Low wages, grim work conditions and race discrimination lie at the roots of the Imperial Typewriters' strike.
Pay is in the region of £25 for men and £18 for women. These rates are respectively £14 and £9 below the national average.
The wages structure is a piece straight from Alice in Wonderland—without the laughs. In Section 61, where the dispute began, the bonus had been based on producing 200 typewriters a day.
This has meant a loss to the workers of over £500 in two years. The agreement stipulated that the bonus rate would be calculated on producing 168 typewriters a day.
Obviously the management were not too disturbed by this 'little oversight' but how explain the union's neglect? The Asian workers were incensed at the lack of interest shown by the union in their pay and working conditions.
NOMINATED
Seventy per cent of the workforce are Asian—mostly in the TGWU. There were only 16 shop stewards for 1600 workers. The Asian workers had nominated three workers as shop stewards. Their nominations were ruled out of order by factory convenor, Reg Weaver. He said to be a steward they had to be union members for two years. Nobody has yet found 'Weaver's two-year rule'. One nominee had been in the union over two years and H Khetani was two weeks short of two years membership.
Section 61 then downed tools. They put out leaflets and 500 Asian workers joined the strike. The great majority of white workers kept working.
From the beginning the strikers have encountered tremendous obstacles. The role of the union has been deplorable. Bromley the local TGWU official, and Weaver, the convenor at Imperial, are old right-wing hacks. They have a long record of collaboration with the employers. The chaotic and discriminatory bonus structure in the factory shows Weaver's efficiency as a convenor. The shop stewards were Weaver appointees, dependent on him for their positions. Weaver has even refused to talk to the strikers claiming that they have been sacked!
DENOUNCED
Bromley, the junior partner in this duo, is less bright but more loud in the mouth. Firstly, he denounced the strikers for not going through the official channels. The [sic] he arrogantly announced that he was not allowing meetings of TGWU branch 5/221. He has talked about 'minorities dictating to majorities' and people who do not 'understand or respect our institutions' and muttered about the possibility of a 'white backlash'.
The militancy of the Asian workers is seen—and quite correctly so—by Bromley and Weaver as a direct challenge to them. Before the workers started demanding their rights and before they insisted on determining what the union did, these two could live nice cosy lives, uninterrupted by having to come into conflict with management. Weaver's job as convenor—with a management-provided office—kept him away from the drudge of the production line. He kept that job by proving his reliability to management, instead of representing the interests of the workers against management. To defend their positions, Weaver and Bromley have used the racism which so deeply affects many workers—the National Front got 9000 votes in Leicester at the last election.
Despite these tremendous obstacles the strike has been fought by the workers with tremendous courage and tenacity. Forced back on their own resources they have been compelled to build their own organisation to fight the strike.
PICKETED
Each day they have picketed the factory at the beginning and end of each shift. Every striker is expected to be on the picket line. Daily mass meetings are held. All the workers are encouraged to participate. These meetings are taped and the strike committee then translates the recordings into a coherent set of demands.
The workers are learning that trade unionism is not simply a matter of electing 'good' officials to represent them. The experience of the mass meeting has shown them the need to run their own organisations and to be involved in taking their own decisions.
They are now beginning to learn that the state is not some neutral benevolent body watching over the interests of all people regardless of class. The Social Security has claimed that they were sacked and therefore
not entitled to benefit. What money they have screwed out of the DHSS has been because they staged two occupations and refused to move until some payments were made.
They have seen the police operate on the picket line. One policeman stood on a striker's foot then said 'move on' threatening to arrest him if he didn't. As the strikers say: 'The police are always nastier and more brutal when there are only Asians on the picket lines. When the TV came down, the police kept quiet and let us do things that they had stopped the day before.'
Arrested strikers going to court have had maximum fines doled out for minor offences like obstruction. Prem Singh Chaggar was fined £18, almost the maximum, although it was his first ever offence. Another striker got fines totalling £78.
Although the local TGWU has consistently supported management against the strikers, the Strike Bulletin of the workers keeps pointing out that they are fighting for the principles of trade unionism and a strong democratic union.
Imperial is a fight for trade union principles. If the labour movement cannot come to the support of black workers fighting for improved pay and conditions then it will be unable to defend itself in future battles with the employers.
CORRECT
Unfortunately, some trade union members and even some left-wing socialists turn reality on its head. They see these struggles of black workers as struggles that split the working class. Of course black workers do have to wage strikes strikes [sic] on their own. This is because the white workers have refused to join them. The black workers are correct not to sit back and wait. By taking up the fight now they set a real example of how to unify the working class.
Mathers, the area TGWU official, says he is worried about the National Front in Leicester. If he is serious about that then the Imperial strikers have given him an excellent opportunity to deal a real blow at the NF. A victory for this strike would demoralise the NF.
An Inquiry has been ordered by the TGWU into 'all the circumstances leading up to the dispute.' The Inquiry has been held but its findings still remain unpublished. This means that the strike remains unofficial—no strike pay, no solidarity blacking actions, no use of the union's resources. This delay can only help the employers. It enables them to maintain 50 per cent production and they hope the strikers will be starved back to work.
IMPLICATIONS
The political implications of this strike are immense. The ruling class know that if they are going to solve their problems they must smash the working class. They know that they cannot defeat a united working class—hence they try and use every division inside the working class. In Oxford they tried to use Mrs Miller and her break-a-strike mob. At Leicester they try and use racism. By use of the Immigration Acts and using racism in the factory they are setting out to create a demoralised and intimidated cheap labour force.
Black workers are fighting back against this. The strikes at Crepe-Sizes, Mansfield Hosiery, Standard Telephone, Art Castings, and now Imperial show this. They refuse to be cowed. They are against rotten wages, intolerable conditions and racism. This strike demands the support of every militant who is serious about fighting the capitalist offensive. Members of the TGWU should put resolutions down in their branches insisting that the:
TGWU make the strike official now.
The results of the Inquiry be published immediately
The TGWU give full financial and blacking support
The TGWU organise mass meetings of its members at all Litton factories and outlets to extend solidarity actions
Supporters of the strike in every area should take the following steps:
Organise pickets at all Litton factories and show rooms
Collect finance in union branches, on the job and at meetings
Arrange local meetings on support for Imperial strikers, in defence of immigrant workers and in defence of pickets.
Rally support from the unions and all supporters of the strike for the mass picket on 16 July.
There should also be a national conference organised to support the strike and discuss how to organise on-going solidarity actions to support future disputes. This conference should be organised by immigrant workers' organisations and trade union members.