid the no serent and decisively movement striké action before any such thing takes place.
Participation results in systematic undermining of the independence of the union structures at plant This is what most urgently needs to be rebuilt in BL. However, it would be the foolish to pretend that without the CP struggle would be easy.
There convince BL workers that there is an former alternative The world car industry is faced with musical AS you can see, we're nearly seven weeks into our quarterly funt drive and we haven't even reached the £500 But mark!
shame Challenge readers haven't followed the example of one London railway worker, who sent us £50 immediately he received his tax rebate from the Tories. know times are Xmas coming.
Challenge isn't getting a tax rebate from the Tories. like Socialist particularly winter.
They'd much prefer workers to be reading in the Sun, Mail and Express about how they have to accept cuts in their living standards because there's no alternative 'dictatorships' in the East.
Socialist Challenge does have an alternative to the Tories. We support RSP any fightback of against this government in Britain and Ltd. for Socialist Challenge, 328/9 Upper St, Lendon througt capitalist crisis-hit begin tactics been membership.
the first. workers they attempt should the same closure, * level.
This urgent need to edwardes' out the world.
more Socialist hard and But Socialist They don't want Challenge during Our thanks to:
AnOn J. Strauther M.B • except the dreaded R. Mahood AHN Week's Total working people overcapacity, declining and stagnant markets. Problems on this scale cannot be at the level of single company; still less on a plant-byfailure of the leadership to unite the Combine committee around a fighting policy leaves individual plants to face their problems alone. It certainly doesn't begin to pose a workers' solution for whole of the car indistry.
The present problems in the car industry can only begin to be solved demands which confront control. Such demands would centrally include calling for the 'nationalisation of the whole of the car and components industry Alongside this we have to fight for he books to be opened, not just in th Vival : the board in the whole industry. Then we to find solutions unite workers in the various sections of the industry . rather than the management's divide-and-rule salami But the unions in BL have not smashed The fact that Edwardes has to use ballots at all is an indication of this. The victory in the ballot will be used to try and prove that 'militants' do not represent the But even the Economist doesn' think that Edwardes has won yet. The ballot, the journal considers "clears the first hurdle in BL's path. But only The appeal produced massive defeat for BL' shop • stewards voted last month to reject the plan.
"The question now is: can BL get backing each plant and on wage bargaining?' The Economist goes on to say that the first big test comes next week union leaders reply to management's wage offer of 5 per cent with countless strings.
chance to show Edwardes, and the Tory government, that they may have won a battle, but they haven't won the war The task for militants in BL is to fight to replace the present leadership with one that uses the strength of the shop floor rather than fearing it.
anti-working class regimes throughdebate out the socialist policies needed to take on the bosses and win. we argue loal the only way out of the crisis is a planned economy, one which workers control and which workers orcanise The Tories fear these ideas may become popular as they attack our rights and begin to dismantle the welfare state.
It's a long term investment giving your tax rebate to Socialist Challenge but the dividends you'll receive will never lose their value. So don't delay this week in sending us the cash.
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