workers press

The daily paper of the Socialist Labour League, 1969–1973: a searchable archive of the scans

Workers Press no. 826

27 July 1972 · 8 scanned pages · about 10,654 words of machine-read text

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workers press

DOCKERS FREE!

Now for General Strike Statement by the Political Committee of the Socialist Labour League Vic Turner (right) and Bernie Steer carried shoulder high from Pentonville jail after their release yesterday.

The release of the five London dockers is a tremendous victory for the working class which independently and spontaneously came out on strike all over the country to secure their freedom. But this does not mean that next Monday's one-day national strike should be abandoned.

There are dangerous conditions on yesterday's judgement which make it imperative this should continue. The spontaneous and unofficial action of trade the forced the unionists all over country TUC General Council to call a one-day national stoppage next Monday the first such all-out action called by the TUC since 1926.

The Socialist Labour League, which has per- sistently called for a General Strike to force the Tories to resign welcomes this move. It could bring the entire working class into conflict with the government and all its anti-working class policies. Only the SLL has based itself on the perspec- tive that the British working class will fight Toryism and all its manifestations- huge un- employment soaring prices and rents, entry into ORATING THE NEWSLETTER • THURSDAY JULY 27, 1972• No. 826

OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE SOCIALIST LABO

ANTED

ДАЛА igh from Pentonville jail after their release yesterday.

the Common Market and the military terrorism in Ulster. We laid the theoretical foundations of this struggle against the Tories in a political com- mittee statement issued only days after the Tories were elected in June 1970. Our statement on June 23, 1970, five days after the election, declared: 'The working class is now saddled with the most reactionary post-war government. The Tories cannot overcome their economic crisis except by consistently attacking the standard of living of the working class They will aggravate it by increasing the number of unemployed, possibly devaluing the pound and by putting the clock of trade union history back 70 years as they proclaimed at Selsdon in January 1970. Out with the Tory government of bankers and monopolists.' But a token one-day action will not stop the Tory government from using its anti-union Act and its prisons to try and destroy the basic rights of the working class. It must be extended to a complete General Strike of indefinite duration if the Tories are to be brought down No. 826 • 4p

T LABOUR LEAGUE

and their anti-working class policies halted. This call to action was endorsed yesterday by a mass meeting of shop stewards representing the whole of the Humberside working class.

Yesterday's House of Lords judgement in the container case shows the Tories are determined to continue their war on the trade unions. The historic judgement—it is a revival of the 1901 Taff Vale decision-gives the National Indus- trial Relations Court legal backing to penalize union leaders who refuse to sack or discipline shop stewards. The judgement reimposes fines of £55,000 on Britain's biggest union and awards costs against it amounting to £25,000. Victor Feather misleads the working class when he says it would be wrong to talk about a General Strike or a political strike.

And the working class is already answering his 'softly-softly' approach to the class war. Yes- terday 2 million workers from all sections of industry were out on unofficial strike as the five London dockers were released after the fifth day of their prison sentences.

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workers press

DOCKERS FREE!

Now for General Strike Statement by the Political Committee of the Socialist Labour League Vic Turner (right) and Bernie Steer carried shoulder high from Pentonville Jail after their release yesterday.

The release of the five London dockers is a tremendous victory for the working class which independently and spontaneously came out on strike all over the country to secure their freedom. But this does not mean that next Monday's one-day national strike should be abandoned.

There are dangerous conditions on yesterday's judgement which make it imperative this should continue. The spontaneous and unofficial action of trade all over the forced the unionists counly TUC General Council to call a one-day national stoppage next Monday the first such all-out action called by the TUC since 1926.

The Socialist Labour League, which has per- sistently called for a General Strike to force the Tories to resign welcomes this move. It could bring the entire working class into conflict with the government and all its anti-working class policies. Only the SLL has based itself on the perspec- tive that the British working class will fight Toryism and all its manifestations -huge un- employment soaring prices and rents, entry into

ORATING THE NEWSLETTER • THURSDAY JULY 27, 1972

• No. 826 i

OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE SOCIALIST LABC

ANTED

nigh from Pentonville Jail after their release yesterday.

the Common Market and the military terrorism in Ulster. We laid the theoretical foundations of this struggle against the Tories in a political com- mittee statement issued only days after the Tories were elected in June 1970. Our statement on June 23, 1970, five days after the election, declared: "The working class is now saddled with the most reactionary post-war government. The Tories cannot overcome their economic crisis except by consistently attacking the standard of living of the working class They will aggravate it by increasing the number of unemployed, possibly devaluing the pound and by putting the clock of trade union history back 70 years as they proclaimed at Selsdon in January 1970. Out with the Tory government of bankers and monopolists' But a token one-day action will not stop the Tory government from using its anti-union Act and its prisons to try and destroy the basic rights of the working class. It must be extended to a complete General Strike of indefinite duration if the Tories are to be brought down No. 826 • 4p

ST LABOUR LEAGUE

and their anti-working class policies halted. This call to action was endorsed yesterday by a mass meeting of shop stewards representing the whole of the Humberside working class.

Yesterday's House of Lords judgement in the container case shows the Tories are determined to continue their war on the trade unions. The historic judgement—it is a revival of the 1901 Taff Vale decision-gives the National Indus- trial Relations Court legal backing to penalize union leaders who refuse to sack or discipline shop stewards. The judgement reimposes fines of £55,000 on Britain's biggest union and awards costs against it amounting to £25,000. Victor Feather misleads the working class when he says it would be wrong to talk about a General Strike or a political strike.

And the working class is already answering his 'softly-softly' approach to the class war. Yes- terday 2 million workers from all sections of industry were out on unofficial strike as the five London dockers were released after the fifth day of their prison sentences.

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PAGE 2 Workers Prees, Thursday July 27, IN 1834 the English working class was beginning to assert itself as an independent poli- | Spi tical force, breaking from the coat-tails of the liberal bour- geoisie. It was also in that year that the Whig government of the day in conjunction with the big land- lords and landowners launched a conspiracy to smash agricul- tural labourers organizing a union in "the Dorset village of Tolpuddle. The agricultural labourers were in desperate plight, being forced down to starvation point on wages of 7s 8d a week. In Tolpuddle they demanded 10s and the employers agreed.

But later they back went on instead their word, cutting wages to ys, then to-ss, right through to 7s and threatening 6s if the labourers continued to fight them. The Tolpuddle men struck back.

By October 1833 they had a union. Under the guidance of socialist Robert the pioneer Owen they launched the Tol- puddle Lodge of the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers. The men took oaths of allegiance to the union. Said their leader, 'The Loveless: George men consulted together what had better be done, as they knew was impossible to live it honestly on such scanty means.

•.. They willingly consented to :.

form a Friendly Society having sufficiently learned. that it would be in vain to seek re- either employers, dress magistrates or parson.' farmers Immediately the local and landlords rushed to Lon- the Whig Home don to see Secretary Lord Melbourne. Be- them they hatched a tween FOUR more supporters of the former Czechoslovak Communist Party leader Dubcek were Alexandr given prison sentences in Prague on Tuesday. are Jaromir Dus, They an Evangelical clergyman, Dr Ladi- slav Hejdanek, a historian, his wife Hedvika and Jiri firasek. was sentenced Dr Dus 15 to months' jail, Hejdanek to nine By a Foreign Correspondent TWELVE Rhodesian Afri- cans are now in prison charged with illegally squat- ting on 'white land' after they had resisted police at- tempts to drive them oft their ancestral territory.

The arrested men are members of the Tangwena tribe who have fought a long struggle against the racialist Smith regime's Land The police, with Tenure Act. dogs and helicopters, are now hunting other Tangwena •who fled into the country around the area known as the Gaeresi ranch.

One of the arrested Africans is now in hospital after having been savaged by a police dog.

Police to drive them from the ranch. The government has offered them inferior land for / July 27, 1972 plot to smash the union. poli- Spies were planted inside the Tolpuddle branch, legal , opinion was sounded and warning was duly posted in the neighbourhood. Then at dawn on February 24, 1834, six of the leading Tolpuddle trade unionists were arrested, and taken to nearby Dorchester jail. As it was not then illegal to form a union, the six were accused under the Mutiny Act 1797 of administering and tak- ing an illegal oath. The trial rushed forward was and before a hand-picked jury judge, and a bitterly hostile they found guilty on were March 19. Their sentence: seven years transportation tø the penal colony in Botany Bay. A massive wave of strikes, demonstrations and agitation followed their exile. Two years later all the men were given a full and free pardon.

Their return was delayed and delayed, however, and the last, Hammett, James did not arrive in England until 1839.

By that time the Chartist move- ment had emerged. The English working class was for the first time moving independently as a decisive force in history.

Legitimately, every trade unionist on strike today in support of the jailed dockers looks to the d to : Tolpuddle Martyrs as the fare- runners of their struggle. These pioneers of the struggle for in- dependent trade unions are immediately linked with the fight against this reactionary Tory government and its In- dustrial Relations Act. architect of 'In But when the Place of Strife', Barbara Castle descended on Tolpuddle last months' and the other two defendants to six months' sus- pended jail terms. This is the fourth such trial to open in Prague since last Monday, and by no means all the oppositionists known to be in jail have yet been brought before the courts. Last week 13 oppositionists were sentenced to prison terms of up to six years for 'subversion'. The i Czech news agency le Ceteka has announced 'resettlement'. The best land in Rhodesia is reserved for whites majority and the African crowded onto the least produc- tive land. Under the Land Tenure Act, Gaeresi has been declared 'white area', but the Tangwena have sworn not to leave. Tribal leader Rekayi Tangwena has said: 'Most of us were born here and we will die here too.'

In 1967 Rekayi was convicted of illegally occupying European land. He won an appeal, but a presidential proclamation over- ruled the appeal court decision.

Two years later police burned the huts of more than 20 fami- lies, but the Tangwena still re- fused to move and won a • damages case against the govern- ment. In 1970 police with dogs again burned huts and destroyed crops.

They impounded more than 200 Tangwena cattle and later sold them at auction. A few tribesmen then moved to the new area Barbara Castle, who was booed and jee Sunday for the annual com- memorative march, it was nothing more than an obscene insult to the martyrs of 1834 and to the working class of today. Here was the Labour bureaucrat who, as Minister for Employ- ment and Productivity in the opened Wilson government, the trade up the attacks on union movement which the Tories have seized upon with relish. In January 1969 the former 'Tribune'-ite 'left' bowed to the wishes of international capi- talism and published the White Paper which was to be the basis for the Labour govern- ment's own Industrial Rela- tions Act. When the working class struck 250,000 strong May Day on Labourites were 1969, the forced to retreat, even though they fixed an agreement with • the VC leadership for -dis- ciplining strikers. with their Not satisfied-and capitalist paymasters at their heels-the Labour government came back again in April 1970 with an Industrial Relations Bill. 'In And it was only the dissolution of parliament and their defeat at the June General Election similar trial in the central Mora- vian town of Brno, an important industrial centre. It said defendants were being charged with 'forming an illegal group in 1970 to carry out subversive acti- vities against the state and join- ing other people to it'. defendants Ominously, the have been charged under the more severe section of the penal code dealing with 'subversion on large scale or in times of • a national danger'. reserved for them by the govern- ment 20 miles away. The remainder fled into the surrounding hills, living off wild fruits and roots while police hunted for them. More than 100 children were sent to the nearby Nyafaru farm where they are still being cared for. Last year the Tangwena re- turned to the land and rebuilt their huts. They planted small patches of maize but this was insufficient to feed the tribe, which has been relying on gifts of food. The Smith government refuses to recognize Rekayi as the Tang- wena chief. It has tried to bribe him off ranch with promise of a chief's pension if he moves to the new land. He has refused, saying: 'The government does not need our land and we have never troubled them. It they try to move us we will only return again. They can- not defeat our will.' d and jeered over Labour Party Industrial poll that prevented them from go- ing ahead with the Bill. On Sunday when Mrs Castle- husband whose incidentally voted for the implementation of the 'fair rents' Bill when it came up on Islington council -laid a wreath on the tomb- of Tolpuddle martyr stone James Hammett, he must have turned in his grave. For here was the woman who spoke out against the Decem- ber 8, 1970, strike against the Industrial Relations Bill which went on to become an Act and led to the jailing of the five dockers. Her efforts to cover up for the betrayal of the Wilson leader- ship met with little success at Tolpuddle. 'Don't let anyone fool you that the Labour gov- anything so ernment proposed iniquitous. If we had been in June 1970 returned and placed my Industrial Relations Act on the statute book, there would be no docker in lal today, she told the 4,000 demonstrators. 'Rubbish! Rubbish!' bellowed a large section of her audience.

Then she mentioned that talks were proceeding with the TUC on a new Industrial Relations Act, indicating clearly that the Labourites would still like to .

BY A FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT

THREE Belgrade University stude sentences for trying to form an ' Yugoslavia. of the three, Pavlusko One Imsirovic, was said by the prose- attended the cution to have International Rally of Revolu- tionary Youth at Essen, West Germany, in July last year.

The prosecution claimed that the three students had 'founded a Trotskyite group in •Belgrade and made preparations to found an illegal Trotskyite party. The 'claimed to have found police illegal documents, brochures, translated extracts from Trotsky- ite journals and such like' when they arrested the students last November. Imsirovic and Milan Nikolic were sentenced to two years' im- prisonment and the third defendent Jelka Kljajic to one court they denied the year. In prosecution charges. The trial follows an intensive police clamp-down on students at Belgrade where there is a tradition of student militancy.

discredit the In an attempt to three students the Fito bureauc...T racy tried them at the same time Istrial policy carry on where they left off.

And again she told a jeering crowd that a prices and in- comes policy necessary was when Labour was returned.

Her cover-up job fully exposea, she was forced to betray her contempt for the working class by turning on the hecklers and them to go back telling to school and learn to read.

offered nothing Of course she but words of consolation for the dockers with her 'mobiliza- •tion of the sense of human fellowship'. It is clear that as far as she and the Labour leadership is concerned the Tories can stay in power and the dockers in jail. Today the working class is far stronger than its descendants of 1834. They have mass trade unions with a membership of 10 million. For the last 70 years they have had their own political party. But they have âny number of traitors within their move- ment. The fight for the General Strike to force the Tories to resign and return a Labour government pledged by the movement to socialist mass policies also means a fight to clear the agents of the Tories out of the ranks of the Labour and trade union leadership.

ity students have been given prison orm an 'illegal Trotskyite party' in right-wing anti-communist as groups of Croatian nationalists.

The Yugoslav Communist Party leadership can fight the Croat nationalists only by bureaucratic methods. It dare not unleash the independent force of the work- ing class which represents a direct threat to its own prive- leges. Tito's policies of encouraging foreign investment and weaken- of foreign the monopoly trade pose a deadly danger to the conquests of the Yugoslav revolution. • To maintain his relations with the capitalists of Europe and the US, Tito must hound and im- prison all those who fight for the political independence of working class against capitalism and bureaucracy. Workers Press demands the immediate release of Imsirovic his comrades. What is the and British Com- position of the munist Party, which 20 years ago Tito himself described as a uc-... 'Trotsky-fascist' • on instructions from Stalin?

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Mrs Beryl Maudling's other THE 151 men sacked from Glasgow's Clydebank ship- yard last week have been told to join the work-in.

The men were to have been re-employed . on Monday by the Texas based Marathon Manu- facturing Company but they for business with- cannot open out a f12m loan from the Tory government. Delay in pushing the enabling legislation for the loan through the House of Commons ment that the cash was not available not in a and Marathon was position to begin to hire men.

'were Shop stewards not happy about this, but at a meeting between the stewards, UCS liquidator union officials, Mr Robert Smith and representa- tives from Marathon at weekend it was agreed the join the sacked men should work-in and receive pay from the fighting fund. ABOUT 200 workers, a third of the labour force at the Miles Redfern rubber factory in Hyde, Cheshire, are to lose their jobs by the end of the year. The 72-year-old factory is to close down of its most work will be transferred to other parts of the group in Leyland and Burton. The factory, famed for its rubber heels, was taken over by the BTR group only nine months ago. The shock announcement followed the previous day's announcement that the Ferranti is to axe 175 jobs at Chadderton, near Oldham. Last week's increased unem- ployment figures showed that the number of workers wholly unem- in the industrial north- ployed west is now 135,511, a rise of 7,455 on the previous month's figures. : In the greater Manchester area,.

the unemployment rate is 4.4 per cent compared with 4.1 per cent in June. This also compares with a figure of 3.3 per cent for the same time last year. WHEN Reginald Maudling's name was linked with the Poulson case it was announced that he had not received a salary for his chairmanship of one of the companies. He had foregone a salary in return for a covenant to be paid to his wife's 'favourite charity', the Adeline Genee Theatre Trust at East Grin- stead. In the Wakefield bankruptey court it revealed that was £22,000 had been agreed to go to the trust. Now another charity has suffered • which bears the patronage of the ex-Home Secre- tary. Ever heard of the International Social Service of Great Britain?

It's not a group which many and workers their wives would necessarily belong to. Patron is the Duchess of Kent, president is the Countess De La Warr and vice-presidents are Sir John Balfour, the Rt Hon the Viscount Bearsted, the Lady Katherine Brandram, Lady Hen- riques, the Rt Hon the Lord Layton, Angela, Countess of the Top: the Heathrow mass meeting votes fo Eric Rechnitz: 'TUC must come off fence Limerick, the Hon. Richard Lyttleton and Lord 1 Moyne. No shop stewards there! One of the aims of the ISS is "to study the conditions of migra- tion as they affect the individual and his family'. In October last year the Home Office announced that a Tory scheme for giving assistance to immigrants wishing to Britain was to be administered by ISS. The decision to make ISS the agency for repatriating immi- grants, a vicious concession to the Powellites in the Tory Party —caused a great deal of uproar in race relations circles. Both the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and the West Indian Standing Conference criticized the Tories for choosing ISS to run the scheme. Particularly they objected to rais of the fact that ISS is hardly a she g votes for yesterday's stoppage. Above: a off fence.'

BY ALEX MITCHELL

'grass roots' operation. fund-raising Its events find their way into the social pages of the posh newspapers like the Lord Thomson-owned 'The Sun- day Times'. Take the fashion pages of this Tory newspaper on May 16, 1971.

big spread by It included Ernestine Carter which began: 'England is especially fortunate in possessing the handsomest set of ambassadresses of any capital one can think of off-hand. Rarely have accomplished diplomats been so happily matched with beautiful wives.' This was a review of ISS's • in that hot- arty annual spring fair bed of racial conflict, Chelsea Old Town Hall. The number of coloured workers and their wives present was not mentioned. But Miss Carter, the doyen Marion writer, evaled at te Marquesa de Cruz from Franco's Spain filled her money- to raising : stall with magnificent i a sherry. Workers Press, Th

FROM DAVID MAUDE

LONDON'S

transport services have been thrown into chaos by unofficial action by trade unionists on the buses, in commercial transport, at Heathrow airport and on Southern Region rail- ways. The strike by 24,000 red bus drivers and conductors left stranded the commuters Turning to the latest annual report of the

ISS,

the fair receives a special mention. It says that over £7,000 was raised, £2,000 more than the previous 'We year. It goes on: were fortunate last year in having Mrs Maudling as president and Lady Goore-Booth as chairman and a very able and experienced com- mittee." So, Mrs Beryl Maudling's interests attend beyond her 'fav- ourite charity', the Adeline Genee theatre, to ISS. On page 21 of the same annual report is another item of interest. In a table headed 'Income and expenditure account for the year to December 31, 1971' appears the following entry: Government grant—E2,500'. The state hand-out was made on the recommendation of the rom Home Office. Home Secretary ney- during this financial year was none other than Reginald Maud- ling. Press, Thursday July 27, 1972 PAGE 3 centre of London while hun- dreds of tourists packed the terminals at Heathrow. More than 120 men unani- 'mously passed a resolution calling on all Southern Region drivers and second men to strike from midnight today if the five men have not been freed by 6 p.m. that day.

'We have pledges of support from Portsmouth drivers and in attendance were leaders of the Hither Green drivers and leaders of the station staff at Waterloo,' said Mr Derrick Fullick, a Waterloo driver.

The drivers' union, ASLEF, will hold an executive meeting today to decide what official action to take. The first action by transport workers was taken on Mon- day. Hundreds of striking drivers met outside the Royal docks, London, where they were urged to bring commercial transport in the capital to a halt. The drivers dockers, chatted amicably with pickets, who handed out leaflets to the few vehicles trying to enter the docks saying: 'Five trade unionists in jail-why aren't you out?'

And after a brief docks stewards' meeting, Jim Carpenter, chairman of the Port of London Authority stewards at the Royals, said: 'Any differences with the drivers are past. We've proved that when we're under attack, we go as one solid body' Moves are now well underway for the formation of a joint action committee between drivers and dockers. Eric Rechnitz told the meet- ing: 'We say to the trade union leaders, the time to lead is now.

To Vic Feather and the TUC we say: "Come off the fence"?

He was confident, he said, that the drivers and dockers would be joined in the coming days by the whole of the working-class movement. Jim Carpenter said: 'Vic Feather made many gallant speeches about what the TUC would do when it came to the crunch. He's got to be as good as his word and tell all trade unionists to stop work until these men are released.'

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PAGE 4 Workers Press, Thursday July 27, 1972

BY PETER JEFFRIES

Mr John Bentley, the 32- in the company's affairs.

year-old multi millionaire It 1969 that Slater Walker began its move into seems certain to win the banking. It then formed a num- nomination as Mr Asset satellite companies, often headed by former Slater Stripper, 1972. Walker One such executives And judging by the speech Securi- company Barclay Wols he made last week to share. Others included Sterling ties. holders in his company, Bar- Land and Cornwall Property clay Securities, it is a title he Holdings. Under these arrange- will carry with pride. ments Slater Walker acted as 'The job of modernizing and banker for the new companies rationalizing inefficient com- as well as retaining a consider- panies is probably the most able minority shareholding.

important job to be done in John Bentley had been a key UK today- -and the the most figure in the Siater Walker out- immediate,' he said. been Slater's had 'Most of the problems henchman in the many breath- we are suffering today could al taking bids and takeovers be solved by use proper had characterized the labour and resources. It is only rapid growth of Slater Walker because there are too many conglomerate. people carrying out worthless this Certainly experience which consequently mean jobs was not lost on the now 'inde- too low salaries all round that pendent' Bentley. the country is reaching a colli- Here is summary of the between sion point manage- have main takeovers which and where ment produced the enormous growth body can benefit.' of Barclay Securities. In almost Chairman Bentley also went all cases the bids have been his basic con- on to explain financed by an exchange of outlining plans for ception in and rolling shares some little next year: power from his ex-mentor, Jim 'Barclay is undergoing Slater. in transformation this year which it demonstrates its cata- of policy lyctic acquiring 1969: smaller companies, moderniz- J. T. Morgan (Swansea) them over a period and Pharmaceuticals. 11g them floating them or selling W. Hinds (Holdings) off again as far more efficient Pharmaceuticals. and streamlined organizations, Jaynox - usually under newly-promoted Pharmaceuticals. manage- energetic and proven T. H. Haywood their ments to pursue own Pharmaceuticals. initiative. Already this year ex-Haro- 1970: Bentley has vian won con- D. Sebel and Co— trade siderable notoriety in Toys. well financial union as as Mills and Allen — Poster advertising. circles result of as a deals in property, pharmaceu- Leon and Ripley ticals, toys, advertising and the Poster printing. British Lion film-making com- Interfile pany. Computer print outs. In an interview to the press last month, soon after he had 1971: announced the closure Chad Valley - Triang's factory Mer- toy at Toys. Surrey, which 1.200 ton, in Reynolds and Bransen will lose their jobs, he Pharmaceuticals. explained: North Staffs Poster Services 'We are not a sharp bunch Poster advertising. of operators: do we not General Poster and Publicity Rolls-Royces, in big round Poster advertising. smoking cigars, making cynical Dorland Advertising Hold- comments. Our compensation ings - redundant workers rates to Poster advertising. of the best are probably one Osborne Garrett Nagele of all the big companies. We Hairdressers' Suppliers. will be as generous as possible Triang Pedigree to the Merton workers. Toys. Mr ride Bentlev may not Europe Poster Services We do not round in a Rolls. Poster advertising. But it is know. certainly not where because he lacks the 1972: with all, Last year, apart from Bellair Cosmetics his £10,000 salary as chairman Cosmetics. of Barclay Securities, he also British Lion dividends £60.000 in received Film production. the and had a major stake in The growth of the company vast increase in capital values as a result of these deals can which occurred in his empire. be seen from the following His personal fortune ic reck. financial returns: oned to be between £2.5m and Capital £3m. Sales Profit DividendEmployed What is Barclay Securities? 05 2.6 0.1 0.02 1968 It originally formed in was 0.5 0.09 3.1 8.2 1969 1896 as Barclay and Sons and 1.7 10.2 1970 17.6 0.41 for 70 years traded as a nor- 197132.2 31 0.61 17.8 mal pharmaceutical company until it fell victim bids made by the the many Slater Walker empire. This growth is reflected in Slater Walker is the bank- the company's labour force. In and 1968 only 150 people were property concern ing Barclay Securi- headed by Mr Tim Slater. employed 19b7 Bis had Securi- Until his appointment ties. In as to nearly 6,000. Environment Minister in Tory Mr After taking over a company, Heath's Cabinet. Walker Bentley organizes it into Peter was deputv Cane of three divisions: pharmaceu-- chairman and actively involved ticals, toys and outdoor adver- (media). Bentley's ulti- tising mate aim is to make each of these divisions into independ- ..ent companies, quoted on the stock exchange, with Barclay's large minority retaining a holding A good example of Bentley's techniques can be seen in the takeover of the outdoor adver- tising firm Mills and Allen for £4.1m in 1970. Within a few months the sale of property and some minor subsidiaries had raised over £2.75m so that Barclay Securities was left the main part of the company for a net cost of only £1.3m. As the remaining sectors of Mills and Allen were making a pre-tax profit of about £750,000 a year, this was clearly a highly-profit- able investment. A similar was process applied to Dorland Advertising Holdings, which was obtained in 1971 for £2.3m. During the following months Barclay Securities sold off land and subsidiaries for £3m and was left with valued at assets £600,000. It had made a pro- ht of tl.3zm. (>> per cent) on the deal. In the case of takeovers in the pharmaceuticals field, Bar- clay's completely reorganized the four subsidiaries bought in 1969 by establishing a central, computer-controlled system, to control sales and stock. Two depots almost were immediately shut down and a major warehouse moved to new premises. October 1971 Osborne, In Garrett, Nagele, the UK's suppliers, largest hairdressers was bought for £750,000. The following March the London sold for headquarters were £1.25m, so that Barclay had already made a profit of almost £500,000 and still kept the many branches of OGN which are currently being completely reorganized. The Rochester factory is being sold and the production of the factory being transferred another to new subsidiary, Bellair Cosmetics.

pharmaceuticals The entire division is now being merged with Weston Pharmaceuticals.

The combined company • will employ 2,600 people and its 187 shops will have a turn- over of around £30m. Weston's is to be quoted on the stock but Barclay's will exchangein control through a still be minority shareholding and the nomination of key directors.

The entire operation is a classic example of the way in which Bentley has so rapidly become a multi-millionaire.

Barclay's The of net cost division pharmaceutical was only £1.7m (through the sale of land etc.). Out of the merger with Weston's, Barclay is paid £3.5m and receives a in cash quarter share in the new com- worth around another pany, £3.5m. Thus the profit from 'floating off the pharmaceu- tical division is over £5m.

Toys the final represent part of the Bentley empire. Triang Pedigree bought was from the liquidator of Lines Brothers last December for €5.25m in cash, loan stock and deferred payments. Five of the firm's nine factories were shut within a few months. down Five hundred redundancies resulted. TheM, factory was last month, the Merton sold for over 55m and another 1,200 workers were thrown onto the scrapheap. Only three months previously Bentley had closed the Mobo toy factory at Erith in Kent and persuaded 250 skilled workers to move to his Merton factory. His bicycle factory in Bir- mingham and its stock have sold for about £1.2m also been and the wooden toy division of Triang was sold for £200,000.

As a result of these trans- actions, Barclay will recover in cash more than the purchase price of Triang. He is left with a large and profitable toy division which will at some point no doubt be 'floated off' to raise more money for future takeovers. Barclay Securities latest acquisition is British Lion. Bentley's intentions about British Lion are at the moment not entirely clear. But it will certainly form part of his media division and Pearl and Dean, British Lion's advertising subsidiary, will fit neatly into the Bentley empire. But the richest prize was cer- of the 60-add tainly acres valuable land which British Lion owns at Shepperton in Middlesex. If past form is a guide, this will be rapidly sold and another vast profit chalked up. As interesting as the rise of Barclay Securities is the philosophy of its chairman.

'I am not being Nazi' he said with one recent in connection deal. I do exactly what I want to do with If I my company. myself concerned with social problems I could run it for the greater benefit of the employees and less for the shareholders.

I will be generous. It is not my intention to make people redundant deliberately. am prepared to go along with any massive retraining programme and pay towards it. But the fact shareholders remains, would not go along with an unprofitable business. Certainly he is in the best position to judge the interests of Barclay's shareholders. The latest returns show him hold.

ing a personal stake of 1.2m shares. Currently valued at 205 is thus his holding pence, worth nearly £2.5m. In the last four years an investor in Barclay Securities has made huge capital gains. In 1968, 100 10p ordinary shares cost £15 (15p per share). Since then: 122% dividend on 100 10p s 1968 15% 1969 " 374% 1970 50% 1971 "9 the initial £15 invest- Thus ment has paid £11.5 in the last four years and the 100 shares are now worth over £200—a capital gain of over 1,300 per cent. Bentley would like to see his philosophy applied throughout the country: I personally believe that if it was politically possible to apply our approach to every company in the country you would release one third of the and one third of the people in factories—they space are Lines unproductive, just as . I have just come back was .. and there, if TV from Japan sets are not selling, a whole slice of the factory turns over to washing machines. That is of flexibility and the sort adaptability we should be aim- ing for.' Of course there are a few saving formulae about the need for government retrain- 1.25 dend on 100 10p shares 1.5 " ", 3.75 " 5 " 11.5 Workers Press. Thursd which ing programmes to Barclay's would be willing to contribute: 'I am extremely regretful about sacking workers', Bentley pleaded at the time of the It is a Merton shut-down. traumatic experience for us, but I am trying to get the best return on my money in the best interests of my com- pany and the country.' It would be wrong to look Bentley merely as upon hell-bent businessman on profit, a product of Heath's 'New Britain'. The point about such enter- prises as Barclay Securities is that they actually amass their result of the fortunes as a bankruptcy and disintegration of the capitalist system.

As Bentley's record demon- he is not primarily strates, ( interested in production. His concern has been built up through shrewd financial deals whose ultimate aim was to bring about a contraction of Bentley production, or what euphemistically calls a 'process of rationalization and stream- lining. Nearly 60 years ago Lenin and other Marxists character- ized imperialism the as orkers Press. Thursday July 27. 1972 PAGE 5 Bentley, Millionaire John walks through the Roman temple in the backyard of his newly-acquired office in Curzon Street, Mayfair. parasitic stage in capitalism's More and it history. more threatened the destruction of the productive forces very which had been built up during its expansionist, progressive phase throughout the last century. Less and less was it able to develop the productive forces. The boom firms of the 1970s are those whose activities are concentrated almost entirely on share deals, takeovers and asset - stripping, enterprises Marx dubbed over 100 years ago as mere 'coupon clippers'.

Meanwhile the basic pro- ductive industries-steel, coal, rails, engineering—continue to stagnate if not decline. The mushroom-like growth of firms such as that headed by John Bentley is not a sign of the health of capitalism. It is an indication of its acute crisis, decline and disinte- gration.

Scan page 6

Block on Tube Investments machinery The US wavers over PAGE 6 Workers Press, Thursday July 27, 1972 Nosympathy | Prentice criticized by sparks

THE BRITISH

Steel Cor-

BY OUR OWN REPORTER

portion closed 54 plants or

REGINALD PRENTICE,

sections of works last year Labour's shadow Employ- and almost 20,000 workers . Secretary, lost their jobs. ment has been And BSC bitterly criticized for saying n and clo puree ss rationalization closure is by he has no sympathy for the complete. Another 110 Icals four jailed dockers.

•.VUU

stee worker Cole Jose their jobs. The annual report 'Very substanțial ration- for Ham Prentice, ( the states: ori tast dockland seat dllzallon Nas sull cuccu North, told the capitalist press the Corporation's long-term development plans are withın hours of the arrests: plementea. 'I have no sympathy all

BSC

hopes further says

WITO

benme •tee anel sackings will be made with others. They were wrong. to co-operation close with the and blacking organize picketing in the industry' trade unions their aralsl polly March ved union. even wrong they. were 1972 BSC made a loss of £68m.

to defy the court. Although there trading was "Trade unionists should not rally are tat ter sol pudle Matysh.

round these men though rally They are just not worth it.'

Before entering parlament Prentice was on the full-time staff DURING THE holiday Workers the Transport and General closedown at Tube Invest, Union Iransport ments, Walsall, trade union- House. will take ists steps to see has H1c reacuonary

OUTDUTSI

that no equipment is removed produced an angry response from from the closure-threatened East End dockers and other trade factory. unionsus. If the closure goes ahead, 1,400 Tower Hamlets electricians' workers stainless șteel branch • nassed a resoniton will the plant be thrown on unanimously calling on Prentice's Wasall is in a part of the constituency demand an •ore valky Midlands engineering belt already аролову lor une dockers. hit by severe unemployment.

The resolution concluded •by saying people tne WinO make like statements Prentice's uTa oe inside the labour right uade anon moyeuent or lo oi- fess to represent workers.

Prentice's It will be sent arty and the Wes constituency lam Trades Council Subscribe' The dally paper that workers press ado uud fight against the Torles. £20.28 for 12 months (312 Issues) {10.14 for 6 months (156 issues) £5.07 for 3 months (78 Issués) If you want to take Workers Press twice a week the rates are: {1.56 for 3 months (24 issues) £6.24 for 12 months (96 issues) Fill in the form below NOW and send to: Circulation Dept., Workers Pre 186a Clapham High St. London, SW4 7UG. I would like to take out a subscription to Workers Press.

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Name Address surplus of f61m, huge interest payments (₺37m) other among things turned it into a deficit.

Home sales fell by a massive 24 per cent last year to 12.6 million tons, the most severe decline in UK steel demand since recession the as the war developed throughout British industry. Tory government last The forecast that the deficit year would run to £100m. And BSC says in the report it only man- aged to keep it to £68m because of closures. The Corporation blames the for much of the government deficit by its refusal to sanction the required rise in steel prices.

The halving of the proposed increases in April 1971 is said to have cost BSC some £65m in lost revenue. Mr Albert Pritchard, spokes- man for the Tube Investments action committee, told Workers Press: 'Our meeting with Lord Plow- den, chairman of TI, was a com- plete waste of time. He told us that our best interests would be served by running the place down in an orderly fashion! If that was done he would help to "mitigate the social consequences" 'He could give no guarantees of a takeover and said that the plant and site would be sold.

THE DECISION of the New York Federal Re- serve Bank to intervene for the first time since last August to support the dollar exchange rate represents a desperate attempt to buy a little time in the face of a rapidly - maturing world capitalist financial crisis.

In his August 15, 1971, President Nixon measures, broke the link between the dollar and gold. became incon- The dollar vertible and the basis of the 1944 Bretton Woods arrange- And once ments was destroyed. these forces were put into opera- tion they could not be reversed.

Since that date US policy has been clear. It has been determ- ined to force a series of currency Common revaluations on the Market which would leave the Europeans with an impossible disadvantage in the struggle for exports. for this reason that for It is the US the last Il months have stood by and authorities allowed dollars to flood into the European money market. The of supporting entire burden existing parity rates-agreed at in talks last December-has fallen on the backs of the Euro- peans, notably the Germans.

In their attempts to ward off a revaluation which would have put their at such exports a crippling disadvantage, the West Germans and others have been obliged to increase the volume of their dollar holdings under con- ditions where the dollar has no backing and is a grossly gold over-valued currency. Last Wednesday the US banks made a partial change in this policy when they supported the dollar by selling a portion of their mark holdings. But, the West Germans as About 50,000 workers have since been sacked by

BSC

nationalization in 1967. And it is now clear that the government is planning to decimate the industry and concentrate produc- tion in five key centres.

In May the Tories announced an output target of between 28 to 36 million tons by 1980, with clearly the lower figure in mind.

But that is not far below BSC'S output at present. Shortly afterwards 8,000 Scottish steel redundancies were announced. And there are un- doubtedly secret plans to sack at least another 80,000 workers throughout the industry. • At Port Talbot 1,400 blast- furnacemen walked out yesterday giant closing down the steel plant. protesting were against the jailing of the dockers.

That makes us subject to laws of the market and we won't accept it.' Mr Pritchard said the • cam- paign was gaining financial and moral support, despite the fact that it was only in its early days. 'There is f2m worth of steel stockpiled here and we want to shift much of the production from here to their other fac- tories. We had a meeting with union officials and we have their

BY PETER JEFFRIES

were quick to point out, this can be only a very short run 'solution' to the problem be- cause America only has a paltry $429m worth of foreign cur- rency as a component of her re- serves. support for the Continued dollar would involve the US in either • Selling more gold. But the official gold reserve is severely depleted. • Activating the 'swap' arrange- ments through the International Monetary Fund. Under such arrangements, one country is allowed to swop its currency for that of another in order to preserve existing parity rates. But as the bankers know, such schemes were possible only in a period when all currency was linked through the dollar to gold. Since August 15, confidence in the stability of all currency has been severely shaken. The hope that in these circumstances the renewal of 'swap' arrangement— the recycling of paper money- can solve anything, reflects the plight which seriousness of the the capitalist class is in.

There are indications that the American capitalist class is split on its tactics to deal with this crisis. One group, centred mainly on the US Treasury, wants to force American policy immediately and the Europeans upon Japanese. It was Federal Reserve Board chairman Arthur Burns who was largely instrumental in bringing about the change in US policy.

He was supported by Presi- dent Nixon. Election considera- tions are certainly at work here.

But whether the Americans will be able to wait for November until they move decisively against Europe is doubtful. A high Treasury official in Washington was certainly right when he said of the support operation: It is a useful tactical manoeuvre, but not a solution Dear Friends, Our strike at Goodman's has now been success- fully resolved with a £3 increase for all workers which is a step in the right direction towards equal pay. On behalf of all workers and the strike committee I would like to thank you for the pub- licity you gave us, par- ticularly in your edition of July 20. This kind of support has helped to keep morale high and has contributed to our eventual victory. Yours sincerely, Shelagh Kirkby, Strike Committee, Goodmans Loudspeakers, Havant, Hampshire. co-operation in seeing that other plants in the group do not do work normally done here and that no overtime is worked.

'Already 24 other Tl factories in the Midlands, who have been warned that they could be next, have written to Plowden seek- ing a meeting.' Walsall Trades Council has mass lobby of the House Commons and a meeting with Tory Ministers and local MPs.

to international monetary prob- lems.' Nothing is solved because in the background stands the un- resolved US balance-of-payments crisis. Only an improvement in the US payments balance can hope to strengthen the dollar.

But a stronger American pay- ments position means in- an tensified payments crisis for all survival those countries whose the US market. depends upon fears are being In any case, openly voiced that the soon to be published half yearly US pay.

ments figures will mark a further deterioration. 'When we try to get to this basic problem in talking to the Europeans,' said senior a Treasury official last Thursday; 'we meet resistance everywhere.

The official said that other countries do not want to limit their exports, change their ex- change rates or agree to Ameri- can proposals to cut troop com- mitments abroad. 'What they would really like to see', he said, 'is higher in- terest rates here, and capital con- trols-and we're not about to buy that.' The Americans are to urge the Japanese to buy an extra $1,000m worth of US goods this year. Otherwise America. will be forced to take more steps to- wards protectionism. Japan is being urged to make major purchases of US-enriched uranium and grain to close the near $4,000m trade sur- curren in Japan's favour. plus Embassay officials preparing for the talks said that while the Japanese seemed aware of the great dangers, 'no one seems to have any urge to do something'.

The Japanese are to be told that unless they respond immedi- ately to American proposals, 'they will face another Nixon- type shock'. This is the real language of American capital as it prepares to do battle with Europe and Japan in the fields of trade and finance.

Scan page 7

STENAMOS

SHOP

BY A FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT

PRESIDENT Nixon will fly to Hawaii on August 31 for a two-day conference with the new Japanese premier Kakuei Tanaka on relations between the two countries, the White House announced yesterday.

decision The sudden to Chinese commercial mission in Nixon's initiative, meet, on Tokyo. Tanaka's follows acceptance Chou En-lai has set out three of invitation from Chou an principles for the resumption of En-lai to visit China. relations with Japan. These are that the People's Republic is the Relations between Tokyo and legitimate government of only Washington have been strained China, Formosa is an inalienable since August last year when treaty Cetween abe 1 and eace Nixon imposed a per cent between Japan treaty and tariff on Japanese exports Formosa government must be forced a crippling yen revalua- scrapped. tion. has said he Tanaka can 'understand' Chou's principles, Since Nixon visited Peking remark which has thoroughly earlier this year—a trip arranged alarmed the Chinese Nationalists behind the backs of the Japanese Kai-shek's Formosa. on Chiang indus- government — Japanese dependent regime is heavily on trialists have been campaigning Japanese capital and Japan is one for the opening up of commercial of its chief markets. relations with China. 8 government has a The Chiang rigid policy breaking diplo- they Desperate for markets, matic relations with any country China as potentially a large see which the Peking for Japanese goods and recognizes outiet hope to be able eventually to take part in joint projects to exploit Chinese mineral wealth.

The resignation of premier a long-standing US Eisaku Sato, stooge, and the appointment Tanaka has opened the way for in Japanese dramatic turn foreign policy. Japanese officials have already made the first with

CORACTO

Chinese representatives, opening 'working contacts' through the TV

BBC 1

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TOU

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BBC 2

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THE

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Britain's industrial nelllage.

THE WEEK:

KEITH MICHELI

9.25 SHOW

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Scan page 8

PAGE 8 Workers Press, Thursday July 27, 15

FROM PAGE 1

Meanwhile the : working class throughout Britain showed its determination to mobilize and strike against the Tories and the jailing the five London dockers. London transport was hit after 24,000 drivers and conductors joined the strike and air traffic at Heathrow was disrupted by a stoppage of over 3,000 ground staff. In Hull 300 shop stewards trom more than 20 unions decided to recommend immediate strike. Hundreds of engineers have already walked out and thousands of workers on North Humberside decided to down tools. In Leeds a mass rally of 3,000 building workers cheered a Liver- pool docks shop steward when he demanded an indefinite Gene- ral Strike until the Tory govern- ment was brought down. This is the mood of the working class.

In South Wales, Port Talbot's 14,000-strong steelworks was brought to near standstill after 1,400 blastfurnacemen walked out. With 6,000 miners at ten col- lieries already on strike, all the coalfield's 35,000 miners were expected to stay away from the pits indefinitely from today.

Pits in Yorkshire and Scotland were on strike yesterday and more miners were expected to join in as meetings were held.

In addition to the 40,000 dockers out, tugboatmen, traw- lermen, dockworkers, fish dock workers and warehousemen have all downed tools. Scores of ships have are idle and fish cargoes been left to rot. Dock workers at Portsmouth struck indefinitely and all Med- way and Kent ports were at a standstill. Three hundred men at Kingsnorth power station struck and were picketing other indus- tries including Chatham naval base. Drivers in Hull and London are supporting the dockers and on Merseyside 10,000 drivers have voted to strike indefinitely.

Road drivers, including bus the strike at drivers, joined 5 p.m. yesterday including men employed by Heatons Transport.

Liverpool Trades Council called all Merseyside meeting of stewards last night to discuss co- ordinated action. Seventy five South Wales miners marched on Pentonville prison yesterday from Kings Cross to a welcome by 250 dockers and other workers picketing the jail.

The national council of the National Graphical Association yesterday decided on a one-day strike on Monday, even if the dockers are released, to under- line the union's opposition to the Industrial Relations Act.

International solidarity with the strike is spreading rapidly among dockworkers in Europe and the United States. The CG1, France's biggest union federation, 'blacked' all British ships on Monday in solidarity with the imprisoned British dockers. At Le Havre, on the channel coast, dockers immediately walked of British ships in port. Other ports have now taken similar action. In Antwerp, Bel-

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July 27, 1972 gium, the world's second largest port, dockers declared their readi- ness to act in support of the British strike. They said they were waiting for a request from the International Transport Fed- eration. Dutch dockers took prompt action-sending a telegram of support to London almost as soon as they learnt the five dockers had been jailed. There has also been sympathetic action by workers in "Germany's ports, who have declared their willingness to British strike and back the stoppage. A 'very temperate, reasonable, quiet' meeting of the TUC Gene- ral Council decided to call the one-day national strike next Monday if the five jailed dockers were not freed. The purpose of the strike would be solely to secure the release of the five, said Feather. "This is a one-day stop- page of work', he told reporters after the meeting. 'It would be quite illiterate of anyone to talk about this as a General Strike or a political strike.' He deftly avoided specifying what happened to the TUC's campaign against the Industrial Relations Act if the dockers were will probably •We released. accelerate it', he said. He stressed that the TUC's talks with the Tory government on pay and industrial relations would be quickly resumed if the dockers were released. "There's no ques- tion of our wanting to call the talks off altogether' , he said. The strike decision-communi- cated to affiliated unions and trades councils by letter yester- day afternoon—was taken by 18 votes to seven. abstained Six union leaders from voting on the motion, which proposed by Hugh Scanlon, was president of the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers.

Only Lawrence Daly, secretary of the National Union of Mine- for all-out workers, spoke up action of an indefinite duration.

Those voting against the Walter Anderson motion were: and Audrey Prime (National As- sociation of Local Government Officers), Lord Cooper and David Bassnet Union), Jack Peel (Dyers and Bleachers' Union), Chapple (Electrical and Frank Plumbing Trades Union) and Edward Britton (National Union of Teachers). NIRC president Sir John Don- aldson, releasing the five dockers from jail, said they clearly had not purged their contempt. They had no remorse for their expressed illegal actions. But the House of Lords judge- ment early that day had re- affirmed the principle of the Act that trade unions and not indivi- duals should be held responsible for breaking the law. This meant and General the Transport Workers' Union had to make sure would stop and the blacking uphold the law. Costs were awarded against the five men. Hanging over today's meeting of the national docks delegates at Transport House is the judgement of the House of Lords on the en Heatons Transport and Crad- docks case which led to the threat • the by the court to take away entire assets of the T&GWU.

In view of the Law Lords' find- officials of the ing, leading T&GWU will have to sack shop stewards or face seizure of their union's funds or jail. This will reinforce Sir John Donaldson's finding in the NIRC when he warned: 'The union is accountable if its officers, officials, representatives or shop stewards do their union breach of the law. It is work in for the union to see that they do not break the law. If they persist In aolng so they are unworthy of unions trust and of continu- the ing in office.' If the union did not obey, the court, said would Donaiason, 'un- authority in an assert mistakable manner'. In the case involving blacking of lorries at Hull, Donaldson appealed for leaders union throw out 'militants'. 'Every union has its dissenters

TIN.

and they have a real contribution make, members who act in defiance of the union policy of obeying court orders are lia- Which the union could well bility from This means apart the Jones, fines and costs, O'Leary • and local officials of the find may themse ves before the colirt on contempt if they do not act Charges policemen within their

OWIN

union. And the Lords' judgement does not end here. It establishes, with total finality, the principle that union officials can be penalized before the court for the actions of their shop stewards. The Act, as Press has always stressed, is designed to smash the trade union movement with courts, judges and jails.

There can be only one demand from the docks delegates meeting today-throw the Jones out Aldington report. Instead of con- spiring to reduce the docks labour force with more bribes in the form of severance pay, Jack Jones should be calling his entire union support of his on strike VuL jailed members. The report, which was endorsed by the entire union side of the port industries National Joint Council, is an insult to the Pen- tonville five who have gone iail in defence of their rights.

Jones claims that the temporary unattached register docks Above: Jubilant scenes outside the National Industrial Rel on the will be abolished. But it will Court as news came that Sir John Donaldson had ordere be release of dockers. Below: Trade unionists on an demonstration outside Pentonville Jali. Another picture p. i abolished in name only. Other dockers on full pay will be forced to subsidize men from the

TUR

who are for working employers. Jones coyly calls this Dockers will 'work-sharing • recognize as an attack on their hard-won wage levels.

key issue of On the inland container depots the report offers Firms will be "encour- noting aged' take on registered dockers, and 'pressure' will be put on the groupage firms who oper- This ate round the ports. nothing less than repeat of existing union policy. The crisis of jobs will go on in At Liverpool, dockland. for „CA" Services, Ocean ample, Port owned by Ocean Steamship, wants 600 men returned to the TUR.

The attempt to force the report on the dockers is just another

T&GWU

official extension of policy, which, since Devlin, has been to decimate the dock and the road haulage labour force in exchange for a few extra pounds

WANTED

a week. Meanwhile the port em- ployers, shipping lines and the road haulage firms have been able

OUT

to increase productivity a hundred fold throughout the industry through containerization.

possible There workers policy for the docks and the industry- —national-

LANS BORL

ization, compensation Wilton control. This under workers of would solve the problem labour surplus immediately.

would socialist government slash hours on the docks by half and give road transport workers and vastly improved pay con- ditions. Then the working class, and not the employers, could reap the benefits of technical change.

This complete what the delegates must demand today,

← no. 825, 24 July 1972no. 827, 28 July 1972 →