THE BBC'S LAST WEDNESDAY PLAY THE BIG FLAME BLEW UP STORM OF CONTROVERSY. PRODUCED TONY GARNETT. AND KEN LOACH. AND WRITTEN BY ALLEN AN EX-DOCKER, IT SHOWED HOW STRIKES COULD BE MADE EFFECTIVE CAPITALIST SOCIETY.
AN IMPORTANT SCENE SHOWED THE STRIKE COMMITTEE SITTING FORLORNLY IN A PUB; THE STRIKE HAS BEEN ON FOR FIVE AND A HALF WEEKS AND IS GETTING NOWHERE. THEY CALL IN AN OLD FRIEND, REGAN, WHO HAS FOUGHT MANY STRIKES, TO GIVE THEM SOME ADVICE. HE TELLS THEM THAT, ALL HIS LIFE, PERHAPS BEEN FIGHTING FOR THE WRONG THINGS.
"We fought for a penny here, penny there, new washbasins and lavatory seats. Our demands were economic. We allus fought for the cash and democracy within the unions, but not one of us could see any further than that dock gate. We never tumbled that a strike's off them rocks like a yo-yo.
Danny: "All the same, we had them wetting their pants.
Kegan: "Again it was the wrong fight, Danny. I mean your change packet's made up of politics.
So all this economic horse-trading isn't worth a carrot. You win a tew bob more, they put up the price of bread so you're right back where you started wiger instead other pose he morebag or she Knackers yard, either way they decide cos they're calling the tune.
Danny: "Never been any different, Regan.
Always been the same ever since I can remember.
Unusual tactics are creeping into industrial struggles; tactics quite different from those of the conventional strike. They have implications which bear on the questions of occupations. sit-ins, and workers control. Ignored by the unfree press, they are worth thinking about.
SEPTEMBER1968 - CHEMICO G.B., ELLESMERE PORT, CHESIRE. WORKERS LOCKED OUT. MASS PICKETING. POLICE TRY AND BREAK UP PICKET. WORKERS RETALIATE WITH SIT-DOWN AND REFUSE TO MOVE.
The RSSF was formed as an organisation within which all student revolutionaries can work to etc. and along with seamen, tugboar men, crane-drivers and what have you. The entire operation is carried out by the men that do the graft, that spend their working lives on them docks. Why shouldn't they take over the docks and have workers' control now You're in motion, Danny, on wheels, you either go forward or back. Try and mark time and the men will go as cold as beer. Of course, an idea like this takes some getting used to. It's like walking in church with your hat on. But when you've thought about it as long as I have it SCCESSO obvious and so simple that you wondered why you never figured it out before.
Regan: "Up to now it has, yeh. But look, I'm the fellah that woke up late in the day as far as politics went. And when them early morning risers were spouting socialism, I was too busy fighting for peanuts down the ship. But not any more. Now I want to see the big flame, Danny One big solid mass of us that'll point a finger at these raiders and say "You failed in management of society so pack your traps think yourselves lucky, and Go I mean why allow this riff-raff to walk the land like as if they had some special mandate from God Almightly giving them the right to squeeze people: Take bread from out of the mouths of people, cause wars and provoke crises. How much longer are we going to tolerate these drones?
I mean things aren't just ripe for change, they're rotten ripe and all we've got to do is shake the tree and let the bad fruit drop to the ground.
You either carry on with this hit and run policy or the dockers take over the ports. Now's the time we start sorting the men out from the boys, Danny."
Danny: "Are you serious"
Regan: Why not? Docking's a simple business really, made complicated by all them hands grabbing a piece of the cake.
NOVEMBER 1968 FORDS DAGENHAM. AFTER TEN-WEEK ASSEMBLY LINE WORKERS MARCH TO BUILDING DEMAND FULL PAYMENT WHEN THEY ARE MADE REDUNDANT. THREATEN TO BREAK UP MACHINERY. OCCUPATION FOR ONE HOUR. JANUARY 1969 - HALL RUSSEL'S SHIPYARD, ABERDEEN MANAGEMENT TRYING TO For many factory workers, tied to a machine that's belching heat. in factory that's being broiled by sun on the roof, it's like being in that car all day and every day.
Can anyone doubt that this has dramatic effect on production and profit?
Next to the cash incentive, environment is the major influence on a worker's efficiency. If the temperature falls below And in case there are any Stoics around, who still believe that a well chilled factory is just the thing to get the workers on the go, let us refer you to the statistics on accidents. For research has shown that the human machine is only really efficient at around 60°-72°F. And that if the temperature is allowed to environment for your workers. PROVOKE STRIKES TO TAKE THE STEAM OUT OF THE MEN. WORKERS DECIDE AGAINST WALKING OUT AND ONE DAY STRIKE A WEEK. INSTEAD THEY HOLD MASS 'STRIKE MEETINGS TWICE A WEEK WHICH LAST ALL AFTERNOON AND AT WHICH THE DECISION TO STRIKE IS NEVER TAKEN. PRODUCTION TIME IS THEREFORE LOST WITHOUT AN ACTUAL STRIKE.
JANUARY 1969 -CENTRAL LONDON BUS CONFERENCE TRANSPORT WORKERS UNION.
Page 72°F and you get lethargy, and the plain bloody-mindedness. Either wa production suffers.
At this time in particular - with wage frozen - improving the workin conditions becomes a significant mear of soothing industrial relations and o encouraging productivity. It is one of th few things that you can stat unequivocally works in everyone's goor - better conditions for the workers greater productivity for the country; an an increased profit for the company tha everyone can benefit from.
drop below this, accident rates increas dramatically.
It's just a simple fact of life; if you want increased productivity, then you have a vested interest in using efficient heating and ventilation, to provide a controlled People work better DELEGATES VOTE BY 35 AGAINST ALLOWING THEM INTO MEETING WOMEN OCCUPY THE BUILDING DURING THE LUNCH BREAK.
IVY BRIDGE SITE, ISLEWORTH, MIDDLESEX. MEN LOCKED OUT BY TURRIFF MANAGEMENT FOR 15 WEEKS BLOCKS OF COUNCIL FLATS LEFT HALF-COMPLETED OVER SITE AND MOVE IN HOMELESS FAMILIES.
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political and it's only a small part of the big picture and so the result was we kept bouncing
OVERTIME BAN WORKERS LAYED OFF AS A RESULT OF GIRLING BRAKE STRIKE IN CHESHIRE. 1000
INTO ADMINISTRATIVE BLOCK OF MAIN PLANT. BLOCK ALL ACCESS
60°F, accidents start to happen (take a look at the accident statistics). Above
LOBBIED BY BUS CONDUCTRESSES. The Black Dwarf 28th Feb 1969
AREA ONE OF ACUTE HOUSING SHORTAGE. MEN PLAN TO TAKE