of Living.
Have any of your members in Cos entry been involved in threshold struggles?
has actually been the lack of setticments. For example, in British Leyland the management are steadfastly refusing to concede unything on threshold. Also in GEC, where we combine, a number of sanctions have been applied to get some improvement on the company's £1.60 offer, At Wickman's we didn't have any members actually in dispute but our members didn't cross the picket lines - that was physically impossible in any case! The trouble with the existing thresholds is that even if you get the full settlement, it leaves you sub stantially behind the increase in the cost of living.
CONFERENCE COST OF LIVING INCREASES ST JOHNS, COVENTRY SPONSORED BY E5. George Hope, Divisional Organi si, AUEW (TASS).
L. Smith, TGWU Shop Steward, GEC Stoke Works.
Jahn Fisher, ASTMS Divisional STEICHE ham Machine Tools, about the conference to be held in Coventry on Thresholds and the Cos One of the disappointing things have a lot of members throughout the the conference?
TRADE UNION SPONSORED R. Burdett, AUEW Convenor, Wick Snake the strike official. What do you think of a struggle for real cost of living increases, a proper sliding scale of wages?
Well, I would certainly encourage my members to take action in support of threshold-type settlements on top of erneral substantial increases In British Leyland we've been settling for amounts in excess of Governmont norms, but it's still leaving our mem bers falling behind the cost of living If you get a 10% rise in wages after a 10% rise in the cost of living you're worse off because of tax ete.
How is support being organised for What I've done is circulated our major office committees, and our District Committee on Saturday agreed to send representatives tu the conferenoe. I chink it is essential for all groups of workers, politicully APPRENTICES at the Barr and Strond engineering factory in Glasgow are on strike against mannge ment's attempts to impose reduced threshold payments for apprentices.
They have the support of the rest of the work force who have agreed to a fl a wock levy per man for the strikers and to black any work nuemally done by apprentices.
The dispute, however, is still unofficial, as the local official of the AUEW are all on holiday. But an ominous sign is that the locat wing of the Canfederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Umons KOSEL) is in fopour of praded thirosholds for apprentices and junior worker! The success of this strike deponds on how much local trade union support can he won to pait pressuce on the local bureaucracy to The apprentices and young workers have a pood rocord hehind theis. They
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2 pm - Satirday 10th August TGWU HALL, RINGWAY
APPRENTICES STRIKE FOR FULL THRESHOLD