Leyland rescue plus lunched by car bosses Stokes and Barber, the sectional strike of Cowley engine tuners grinds on. On Monday the strikers voted by 104 to 91 to continue their unofficial strike in support of their claim for skilled status.
A tuners lot is not a happy one, Petty bureaucratic rivalry between the Transport and General Workers Union and the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers stimulated by the AUEW's desire to boost its own membership, has manocuvred the tuners into their hasty and divisive uction.
British Leyland have no intention oi granting the tuners claim for skiilled status. To do so would cut right across the principles of Measured Day Work which they fought so hard to introduce, and lead to the kind of leap frogging soctional demands that prevailed under the old piece-rate system.
HOSTILE The aspambly workers rerain hostile lo the tuners claim, which they regard as perry and etitist as well as inopportinie They are cooperating with management to ensute as few rejects as possible, birt even so, saristictory production is lar below the 80per cont mark that mana cement is clatnuine. Manapement I: been able to exploit the non's genuine ears goodt intee da? Packing and mass redundancies to render the assembly stewards powerless to intervene in the This sharp division has had its effocts on the AUEW hureaucracy. In a shameful abdication of responsibility, the National Executive Commitice refused cven ta consider the sicuation er its mooting on Tuesday 13 Jamunry.
Such hypocrisy can rarely have been rivailed. Appstently Reg Bisch, the Divsional Executive member and the ALEN Executive's owa house trained Macist, "forgot" to raise the matter.
Haviop stirred up the horsels best the buraucracy bes cow renated to its customary position of sitting on the fence, Since Iber know that to doclare the strike oflicial wauld tear the unions apart inside the plant.
untes were not chough, the tuners have had to suffer Wilson's wrath as be her pearls of wisdom', DULLET As if those manipulations and manoestruggles to presceve his social contract with the bosses, and the whinings of that strike-breaking hysteric Mrs. Miller. Although representing minial farces she has been built up hy an army of Pieet Street reporters who huve nothing better to do than camp on ber doorstep waiting lor Her Line, predictably, bas been to fight. blame the tutors for the threat of short time, redundancies and closure. Ana moarbpiece for company propaganda she clearly has no equal -even Symonds, the Company Plant Director, couldn't do However, womon trade unionists within the plant and throughout Oxford and They are now better prepared to deat with her antics than during the strike over the victimisation of leading shop steward Alan Thornet aulier this year Hut, as the accompanying article shows it is in the overall context of the crisis in the car industry, and British Leyland in seen. It is not the action of the tuners hut the collapse of the car marker and the rea ulting fierce international competition for survival which causes British Leyland TO JOEYE OCRO TEC OLICESIYE ALCOWIC a vicious increase in productivity is on the cards. Under cover afa reduction le Marina track speeds a savage de-manning operation is planned. So-called surplus labour" will he absorbed on the new model but pren the world stump in car sales this can only be the thin cod of the wedge NO LEAD The bankruptcy of Lsbour's plans are obvious. But che Combine Committee has no strategy except to discuss ratties and dabos and to tinker with British Leyland': "participation' charade so beloved by Bear In this situation the Cowley assembly worcers new cinim forn further E12 a week assumes tremendous inportano: The TGWU Senior Steward, red-baiting Reg Parsons will almost certainty use the dire straits of British Leyland to avoid a Militants will have to steele, against the streams, for an all-out light against any retreat on the claim.
And to be brought to a succossful conclusion it will be necessary to see this light a part of a broad strategy for the nationalisation of the car industry without compensation and under workers control.
Cowey IMG
IN THE PRINT