LONDON ¢ PARIS ¢ MOSCOW ® RIOD

WORLD CRISIS

In Britain

_ By JOHN WILLIAMSON
ee (London)

ce the entire British working
ee Ss 's the victim of the consequences
Or the “freeze and squeeze” policies of
© Labor government, the auto indus-
eet its workers are in the very
: Te of it—as far as suffering and

8gle against these consequences are
Oncerned,

The entire auto industry, except
» IS suffering: layoffs (euphemis-
Y called redundancy or redeploy-
aia Short time and of course wage
bat "i As we entered the second week
bere vember 100,000 motor car work-

_~ Were either sacked, laid off or
Working short time.

Be the British Motors Corporation
000 were laid off permanently, while
" Rootes such layoffs included 700 in
pe anty. 400 at Stoke, 200 at Ryton
"nd 557 in Linwood (near Glasgow).
Protest stoppages and strikes against
bin Undancy and refusal of employers
te Share the work are sweeping the
iidustry. In the big B.M.C. Austin plant
: Birmingham. 12,000 are out of work
afcause of the strike of 600 transport

.

malvers,

300) BMC. Morris Radiators factory,
ae Went on unofficial strike against
fervor of 30 workers, but this af-
ih <a 6,500 workers in B.M.C. plants.
«. 00tes at Linwood 3,000 went on a
Ae Slow’ in protest against the layoffs
nd 'the Management closed the plant.
getter the permanent dismissals the
; Ran in the middle of November is:
Work C: Of the remaining 97,000
34 €rs, 40,000 are on short-time and
| ete are temporarily laid off or on

jy Slandara Triumph: Out of a total of
900 nearly 7,000 are on short-time.
half es Chryslers: Of their 20,000,
idle are on short-time and 3,000 are
any 2Uxhalls (G.M.): Of 19,000, 5,000
: nei Short-time but the entire factory
reg Teatened to be closed down as a
Ult of the discontent.
ieoch an upheaval has its repercus-
ancl mediately in the car component
I now ary industry. Short-time work is
6,000 the order of the day affecting
lop in Lucas Company; 3,700 in Dun-
Glac  Dber; 1,500 in Triplex Safety
Ss; 500 in Qualcast Foundries, etc.

in ae big G.M.-owned Vauxhall plant
: with always advertised as a plant

Model labor relations, was the
: Gn ac few weeks ago of anti-Ameri-
Sang €monstrations by several thou-
ae of its workers. The immediate
ito + Was the failure of the company
: eet the paint shop on the weekend,
fib the workers returned they. re-
to work until the shop was clean-

€ company not only sent them
the eeu also 500 other workers from
Work Tim shop. The next day these
e €rs refused to work until assured
Th st pay for the time sent home.

ee Company refused and sent home

home

5,000 workers,

ee this point the front offiice was

tan sith the workers. They first

“Who €d “We want Kelly”, an American

The 'S the director of manufacturing.
Y then demanded to see David Heg-

land, also an American, who is the
managing director. Both refused to see
them. The men then took up the slogan
“Yanks, Go Home”.

The crowd chanted “string him up”
every time a director’s name was men-
tioned. They sang the Red Flag, refused
to allow any trucks to enter or leave,
unhitched trailers and generally created
chaos.

Behind the immediate issue is a
smouldering discontent at the pay
freeze, threat of unemployment and
increased introduction of American
management methods. Even the Daily
Telegraph, while condemning the men,
said that Kelly, who came to Luton
from the G.M.-Opel plant in West Ger-
many where he nearly doubled produc-
tion, “is something of a Detroit whiz-
kid”. oe

On the Vauxhall Board of Directors,
5 of the 11 members are American.
Like Fords, Vauxhall is now 100 per-
cent American-owned. Last year this
plant made a net profit of £13,000,000,
of which £7,500,000 went back to De-
troit. Over the past decade the pattern
has been the same with over half the
net profits being returned to America.

A shop steward, interviewed by a
capitalist paper about the rumpus, said
“The American attitude is to get the
maximum out of the firm for Detroit.
We are the most productive and profit-
able car plant in the country and the
wages are lowest”. No wonder the
Sunday Telegraph commented “Neither
workers nor management have yet re-
covered their surprise and alarm at
this ugly incident... to steal a phrase
from Vauxhall’s publicity blurb for its
newest model ‘the jet-smooth, whisper-
quiet’ atmosphere had gone, possibly
forever”. :

While the motor manufacturers ac-
cuse the government of creating
“havoc” and “chaos” in the motor in-
dustry it is clear they took advantage
of Labor government policy of creating

at least half a million unemployed, to —

go on the offensive against the workers
and their shop stewards.
The top leaders of the trade unions
involved have had meetings with the
government to ask for a reversal of

policy for the car industry. But Harold

Wilson himself turned them down cold
declaring there would be no relaxation
in hire purchase restrictions, that work-
sharing could not be tolerated, and that
unemployment would have to continue
to rise until the present crisis is * sorted
eee of the supposed aims of the
Labor government freeze policy — as
dictated by the City and international
bankers — was to help the export in-
dustries. Car exports under the now
deserted National Plan were expected
to grow from £681] million in 1964 to
£911 million in 1970 while the demand
in the home market was to grow by
6 percent yearly. wae

: oA it is aeceely this industry which
js among the hardest hit. At a mass
meeting in Birmingham, the heart of
dustry, Communist Party General Sec-
retary, John.Gollan, said while setting
the pace for all Britain’s AOTKETS in
fighting the government’s “freeze and
squeeze’ policies, it was time too for
the auto workers “to consider the na-
tionalization of this great industry”.

NEIRO © PEKIN

In United States

By WILLIAM ALLAN
(Detroit) —

Pre-holiday cutbacks in auto produc-
tion loom with General Motors cutting
45,000 cars out of its production sche-
dule which means 20,000 to 30,000 jobs
of workers effected. The GM cut will
be for December-January. :

GM cut back in November, 40,000
but called no layoffs. Ford cut back
30,000 units in November, Chrysler cut
back 5,000. So far Ford-Chrysler have
made no announcement of cutbacks like
GM for December and January but they
are expected.

Sales of cars fell 50,000 in October,
compared with a year ago. New car
stocks are rising and on Nov. 15, the
inventory stood at 1,061,400. It’s ex-
pected to reach 1,300,000 by the end
of the month.

There will be no Christmas bonuses

‘for auto workers this year. Executives

of the companies will get bonuses be-
cause there is set aside for bonuses $78
for every car the companies sell to
dealers, charged UAW president Walter
Reuther. ;

Meanwhile GM is on the muscle
against the United Auto Workers Union
down at the shop level.

A running war is going on-here at
GM’s Diesel shop where 4,000 workers
struck because of stalling by manage-
ment on settling grievances, speedup,
unsafe working conditions, reprisals
against stewards and militant youth.

The picket line was one of the young-
est we have seen in years, made up of
youths who don’t even have the unfair
90 days probationary time in, before
they can get union representation or
build seniority. ;

Despite a mass picket line outside

the gates, GM’s public relations depart-

ment told newsmen “there is no strike
officially and the gates are open”. UAW
top officials rushed to the scene and
ordered the strikers back to work. The
young workers balked and everyone
stayed out until Sunday, Nov. 20 when
a mass membership meeting of 1,800
voted to go back, but would come out
again if any retaliation was made by
GM. At press time a second walkout
threatened when GM suspended seven
youth, who are probationary employees.

James Doddie, assistant regional di-
rector for the UAW said another walk-
out had been checked. He also said that
there had been more disciplinary action
besides the suspension of the seven
probationary workers. The company
told newsmen that other cases were
being studied who were involved in the
strike. The seven suspended were given
suspension for being in a strike and

because they have less than 90 days

work in at GM Diesel, GM spokesmerr
said they have no right to union repre-
sentation and this suspension is tanta-
mount to firing.

When this news got around the plant,
the workers were boiling mad and
weren't too happy with the UAW lead-
ers who were holding them in.

The first ones to get laid off in GM
when the cutbacks of 45,000 cars
comes, will be the probationary em-
ployees. Meanwhile as one told us,
“working conditions are just plain hell,
the floors are so slippery with oil, you
slip all over, and the foremen are like
slavedrivers with us probationers; we’re
desperate.”

At GM’s Fleetwood plant here, ap-
proval of strike action has been given
in order to beat back speedup on the
1967 cars. There are over 300 speedup
grievances still unsettled. Department
3 of the body shop and department 11,
4th and 5th floors, have 195 speedup
grievances ‘unsettled. There are still at
press time several hundred miscellane-
ous grievances that effect both skilled
and production members, unsettled.
Strike okay has been asked from UAW
president Walter Reuther.

Production in auto shops has doubled
and tripled in some plants in the last’
decade. For example, U.S. Chrysler
workers in 1956 numbering 128,399
production and salary workers, turned
out 961,000 cars and trucks. In 1965
almost the same number of workers
(126,000) turned out 1,611,000 cars and |
trucks.

This great speedup, the introduction
of automation, the cry of management
to “cut costs” by any means possible,
the long delay that grievances have to
go through, the International UAW’s
“no strike” policy, or if they do, it has
to be authorized, aggravated by savage
management harassment of especially
the young workers to get more produc
tion, has created an explosive situation
in auto shops.

Top this off with the highest cost
of living in the nation: food 7.5 rise
since last year, a general 3.5 percent in
the overall cost of living and only a 13c.
an hour raise since 1964, with the cut-
backs of overtime to a straight 40-hour
week, added to by some 30,000 facing
layoffs—this is why the UAW rank and
file are seething for action.

This is why the rank and file are
“wildcatting” and the International

representatives who seek to push them >
back into the plant on the shout of
_ “your wildcatting—they’ll sue us under
the Taft-Hartley” are being met with
rough treatment. The auto workers are -
not silent—they are fighting mad.

December 9, 1966—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 9