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ship in BL icked the closure plans. etween 1978-80 7,000 Jobs ere chopped in Leyianc chicles alone, doubling Iwardes' original prosal.

The Leyland Vehicles anagement now intend to nnibalise the Trucks ivision into seven separe entities or 'profit cenes', each supposedly to i 'profitable in its own ght '. In other words, the brd Workers' Group gave . very interesting account I the Ford sell-out. He ressed the unity of the truggle in the car industry, le parallels between the no sell-outs, and the effit the BL sell-out had had in the Ford workforce.

He tentatively proposed joint conference later in he year between the Ford Norkers' Group and the AC.

The final session conbosses are lining up a sell-off of publicly financed factories to private enterprise.

Leyland Vehicles has. traditionally been the most profitable sector of BL making $20 million a year in the 1970s. Bul while Leyland Vehicles' international competitors like Ford, Daf and Volvo underwent a process of continual modernisation in the "70s, the profits from Leyland Vehicles were siphoned off elsewhere. @BL Fightingback The consequence was a drop in Leyland Vehicles' market share from 27 per cent in 1976 to 19.5% in 1980, dated plant and machinery, outmoded products, poor after-sales service, and an incompetent management.

Management's argument that 'excessive cost factors necessitate wholesale redundancies' is contradicted by the Financial Times, hardly a friend of the workers, which reported (17.9.81) that: 'Our truck purchaser review demonstrates that Leyland Vehicles' main selling point was its low costs, and that vehicle price was only the fourth most important factor in deciding which truck to buy (after efficient backup services and the vehicle reliability)' Furthermore, the capitalist journal 'Truck' had this to say: 'Leyland Vehicles has suffered from decades of neglect and under-investment' ', but 'in terms of product, Leyland Vehicles has never been in such a competitive position' . It then predicts that 'in 1982 the UK market for trucks above 3.5 tonnes will be up by 20 per cent' (Truck, Nov. 1981).

The woeful inadequacy of investment is highlighted by the fact that while Leyland Vehicles received £70 million over the last four years, Cummins (a US competitor) was investing £40 million per year.

A pathetic $2.5 million centrated on building the LAC. The report stressed that the organisers do not see the LAC as an alternative to the Combine Committee, but as a group fighting for principled leadership within it.

Decisions were taken to formalise LAC membership with a weekly contribution of 20p. This, along with other fund-raising activities, will help finance the Bulletin, which is playing an important role in BL.

target the most of ronnaihas been spent on machine tools, the life-blood of any engineering company.

The mindless monetarists are dismembering not just BL, but whole parts of British industry. At the present rate of decline the UK will end up as a backwater warehouse for the major multinationals.

The UK market for trucks over the last couple of years has also been affected by the international recession. The UK demand for trucks in 1981 was half the 1979 level. In the north west alone, the following firms have been hit:

• Seddon Atkinsons (owned by the US company International Harvester). Preston plant closed in February 1981: 428 jobs gone:

• Seddon Atkinsons, Oldham: 300 jobs lost, and ominous signs of more to go.

• Fodens (renamed Sandbach Engineering): bankrupt 1980, bought by US company Paccar International. 1600 workers down the road!

• ERF: 1981 - 450 jobs lost. 1982 - closure announced, another 800 jobs to be chopped?

• Leyland Vehicles: 1980 -81: 2000 jobs lost. 1982: 1855 jobs to be axed?

Dave Hewitt, chairperson the North Lanes CSEU, says: "The latest announcement spells the end of Leyland as a manufacturer of major units. It is difficult. not to believe that this has been a deliberate plan by the BL Board right from the start, and that we have been told a pack of lies for three years. "Toe reorgaridatida cied proposed realnaanues presented by management in November must be thrown out. We must refuse to allow implementation, and fight for the future of the industry'.

And the 'streamlining operation' is being financed through public tunds (1.e. workers' taxes), so that private monopolies can make a rich killing on the market.

Stan Thorne, Labour MP

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PHOTO: John Sturrock (Report) PHOTO (Report)

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