The closures of the Beaverbrook Group's Scottish Daily and Sunday Express and the Giasgow Evening Chrisen, involving the sacking of 1,800 journalists, printersand office staff, will be the first test of worken" determination to rest massredundancies since the election of the Labour Government.
In anticipation of this, the Beaverbrook management has announced that a third of the redundancy payments will not be made until 1 January, 1975-and these will only be forthcoming if there are no interruptions to the production of the three Glasgow-based papers before they close at the end of the month, and the production of the Dally Express is not interfered with before the beginning of next BLIC TRASHING ARITEEIRE Dis blackmail is necesary in order to provide the fund sfor cho redundancy DevOut. It rust so hannen sthat 1 January i the date that Beaverbeook i believed to have chosen for selling the Expreas to Rothermere's DeMy Mailwhich will occasion an even greater pamber of redundancies.
Beaverbrook has suh santial property DIRTY TRICKS FOILED interests, and these evidently pay more substantial dividends than new paper publishing. Loses on the Gla gow papers were partly en cindered by re routing advertising tevenue, in order to Justity the closes.
The Scornish Daily Expressjoint chapels conmittee has re ponded with an attempt to organise a work-in, and the Dosly Expressjoint chapels in London have set up asupport committee, backed by all the major new saper chanels with the exception of the NGA. But a decision on the Glaaow occupation will await the results of Government talks on Friday, The Scottish TLC hasaid that if it entirely a que tian of money, it would expect the Govertment to make an offer tosave the throe papers Support of the kind, paid through taxes at the workers expense, would do Liede but fill Beaverbrook 'scoffers until the company again decides to plead poverty.
The newspaper worker smust take over the papers and demand that the Lahour Goveranent nationali e them, place them under the workers manage. ment and fund them by a levy imposed on the rest of the capitalist press in this way, it a the capitalists, and not the workers, who will have to pay for the systent which creater closures and unemployment