LAST WEEK the Labour Government announced that its Petroleum Revenue Tax on the ail monopolies operating in the North Sea would be levied at the rate of 45% the lowest of the alternatives proposed. The smiles of the oil companies at this passport to super-protits have only been matched by the havoc unleashed by the oil boom on local facilities in Aberdeen, the major service base for North Sea development.
Most workers in Scotland look to Aberdeen as the new Mecca — a place guaranteeing high wages and high living standards. The truth is somewhat different. Aberdeen has not escaped the effects of the deepening capitalist crisis, and it too is suffering from massive cuts in social expenditure in the areas of health, education and housing. It is probably in housing that the real effects of the oil companjes operations in the North Sea recently been paid off at Ferrograch and 90 at Alen Braciey's closure.
What are the reasons for the closure?
The reasoro they give is the fall in the order books. In otber words they blame the recession on the world market and the subsequent cutback in Tube Investment's organi sation and investment.
But men were working overtime last week and there was plenty of work to keep us going Until they open up the order books to let us examine them, until they make a full account of the situation to le workforce, we cannot accept anything they say.
What support is the occupation are most dramatically seen.
At the end of the 1960s the waiting list for council houses was down to virtually zero. So the Aberdeen County Council drastically cut back on the number of council houses being built - blithely ignoring the fact that the discovery of substantial pis deposits and the possibility of oll finds in the North Sea would greatly increase the working population of the area in the years to come.
Pat Kane The result was that while the amount of available housing dercased, the incoming wave of workers from the depressed West of Scotland increased, and in the space of two years a huge housing shortage developed. The waiting list for council housing now stands at 4,500, and there are an average 110-130 new the Labour-controlled Couneil do but grant more plansing permission for office blocks!
ation the chances of getting one of the 1,000 new council houses built 33 points to quality for a council house, one of the highest rates in Scotland. Points are a system of assessing living conditions 33 points you have to be living in sum conditions.
Council bousing is bowever a Little easier to get if you happen to be an incoming oil executive or *with the Council, these categories require no points. In Dyce, a large housing estate on the outskirts of Aberdeen, Jocal tenants estimate that 20% of the estate is occupied by American oil workers. applications each day. So what dues With the points system of alloc last year are slim. Just now you need spat housing and to pet "developer.
priority oil worker (gencrally middle management levels). By arrangement years time.
SPECULATORS ріаля. tradictory, Iknow SMALL FLATS in the form of loining our pickets or How much have you been influhas become an accepted tactic in the fight against the employers, especialObviously Tube levestments are and particularly in the present period, The local Labour Council's bias towards the oil monopolies is also shown in its allocation of building allotments. At prosent it intends to sell aliotment ground to Shell UK Exploration & Production Lid to help overcome their housing shortage. This land has curiously been described as 'unsuitable for municFaced with an immediate need Council. This does sound contradictory, I know." -property for low-cost housing, Kincardine County Council are discussing devclopment plans by Christian Salvensen (Properlies Ltd) for the building of 2,500 executive houses seven miles outside Aberdeen. Unfortunat ely for the County Council planners, however, there is one small snag most of the oil executives who would inhabit this suburban haven will have left the area by the time the development is completed in 12 But il is in the private sector that the oil boom is having its most devastating etfects. In the late 196Us a lew property speculators, mostly from Glasgow and London, realised the possihility of making vast profits by peddling sium houses for ext ortionate rents. The most vicious of these is a man named Rio Stakis Over the last 20 years Stakis has built up an empire worth an estimated E30 million in hotels, pubs and restaurants. Through a subsidiary, Kavenstone Securities, he has been buying up property in Aberdeen mostly small Bats- in order to derelop them into botel and office complexes. One tactic the company uses is not to carry out essential repairs to the houses and flats. The hope is that the tenants will find other accomnindation so that Stakis can concinue their development His was spelt out by a Stakis spokesman, David Donald, in a recent interview with Aberdeen Peopie's Press, a local paper: "By not doing repairs. Milne & Mackinnon | Ravenstone's agents| are actually helping the temant. The properties will get worse and the tenant will be rehoused by the Council This does sound con These practices are common to most properly firms. Small flats tenement flats occupied by students and low-paid workers.
Faced with the combined weight of the oil monopolies and the property speculators behind these attacks on workers" living standards, the task of fighting back seems immense. Certainly it is not made any casier hy "friends" in the labour movement like the local Labour Council, which oney objected to the Tory Housing (Finan cial Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1972 because il wanted to raise rents by mote than the Act allowed!
Already, bowever, there have been the beginnings of some organised resistance in the University through squats on council property. But se watting by itself is not cough. A strategy is needed for making the oil companies pay through increased rates for the havoc they have unleash ed on the social conditions of the working class. Unless a campaign is built for the esrablishing of a workers enquiry into the allocation of public funds, the oil monopolies will contince to make secret deals with local SOFEEERICOT This fight to defend and improve social conditions in the North-Fast of Scotland must involve all work ers in the oil-related and traditional industries. students, tenants" assoc iations, ete. If this is not done, then migrant workers will still end up in carps described by one local trade unionist as the Long Kesh of the North East'; and students and low-paid workers will continue to be puwas in the hands of the property speculators and oil monopolies.
CORRECTION NO, THE IMG HAS NOT EMBRACED STALINISMI la The Serie or Dur Hiltory' column in the last issue of Red Weekly an unfor tunste typographical error docurred which implied that we give support to the decisions of the fifth world congress of the Third Intornational. This is not of course the case-we base ourselves on the documents of the first four congresses af the Corintern. By the fifth congress decitive control af the Internationa hed passed to Stalin's burnsuerstic apparatus. It was in fact et this congress that the pernic our theary af 'socialism Apologies for this error.
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"By not doing repairs, we are actually helping the tenant. The properties get worse and the tenant will be rehoused by the