The proposed hiving-off of the more profitable section of the River Don Works, Sheffield, and the eventual running-down of the remainder producing 4,500 redundancies, is only the most dramatic of BSC's "development' plans for the Yorkshire area.
BSC is suffering from two decades of low investment; high profits in the boom period of the 50's and carly 60's were made at the expense of the increasing technological backwardness of Britain's small-scale steel industry. The rapid growth in the percentage of world output enjoyed by steel plants with a more advanced technological base and much larger output capacity, particularly in West Germany and Japan, was paralleled by a steady comparative decline in output from British plants. To off. adopted is to withold capital from low or nonset the decline in international competitiveness an increase in annual output of 9 million tons combined with a decrease in the labour force of 125,000 was projected over a ten year period. profit capital intensive concerns - petroThe means to achieve this streamlining of the industry was nationalisation which would facilitate a comprehensive restructuring through elimination of product duplication, the running down of traditional low profit sectors, and the rationalisation of the bulk and special steels division which provide far higher returns on capital invested. The overcompensated private steel owners could await the outcome of the Government financed £4,000,000,000 investment programme.
World Recession in Steel The time scale for this programme was elaborated when the world demand for steel was expanding and when the home market was able to absorb British steel production. That situation has now drastically changed. There is a world recession in steel - 5 steel plants in Lorraine are to be closed, 20,000 steel workers in Germany are on short time; Japanese plants are working well below capacity and have cut back substantially on their investment programme. America has been forced to put up high tariffs to protect its steel from lower priced, particularly Japanese im- REDUNDANCIES -ports. BSC itself while working in many of its plants at only 40% capacity finds itself threatened by Japanese steel both in imports (the monthly average of between 2,000 and 5,000 tons per month over the last three years has risen sharply this year to a monthly average of 20,000 tons) and in traditional export markets like the scandinavian countries where low-priced Japanese steel is taking over.
This world recession in steel comes at a time when British industry, its profits cut back dangerously through slow production growth, inflation, and the militant wages struggles of the late '60's, is faced with an investment crisis. The solution which the Tories have profit making enterprises, to run down traditional industries like shipping, and heavy engineering and to free investment for the high chemicals, aerospace, computers - which will provide the basis of British capitalism in the Common Market. The other side of this strategy and decisive for its success is the lowering of the share of wages in the national income, the means being massive unemployment, and legislation against working class militancy in the form of the IRA and the Social Security Act.
Under this pressure BSC has been forced to speed up its rationalisation. The extent of future investment plans is in doubt but it is clear that Davies has made it dependent on a firm committment by the BSC to drastic cuts in the labour force and the immediate running down of low profit sectors and a number of traditionally sited steel plants. To understand how BSC hope to achieve this without serious struggles from the work force demands some knowledge of the nature of the steel industry and the principal unions.
Reasons for Lack of Militancy There has been little history of militancy in the steel industry. This has largely been due to the capacity of the steel firms to grant regular wage increases in the boom period of the 50's and early 60's. This is reinforced by the peculiar manning patterns, which, with their seniority system, effectively creates an entrenched conservative labour aristocracy. Further BSC attempts to maintain a strong ideological hold over the work force through a series of company newspapers, usually covering two plants, which systematically play off different sections of the work force against each other. The divisions which operate within the work force at plant level are duplicated nationally. The flow of communication at this level is nonexistent. Orders can be switched from plant to plant to facilitate redundancies without the work force being able to intervene. (Rotherham works are at present rolling steel from Irlam works which is due to be closed.) The factors outlined above are reinforced by the nature of the principal union BISAKTA which dominates shop Noor workers in the industry. There is no national delegates conference for shop floor workers; by its constitution BISAKTA is almost incapable of strike action, it actively supports redundancies and is in favour of entry into the Common Market (which itself will produce 85,000 redundancies). A further factor which makes the struggle against redundancies particularly difficult is the redundancy payments act. BISAKTA's biggest boast is the size of the redundancy payments which it has negotiated with BSC, and in Rotherham there were 1300 applicants for 600 redundancies. However this has begun to turn sour with BSC's refusal to pay compensation in the case of Park Gate Strip Mill (Rotherham) and a Department at Openshaw (Manchester).
River Don: Problems and Weaknesses The situation at River Don is in a number of ways different from this general picutre. It is not simply a question of redundancies — a section of the works is being threatened with denationalisation and the rest with closure. Further BISAKTA is in a minority (550 members). The Shop Stewards Committee is dominated by the AEF. However, in spite of the advantages that these considerations would seem to offer, the strategy of the shop stewards committee has played right into the hands of the BSC. It has largely been built around alternative feasibility studies and demands for an official inquiry, supported by token actions (a mass demonstration and a levy of workers in other industries). Attempts at mobilising the steel workers and engineering workers in the area for an all out solidarity struggle have been rejected in favour of efforts to persuade the capitalists of the profitability of River Don.
As negotiations proceeded throughout the summer over 400 jobs were lost at the works through "wastage"; and now with the first redundacy notices handed out, (and the majority of those accepted) a "work-on" has been declared in an attempt to preserve the skilled work force while feasibility discussions continue. That a proposed overtime ban was reconsidered because BSC provided facilities for conducting the "work-on" indicates sufficiently the level of the struggle. The weakness of the shopstewards committee is increased through the antagonism which exists between the AEF and BISAKTA. A levy imposed by BISAKTA on other sections of BSC works is to be used only for the BISAKTA members who will be affected, and cooperation between the two unions is minimal.
The future of River Don is uncertain and there are indications that a complete closure of the plant may not occur. The, pressure for an occupation strike, should hiving-off be decided, must be very strong, but there is little prospect at the moment of a successful struggle. For that an occupation strongly supported by solidarity strike action in the surrounding steel works would be necessary, and this in turn would mean the organisation of rank and file steel workers committees capable of leading the struggle both against the reactionary BISAKTA and the BSC. For the moment such a struggle is only beginning.
IMG Militants, Sheffield.
appeals-occupations of permanent offices is the best tactic and will succeed when single strikers have organised themselves with this end in view. 4. Both strike committees and Claimants Unions must by any means possible publicise the strike breaking role of the SS:
As this goes to press, the workers at RR are still on strike. They can win this battle through a determined fight-no surrender. They will be helped by the toolroom strike at Coventry which will increase pressure on management. However, if they are to defeat management plans for a complete reorganisation of Rolls Royce they will first have to make stronger national links, the class traiterous leadership at Derby is a particularly big obstacle to this. Second, trade unionists will have to forge a strong and active internationalism. The aircraft industry does not recognise national boundaries any longer and will become increasingly monopolised and supra-national. There are fitters from RR Bristol working on Concorde at Toulouse-it is the lack of these international trade union links which has prevented them from coming out on strike in solidarity with their brothers in Bristol.
-A. Metcalf -J. Shearer -R. Perry WEEKLY DISCUSSION GROUP FOR REVOLUTIONARY SOCIALISTS IONA COMMUNITY CENTRE, 214 CLYDE STREET EVERY THURSDAY AT 7.30.