Industrial Special Day and night efforts bring Cowley Bell- to - bell BETRAYAL!

Scan page 7

to SO no. 129, April 28 1983. Sp if sold separately Supplement THE 4½ week Cowley strike, like the London Docks strike, the South Yorkshire steel strike and the recent strikes at Ford and in the South Wales coalfield, reflected the willingness and ability of the working class to fight back against the Tory government.

The betrayal of this strike therefore has implications, not just in Cowley, or even BL, but for. the working class as a whole.

some ways the implications outside Cowley are more negative than within the plant.

• The record of the working class in successive strikes since Thatcher came to power in May 1979 has been a willingness to fight. The record of the trade union leaders has been one of opposition to an industrial challenge to the Tories.

Politics

These are the politics which behind the sell-out at Cowley.

Cowley workers are in a powerful strategic position. Their strike instantly affects not only four models in BLs highest-investment plant, but a section of the engineering industry as well. Compare the publicity and the attention of top union leaders for the Cowley strike with London Docks, where workers have been out two weeks longer.

If the trade union leaders wanted to fight, Cowley was a perfect situation to do so. The sell-out of the strike under these conditions makes its effects on the working class more damaging. Many workers will think that if a victory was not possible at Cowley, where is it possible?

If nothing else can be said for Moss Evans, Terry Dutiy, Ken Cure and Grenville Hawley in this issue.. their determination and singlemindedness in getting the Cowley Assembly Plant workers back to work on the company's terms should be recognised. meeting the following day, Friday: "Audited Plant Status will only be introduced in Cowley Assembly from Monday May 16 1983, given cooperation by the workforce in the productivity improvement measures necessary to qualify for APS which includes the 39 hour week, this to be brought about by agreement of the trade unions or by a ballot of the workforce."

Ballot In other words they were saying accept APS (they seem incapable of grasping that the workforce doesn't want it), and accept bell to bell running.

The only problem, they were saying, was that the company wanted to force these things in, and that was undemocratic. Incredibly, they were saying that the way to avoid such an imposi tion was voluntarily to accept BL's terms.

The key sentence is this [APS and bell to bell running] to be brought about by agree. ment of the trade unions or ballot...

This gave them two options -get BL to agree to a ballot, or simply agree to the terms themselves.

The shop stewards committee, meeting immediately before Friday's mass meeting, rejected both management and trade union proposals. Instead they passed a resolution calling. on the workers to reject BL's terms, to continue the strike and to meet again in a week's time.

The mass meeting was very big, with all the 5,000 strikers attending. The mood was not Gave ass at national feel, ahe quite the hardships workers were now facing, were having some effect.

The vote however, was a solid 3-1 in favour of the shop stewards resolution. The problem of the strike was not the resolve of the workers but the manoeuvrings the top.

After the vote, which most workers saw as the end o of the meeting, Buckle announced that there was to be a second vote on the trade union proposals - that BL's terms were OK providing they were voluntarily accepted and not imposed.

There was complete confusion. Hundreds of workers were streaming out of the meeting as Buckle tried to explain the reason for the second vote.

The trade union proposals were then carried with maybe 100 votes in favour and 50 against.

That same evening Evans and Duffy acted on that second vote and met BL. management again, this time in the Holiday Inn near Heathrow.

Final At the meeting the company's terms were formally accepted by the unions. BL presented a document which was their "final offer' and which was accepted by the trade union side. Terry Duffy The key clause read as follows. "In accordance with the collective NU LUKE agreement between the company FOR and the trade unions, both parties reaffirm that Audited Plant Status will be established in Cowley Assembly as soon as it is practically (ORKERS possible, and the trade unions and