management and recruited to the union.' The strike by 83 Asian workers at Coventry Art Castings in Nuncaton is over, After 13 weeks they have been forced to go back and accept a settlement which could well lead to the permanent remosal of three leading militants.
The strugele began over the sacking of one of the three militants, whose reinstatement will now depend on the decision of an arbitration board.
Hed Weekly 29 March 1974 Page 4 Yet the strike was waged with considerable determination and strong organsation on the part of the Asians. This victory for the management of one of the worst sweat shops in the Millands was hrought about by the racisa watch perocates the trade union mownicol, combined with a sustained oftensive against the pockets hy the police.
It took eipht weeks to force the Transport and Goneral Workers" Enion to make the strike osticial eight weeks of seguing. promurising, the union's headquarters.
executive, that all tbe company's compunents supplied to the cat industry would he blacked.
This step was essential, and ordinarily it would have heen a for sow working after be had been blinded in one eye by hot metal and demoted.
ind very little of the blacking aeries of factory meetings.
shop sewards committee after Then came promises from members of the district cormittee, ine Jocal officials, and even the national routine matter. It should have heen an automatic reflex of a trade union movement which has lone expenience of dealing with employers ake A.LDunn, the owners of Arl Castings, it who had decided to sack a mulitant But his name was Pawittar Singh, matenalised. The strike committee did not leave it to the TaGWU offici ala. They nut out extensive publicity directly contacted shop stewands committees for lacking and joit pickeling, and went to address a Yel they renainal holated, One another in the Coventry area voled and the union officials were apparent- the union. ly reluctant to press the issue for fear that the stewards would be ousted by racist white workers.
Tbere were excoptions. The call for blacking was supported by AUEW (TASS) members at Alvis, and by one of the shitts at Chrysler, where a number of the workers are T&WU members. Yet when all the T&GWU sewards at Standard Triumph voted in favour of blacking. all the ALEW stewards voted against The position of slopathetic stewards would have been enormously stronger if a full scale campaign had boen launched inside the T& GWU and other unions, but instead the officials chose to capitulate to Fram the start the T&GWU district committee and local officials made it clear that they regarded the dispute as an embarrassment. They were so embarrassed, in fact, that they low students turned up for the fimt sid nothing about the 50 white memhers of the union who continued to work at Art Castings throughour the strike of the scab labour brought in White and Asian workers at the New Inn Bridge plant in Coventry, which supplies all the basic aluminium parts to the Nuneaton factory. were in favour of coming out in solidarity. This could have hrought Art Castings to a standstill. All they asked was that their solidarity strike he made official-but even this was turned down.
All these stabs in the back tot the 83 Asians who had fought for years to establish a strong union delivered them straight into the hands of the law. Their consistent and determined picketing was insufficient to keep out the scabs and bornes, thanks to the equally determined picket-busting of the police.
The answer-muss picketing- wa obvious. and the Asians made every attempt to implement it. But ouly a dozen white workers and a orgarused mass picket. No Juties pot through that day because the pollce could not use the excuse of examin ing immigration papers to remove tbe
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clear that they regarded the dispute as an embarrassment.... they said nothing about the 50 white members of the union who continued to work at Art Castings throughout the strike-or the scab labour brought in by the