Oil workers of the world unite!

Scan page 12

congratulate you on the crisper and n I WAS glad to see your oil and petrochemicals supplement last week. One point which could have been covered more was international links.

Typical of a chemical multinational, chopping jobs, is Akzo, where I work. In June of this year stewards representing various European locations met to determine how to combat the multinationals' destruction of jobs.

Akzo, which also operates in textiles as British Enkalon, has axed plants in Liverpool, Todmorden, Middlesborough, as well as the giant nylon site in N. Ireland.

That followed closely on the closure of the Ferenka site (textile cords for the tyre industry) in Eire, combined loss of over 8,000 jobs.

Dutch stewards reported on the deterrent of statutory financial penalties, and the Union's legal right to oppose job losses as how they were successful in defending jobs.

Akzo's defeat at the hands of united action across Europe, when they tried to victimize seven Spanish trade unionists, and the successful defence of 10,000 textile jobs in Breda (Netherlands) by occupation, and sympathy strikes in various countries, determined the conclusion, of the meeting - that united action on a scale that crosses national boundaries is necessary to stop multinaional giants like Akzo destroying jobs, and contact at international level is required to guard against trade unionists being divided along national lines.

The official movement as represented by the TGWU is putting out inadequate calls to halt the closures, cy, enggovernment polireverse cy. the misuse Dear Comrades, As it is one year since the relaunch of Socialist Organiser, I would like to Party Conference BRIEFING For just £2 you can get this amount of space to urge delegates to back a resolution that you support, to remember an issue you feel strongly about or come to a meeting you are organising ... and its amazing how much you can cram into a space this size!

Just write to Nik Barstow, c/o 41 Ellington Street, London N7. Britain s oil resources which without the support of direct and united action is doomed to failure.

There are numerous combines, such as Shell, ICI and Akzo, but these are hampered from taking courdinated action by union structures, plagued by divisions deliberately created by the bosses organisation (Chemical Industries Association/ to separate workers by the device of differing settlement dates and pay structures.

There have been attempts, like the recent Chemical Combine meeting in Nottingham, to create a united shopfloor response to the industry's problems. Unfortunately the meeting spent most of its time on barganing structures, without coming to grips with producing a unifying response to job losses, although hopefully in the next meeting in October will take up the issue.

Taking as a typical example the Greater Manchester area, job losses continue unabated, the largest of which is the threat to the Shell plant at Corrington.

Campaigning to stop job losses at the site must be organised not only on a basis of action obviously of a company-wide nature, but also by activating a co-ordinating response from the many other plants within the region, which includes multinationals like ICI, Ciba Geigy, Akzo. The blacking of Shell products by workers determined to stand together would cause havoc in the ranks of the bosses.

Building such a campaign will require the backing of the mass membership at Shell, and their. involvement in preparing and distributing broadsheets; speakers will be required to call on congratulate you on the overall standard maintained by the paper. In this context, and fully understanding the difficulties of producing • such a paper regularly, I would like to make several fraternal comments and criticisms.

First of all there is a real problem. Despite tremendous improvement in the layout - particularly the photographs - the paper still seems to packed. Changing this, however, would mean cutting back on vital coverage. There is no problem for committed readers but new readers might find the tremendous acreage of newsprint a bit forbidding. I don't know what can be done about this.

Secondly, I would like to see a slightly more popular and simpler style in the writing. I think it is patronising to argue that workers will not read long articles. There must be a bit of a challenge and people will relate to the paper overall.

But I would like to see front and back pagedand page 2 and three made 15.1 fellow trade unionists for funds and backing.

A necessary call is for a joint meeting of stewards within the Manchester area, whose task must be to co-ordinate the defence of jobs, not just at Shell, but at any other plant threatened. A successful defence of jobs by broad united action, will then be a springboard for the shopcrisper and more arresting -then people will take longer articles in the middle pages I would also like to see the writing made a bit more humorous and pop journalistic, as in Press Gang and Graffiti, without going to the level of the Socialist Worker.

Thirdly there has been a drop off in the debate content of the paper in the last six months. I would like to see a series of people - SO writers and others -such as Vladimir Derer, Reg Race, Chris Mullin, Tariq Ali, etc., asked to contribute on how they see the way forward for the Debate SO. s coverage on the industrial struggle has been improved in the past year but has also lacked a debate framework. How about a similar series of articies discussing the way forward here?

Whilst maintaining its own distinctive approach these suggestions could involve wider sections floor to take on the task of organising nationally, where with potentially tion of oil/chemical jobs and her criminal wasting of our North Sea assets can be halted.

Tom Hart Rochdale around S.O.

Finally, 1 thil S.O. has been al abominable in whi be called culture wider world.

Culture

Music, sport, literature. and art are political. yet they are just not covered in S.O. Whatever happened to the rock column? Why is there not a weekly TV column? Coverage of films is sporadie to put it mildly!

What readers appreciate here is regularity. S.O. should ensure that at least one and a half pages every week is given over to these matters.

They are vitally important. Politics is more than strikes and Labour Part! meetings and this must find significant and regular recognition in the paper Yours fraternally Rocky Sullivan.

O)rmskirk, Lanes. that Itely ight the " Hir rekor• end a the ! hr uplo i dal mandimu length of +00 Send lo Writebach.

Socalei Organiser in 1s. Middle Lie. London As. we Dear Socialist Organiser, Raymond Attwell in his plea •Defend the Kray Twins' has placed his finger on a central dilemma

----- pull-quotes -----

greater strength than the miners, Thatcher's destruc-