Cowley climbdown

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Led our own morale", said Pete Rowan, chairperson of the Joint Shop Stewards' Committee. 'With the shift system we have on the picket -lines, some people had started to think that their shift were the only ones left and had become a bit despondent. Seeing everyone together cheered everyone up"

The main problem now, with the ending of the Doncaster picket, is how to put direct pressure on Snipe -not that he is having an easy time himself. He is being taken to a tribunal by 95 workers at his Norwich factory who were sacked at sums to the Scotts workers, but they are hoping that the meeting can be used to reopen discussions on the issue of their jobs.

Local factories are being circulated again with an appeal for funds. It seems that some of them need their memories jogging on the fact that the strike is still on. A new issue of the strike bulletin is also being printed.

A major stumbling block to winning the dist. e is still, as ever, the trade union bureaucrats. Pete Rowan is not at all impressed with the election of Arthur Scargill as president of the NUM. "He said in his election address that Executive Council has seriously mishandled the Laurence Scotts dispute. As this is an issue of concern to all AUEW members, the branch demands a ballot for the removal of Executive Council in line with Rule 14 para 5."

All resolutions should sent to the AUEW general office and to the strike committee at 20 Round Croft, Romiley, Cheshire.

"We probably won't win a ballot - we need two thirds of the membership for that - but we might embarrass the Exec into doing something" MANAGEMENT at the BL Cowley Assembly Plant have backed down - for now -on their plans to cut Relaxation Allowance (RA) breaks by 10 minutes a shift.

Mass meetings last week voted to counter the 10minute cut by reducing the working day and night by 15 minutes, ie. clocking off 15 minutes early. Management responded by calling in the officials, who agreed to attend the conference only if BL withdrew their plans to implement the ten minute cut unilaterally from January 11.

Management agreed, and a conference was held on Tuesday 12th.

At the conference, they withdrew their proposals on the RA, and are talking about some other form of 'funding' the reduction in the working week from 40 to 39 hours under the national engineering agreement. A further conference is to be held as we go to press.

Management say that if the unions fail to agree, they will announce a new date for the implementation of their new proposals.

The sell-out of the RA strike at Longbridge is the background to all these moves.

At the Cowley Body Plant, management .. are talking about the Longbridge agreement, but have not yet mentioned an implementation date.

BILL PETERS