24 August Claim is submitted to the 21 Septembe 22 Septemb 25 Septembe meet to, 26 September vote to stop movement of Dockers a Tibi 21 Seotem ber 29 September discharge of ord carg also join boycot 1 Octobe Stewards pledge "ail possi rewards in London. 13 OCIODG London of Ford trade presentatives from mann solidarity with British sentatives with Ford stands empt fter boycott action. Between the Company and Todd and Red Birch after ar of letters in which Birct describes the situation as a onasty mess 25 UClODel Union necollators decide k penalty clauses on top of 8 pe Gon of 1 percent marg 5.15 per cent attendance allov pay arranger 24 November Feeds to the day after coming out on strike.
Socialist Challenge 4 January 1979 Page 10 cent ceiling?
Company over what has pontical POLITICAL Within On 2 October, pay policy.
literally thousands case of them all.
they stated resolution calling pay COOLLY. launched a per cent.
SPIRAL Il be less profitable a ers wives in South few years ago.
caused by class.
two key as presenica Dy Group blasted the REPLY store living standards to contract levels.
people call this a siding reply to the 5 and boosting pronts Tion or une whole to be a powerful counterweight to the Labour government's wage-cutting schemes. All eyes turned to Ford's. Could they break through the 5 per chairperson Terence Beckett expressed the situation as he saw it: "All key plants are on strike been made into a La matter of days, the political impact of the strike had come even more sharply expressed conference voted by 4,017,000 to 1,924,000 against the government's hundreds of of workers claims pending, surely this was the green light for a generalised offensive against Callaghan and Healey... A united struggle by all workers over their own claims would strengthen the The Labour Party NEC and all the trade union leaders understood this:
that they WORLE completely ignore that part of the for *an active campaign against the 5 per cent'.
To back up their insistence on the Labour leaders huge political offensive: the Ford Motor Company might have big profits but the economy cannot afford wage rises of more than 5 If such rises are imposed, they gued, two things will happen. Fir will shed workers to lenginen une dole queues Others will put up their prices, taking us back to the inflationary spiral of a The Labour government. they said stakes its whole future on its ability to the previous Tory The only answer to Callaghan was and is a thoroughgoing socialist one putting forward a solution of the crisis in the interests of the working The Ford sement my splen elements such alternauve wien mutants can now build on. In the first place the £20 rise the Ford Workers special case Twenty pounds was needed to repre-social answer to the productivity mongers: tie wages not to profit or output but to the rise in the cost of living. Some scale.
The 35 hours demand also put for ward at Ford is an equally powerful percenters. so ve unemployment not by tightening belts benevolent bosses will then shower us with iobs. Cut the working week and share the work, that's the socialist Clearly other elements need to be added in. The problem of the motor industry cant be solvea in one plant - however profitable. NationalisaMOLOr THOUSLY including components, is the only sort of answer that Vauxhall or British Leyland workers will respond to.
Furthermore, the weight of this industry (together with steel) would pose the question of a workers plan which breaks with the capitalist profit logic for the whole economy. massive programme of useful public works is necaca to improve socia services and employ the jobless by, for instance, building more hospitals, schools, and houses.
Such policies need to be fought for by militant forms of action including strikes and occupations, relying on negotiations.
This was not the approach of the trade union leaders, who instead went along with the Labour government's attempts to isolate the Ford strike. From the very first day, Ron Todd chairperson of the union side of the negotiating committee, argued that Assembly Plant the claim was justified on the basis of the company's ability to pay.
The leadership inside Ford did not help. They completely embraced the special case argument of Todd and Co. They failed to pickets to factories like Vauxhall and Leyland calling for joint action by WITE the demonstration called ten days after Theste attempt to launch a serious campaign in the labour movement to spread the struggle.
They turned down the offer of Ford's staff workers for "assistance" They turned down the offer of Essex 180 PER CI They into action.
organise flying exception fought through thousands Photo: BOB MURPHY (Socialist Challenge Fire Brigade not to cross picket lines made no appeal through mobilising lobbies, , etc. to turn ine TUC resolution against wage restraint Even the letter they handed in at Downing Street in the first days of the strike simply concluded by appealing to Callaghan to change course.
But Callaghan and Co. cannot be appeals. The final outcome of the strike proved this Without doubt, it represented a victory. Seventeen percent is a long way irom te original orrer. Many of workers have been inspired by it. But equally, it is a long way from the original claim.
democracy by involving the convenors along these lines would have made any
----- pull-quotes -----
i Call tota make, West German Fol