Ford's British Empire has been rocked twice in the last two weeks by occupations. First the barricades went up at Swansea as workers protested against massive increases in workloads — a productivity offensive so intense that one man had been vomiting Then it was Dagenham's turn. On Tuesday 29 April the Body Plant was occupied following a week of speed-up walkThese events are of vital importance for the whole working class. British capitalism is using soaring unemployment and because of the collapse of the world car market. All the problems of under-investment, ancient equipment and low productivity on the line under management pressure.
British Leyland is on the point of collapse. And Ford's too is in dire trouble.
Ing of the British car market has hit Ford's UK haird, as it mainly produces for the home market, Now as it attempts to break into the European market, production of the new Escort at Halewood has reached only 600 a day the level of the old Escort and 500 below the level Ford's want. For management the only solution is a productivity offensive:
But the cuts in the manning levels and the establishment of a "Labour pool at Dagerhan in the Body-in-White department alone, 137 men out of a total of 800 ure being put in the poal is only the first step. Ford's aim, which is the aim of all car manufacturers, is a smaller. more efficient and more productive workforce. If the present wave of short-time und productivity increases are, not resisted the sackings are certain ********************* outs and lock-outs as management tried to implement cuts in manning levels on 'B' shift.
short-time working to intimidate workers into accepting productivity drives.
are now thrown to the fore. There is only one capitaliss solution - rationalise or die.
LU SUILL The shrink- Ford's is the shape of things to come lor all workers - both in terms of management strat egy, and in terms of the totally inudequate response of the existing plant union leadership.
By introducing the new measures to one shift at a tune and even to individual sections one at a time, Ford's hope to split up and defeat the workforce bit by bit. already stated that once it has sorted out the Body in White section. 170 Balcony, KD and Welding it will look at other departments.
If the company succeeds in its attacks on the door hangers, setters and other sections in dispute. it will have split the workforce and won half the fight. It will also have u ready-made labour pool to use as a scab force to push through manning cuts and speed-up in the rest of the Body Plant.
The ilse of the labour pool has already been shown when the door hangers stopped work.
The men already taken off the lincs were told The crisis in the car industry is particularly acute The company have in the least. sackings in the future.
Many weeks ago the unions at Ford's and in other car plants accepted short-time without a fight. Since then the car firms have been increas ingly strident in their calls for "voluntary redundancies. Vauxhall chopped 2,000 at Ellesmere Post. Leyland are secking 3,500 Tedundancies at che Austin plant in Birmingham Muny more jots have already gone.
On March 10th colvenors, shop steward and union officials from all over the national Ford combine lobbied Parliament to call for a Government inquiry into Ford's UK. The asly result was verbai sympathy from some Labour MIs who were careful to commit themselves to do nothing more than mentioning the car workers' demands to Tony Benn, This didn't deter Ford's Now, as the time comes once again for car workers to look to their leaders to unite them in struggle against the employers they get mone of the same. First the national meeting of leading stewards called by the British Leyland Coff bise Commiltee in Birmingham on 23 April Tailed to hammer out a common jobs policy. Instead of a clear demand for the nationalisation of the entire motor industry under workers control, and demanding worksharing with no loss of pay to combat short-time and sackings, it contented itself with cliches about public ownership and threats to combat non-voluntary Then it was the torn of the Ford's national shop stewards meeting in Coventry on Sunday 27 Apnil. With strueles breaking out at many different plants and the vilal need for national co-ordination only about 200 stewards turned up out of a possible 1,000 The Conference was suppused to be the first of many to raise the fight for job scurity and for public ownership of Ford's." Sid Harroway (AUER, Body Pant, Dagenham) congratulated workers at Swansea. Dagenhum and Halewood for their stand aguinst Qaaliana