SPECIAL CLYDESIDE CLYDESIDE A CHALLENGE TO ALL THE WORKING CLASS The struggle inside UCS is now only a part of the wider struggle against unemployment and against the general Tory anti-working class offensive. The facts are plain to see. Many firms of "repute" are bound to suffer the same fate. For instance the British Leyland factory at Bathgate looks as though it is heading for trouble. Therefore what we are confronted with in the West of Scotland is the need to generalise and develop the struggle against unemployment.
THE WORTHIES OF THE GLASGOW TRADES COUNCIL It is regrettable that in this respect we have not seen any real initiatives from the organised trade union movement.
The Glasgow District Trade Council has to date done absolutely nothing on the question although it has had many requests to give some lead. The demonstration on Wednesday 23rd June was a more or less totally spontaneous effort.
This confronts the Trades Council with the spectre of independent working class mass action and actually highlights its total failure to date to act as a coordinating body for the trade unions in the area and to give any sort of leadership to the struggle over the previous period. The unemployment situation in the West of Scotland has been grim for many years-it is vividly clear that had the Trades Council taken the initiative in organising a campaign at an earlier date then a far greater mobilisation could by now have occurred. The Trades Council has constantly refused to organise an Unemployed Trades Council. They have sought time and time again to prevent unemployed workers from meeting together in the Social Club. They refused to allow a public meeting of the newly formed Claimants' Union of unemployed to take place on their premises. In fact one of the most important features of the demonstration on Wednesday 23rd June was the very noticeable lack of unemployed workers who were totally absent from the march in any organised fashion. This poses the urgent need to combine the struggle of the employed and unemployed.
Nobody's job is safe. No sudden turn in the tide is predictable on the basis of the present economic prospects.
LOBBIES AND PETITIONS...
However, what steps are the "leaders" of the trade union movement taking now after the most virulent display of hatred by the working class for the Tory government this side of World War Two? At a special meeting called by the Glasgow District Trades Council the day following the June 23rd demonstration, they (Reidford, present sectetary of the Trades Council, and Wyper, ex-secretary, both Communist Party members) called for a ... lobby of Parliament! How much closer can you get to actually heading off any militant movement which was actually on the road to organising really massive protests by the working class in the Glasgow district against the threat to its livelihood?
No doubt these same trade union leaders will be support ing wholeheartedly the idea of a petition which is being organised, as a means of pressure against the Government on the question. Make no mistake, we are not against a petition which enables the US shop stewards to make contact with other sections of the class, to solicit their financial support, etc. What we do oppose is to see this method of protest as an end in itself. It only has any value insofar as it helps in the task of mobilising the class for active resistance to Tory policies. Certainly the petition will represent a passive reflection of the feelings of people concerned about UCS; however, the only strategy for ensuring a successful outcome to the struggle will be to organise the mass participation of the working class in the factories and on the streets.
OCCUPY THE YARDS!
The demand for occupation of the shipyards, or, in other words, a demand for workers' control, is indicative of the militancy in UCS. The historical precedents for such attempted takeovers are numerous-although unfortunately few of them are to be found in the history of the British working class movement. They include the widespread occupations by French workers during the General Strike of 1968 and the attempted occupation at GEC-English Electric on Merseyside in response to the redundancies declared in 1969. In the latter case the failure of the occupation attempt came about particularly because of a lack of links with and support from other industries which would have enabled the GEC-EE workers to go ahead with any confidence. The tremendous demonstrations of support for UCS shown already in the West of Scotland and the consciousness of the stewards that this is a crucial issue, should enable UCS workers to make a big stride forward in this respect. The situation is assisted by the fact that at least three times the number of workers employed in UCS are involved in a variety of supply industries. In the first instance it is necessary for these workers to mobilise and prepare themselves for the militant action which would be necessary in order to keep up supplies to UCS. In the course of this action it is of course vital to demonstrate that the disappearance of the yards as an outlet for their products would also sound the death knell for many suppliers, causing more redundancies. Thus the workers in supply firms actually have a clear direct interest in supporting in the most militant possible fashion the struggle to keep the UCS open. In preparation for the possibility of an occupation it is necessary to take immediate steps to organise the strength of the trade union to coordinate such action.
Full solidarity with the UCS workers!
No Redundancies!