As the two-day lockout bites, many small and medium-size engineering firms are trimming their wage bill by refusing to abide by agreements which lay down a guaranteed basic wage Often for male workers, three days' pay plus two days unemployment benefit can be more than the guaranteed minimum wage. But for women workers who earn less, and receive lower unemployment benefit - if anythe guaranteed wage is often crucial.
Three weeks ago, Jean Jepson, a militant T&GWU convenor at Armstrong Patents Ltd., In Beverley near Hull, was summarily sacked for refusing to sign away the guaranteed 40hour week. The tacties of her employer and the response of the union are revealing In the following interview she describes what took place and below is a late-news follow-up "The company regarded it as imperatIve that the workforce should, where necessary, go onto a three-day week and sten on at unemployed for the other two days. My refusal to endorse this plan by the company to obtain state aid for the purpose of financing a two day lock out resulted in the company sacking me. They accused me of "continuous and delibcrate disruption".
I was acting on the official union instructions, which were that no local branch official had the authority to sign away an agreement negotiated at national level. And I was not willing to participate in what amounted to the people at large subsidising the company through unemployment benetits, while the workers involved suffered financial hardship as the result of a three-day week introduced by a Tory Government to which the company makes political contributions:
It is true that only about a hundred workers followed me out hut 1 consider that there were three basic reasons for this. Firstly, the three-day week, as it was designed to, has made the average worker uncertain of his or her earnings potential, and this has had a definite regressive effeet on their militancy.
*Secondly, the company mounted a massive propaganda campaign ne ainst the workforce, laced with a strong clement of intimidation. The ON 17 FEBRUARY See page 11 for details Support Red Weekly -SUBSCRIBE!
Rates: $4 per year, f2 for 6 months Foreign £6 per year, £9 airmail Special offer! 12 issues for 50p Name Please send cash with order to: Red Weekly, 182 Pentonville rd, London NI Red Weekly B February 1974 Page 12 Jean Jepson, the sacked convenor: " realise now that trade unionism is subject to savage political attacks* tory broadcasts informing them that they were not to support me, on pain of redundancies, sackings, layoffs and witat have you.
And then the T&GWU district officer and me were obstructed at every turn by the company in our attempts to talk to the membership, a completely flagrant breach of all procedures between the union and the company. I believe that the company intends to break the union at the factory, and sees my dismissal as the first step cowards that end.
*T realise now that trade unionism is subject to savage political attacks and I know that in future 1 will have to bear this in mind."
The dismissal of Jean Jepson was later confirmed at a kanparoo court held at Bridlington, Yorkshire, on 21 January, The judges comprised four management representatives and two shop stewards picked by the firm and two women shop floor workers chos en by Jean Jepson. Only the two women voted for Jean Jepson. The latter was not given the right to attend the enquiry, let alone spoak.
While publicly declaring that the convenor "must be supported", Les Upfold, the T&GWU regional organiser, has agreed to participațe in the setting up of the election of a new convenor, and is preparing to take Jean Jepson's case before the Industrial Relations Court. Hull dockers and workers at Fenners' engineering works have agreed to black Armstrong's material and strikers now plan to tour the country for wider support.
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