Bed-pian deal cost jobs

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Steel workers face mass victimisation WITH THE way Staff National Tribunal shortly after their publication on March 15, the three rail unions have paved the way for a massive attack by the British Rail Board (BRB) on railway jobs.

The effect of the 'award' will be to reduce the number of guards' jobs from the present 12,000 to maybe half that number within three to five years.

ers' assistants' jobs could also be in jeopardy.

RSNT 79 awards a £6 per shift payment for Driver Only Operation (DOO) - immediately on the Bedford/St Pancras service and freight trains. DOO is to be extended to all forms of traction within the next few years.

The saving to BR will be considerable. For a miserable few pounds, thousands of jobs have been sold.

The new agreement provides for no real protection of either guards' or footplate jobs. It remains for the NUR and ASLEF Buckton: jobs sold for a ittance to strike in the public sector who in the recent past have been prepared to fight for, and win, a decent living wage.

The government will be waiting eagerly to see whether a fight is forthcoming over this provocative action. It is clear that if they see any sign of weakness they will continue on the attack, and are keen to implement job cuts, and to decimate the already stretched level of fire cover.

The FBU leadership, under pressure from the membership, have called a recall conference for the middle of this month. They are recommending a series of one-day strikes to force the government to rescind the increase.

In 1981, the threat of this kind of action forced the government to maintain the firemen's pay formula, which they wanted to ditch. Most firefighters believe this will be enough this time. Militants should be arguing support for the EC recommendation at delegate-mandating meetings, but should argue that this should become all-out strike action if one fireman is locked out by the empioyers (as is possible), or if it becomes clear that one-day strikes are not having the deşired effect on the government.

If the strike does go ahead, that a strong and representative rank and file based organisation is ready at that pointto make the strike as effective as possible from the start. The 'kid gloves' treatment that was given to the army in the 1977/8 national strike meant that it dragged on for 9 wecks. This must not happen to reach agreement between themselves on the 'Trainmen' concept, which will allow guards to enter into the footplate line of promotion. An internecine struggle is likely, each union trying to 'save' the jobs of its own member grades.

BR were anxious not to get into a wrangle on precise wording when ASLEF were prepared to accept a mere {6 per shift payment for DOO and to relax the manning agreement.

Apart from verbal assurances that BR will retain a job for all men displaced by these new agreements, neither ASLEF nor the NUR have obtained anything in writing that will protect jobs.

There is no question that the Serpell report, whichever of its options is chosen, represents an extensive attack on the industry. The verbal commitment of the union leaders to fight Serpell must be translated into a concrete programme of action.

But here and now tub-thumping speeches against the report are a smokescreen for the refusal of the executives of both ASLEF and NUR to defend jobs.

Single-manning is the most immediate threat to thousands of jobs on BR. If the jobs of guards and drivers' assistants are not defended with action, then the fight against Serpell will be immeasürably weakened. oy George Peters PRODUCTION workers in the GMBATU at Stanton Spun Plant of BSC will be meeting on Sunday April 10 to consider strike action in response to management's attempts to start mass victimisations at the works.

In the latest round of redundancies, management declared some three months ago that they would no longer be restricted to volunteers. In the list announced on March 30, only half of the 85 were volunteers. The others are alleged to have been chosen on grounds of, among other things, 'lack of discipline' They include a leading shop steward, Glyn Griffith, a former branch chair, Gordon West, and the chair of the recently formed dispute committee for fighting redundancies, Pete Radcliff.

Most of the other 40 named are clearly chosen because they have resisted speed up and manning reductions.

The local GMBATU branch decided at a meeting attended by 200 workers on March 20 that it would oppose any attempt at compulsory redundancies. An overtime ban was introduced, and all-out strike action would be the immediate response to any redundancy notices. A dispute committee was also established.

Overtime

The overtime ban was taken up enthusiastically by the workforce, much to the surprise of many union activists.

If successful, these victimisations wouid allow the management to hold the threat of the sack of any worker who either individually obstructs speed-up or organises through the union against it.

But though the workers have demonstrated a keen desire to fight, convenor Brian McGinley and leading shop stewards have shown the opposite.

To start with, they allowed the suspension from work of shop steward Glyn Griffith for distributing a leafict from the dispute committee explaining the overby Steve Good AN ANTI-UNION drive against NUR and ASLEF members at Kings Cross depot has been broken by highly effective action involving both guards and drivers.

An agreement between management and traincrew union reps has placed both unions in an even stronger position than before the dispute.

As reported in a previous issue of SO, a strike by NUR and ASLEF members on February 11 marked the beginning of a campaign of industrial action to beat back management's offensive on discipline and against local union organisation. The dispute finally involved the General Management of the entire Eastern Region and fulltime officials of both the unions concerned.

The management climbdown is explained by two major factors. Firstly, the offensive was time ban and strike call. Union activists were not even informed by the convenor.

Then, while this steward was suspended, they agreed, and engineered with management, from March 28 to 30, the calling off across the works of the overtime ban, merely on the promise that management would re enter negotiations.

Management used this moment to notify the workforce of their hit list, on March 31.

The branch policy of immediate strike action was sabotaged by the shop stewards' seeming acceptance of the victimisations. A rolling strike from plant to • CHANCE WALES TOe NARED TOBS PEOPLES MARCHED FOR JOBSE carried out in a way which provoked a very militant response from the rank and file. BR's new style managers are undoubtedly being encouraged to get tough by the BRB, but they lack the professional expertise that BL's hardliners have developed in coping with a strong section of the working class.

Secondly, the militaney of ASLEF and NUR members is by no means broken." The strength of the action demonstrated the capacity of workers to fight even under conditions of a sharp and quite conscious management attack.

All the indications are that the Area Manager responsible for the clampdown will be shipped out.

Management will undoubtedly be looking for a better candidate to solve their 'disciplinary' problems: but, judging by the recent industrial action, workers at Kings Cross are prepared for it. plant was hampered by management's refusal to allow plant meetings, and their threat to discipline stewards calling them.

After convenor McGinley's failure to defend Glyn Griffith, it is not surprising that plant walk outs did not happen.

There is no doubt that had the overtime ban not been called off, a solid strike of the 800 Stanton Spun G&M workers would now be in progress. Instead, it is up to the branch meeting on the 10th - after the plant's Easter week holiday - to reaffirm the strike call, and for those firmly in favour of the strike to take control of the dispute.

now out of the People's March for Jobs 1983. here will be seven legs — from Glasgow, starting April 23, Land's End (May 11), Liverpool (May 9), Newcastle on Tyne (April 30), Keighley (April 27), Hull (May 1), and Great Yarmouth (May 21) -all merging to enter London on June 4/5.

The 500 'core' marchers will be selected by the Regional TUCs, though the TUC organisers say they expect more to join sections of the march along the way.

Ron Todd, chair of the national organising committee, told a press conference on March 28 that he expected "at least a March, or form one if it doesn't exist.

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With more extensive 'single manning' of trains, 6,000 driv-