A few days ago the Foreign Secretary, James Callaghan, declared that the delivery of ships to Chile was "under review. This review scems to have ended, The Labour Government is going to deliver two Leander-class frigates and two Oberon-class submarines to the Pinochet dictatorship.
Those Labour MPs and other Labour supporters who imagined that the present Government would be more sensitive' on issues such as Chile than the previous Labour administration was on Vietnam, will now hive to decide how to act on this question. do. it is incumbent on those Labour who oppose Callaghan's action to table a motion demanding the immediate break of all relations with the military junta.
What all this demonsteates is the absolute correctness of calling lor a massive moblisation 5 May, Preparations for this are going abead, and the first ad-hoe committee neeting last Wednesday was attended by a broad spectrust of the lett and trade union movement. Chile Lache, a journal produced by Chilean socialists in exile in this country, was also represented and Regardless of whar their leaders' tave pledged support for the mobi lisation.
Among the speakers will be Ken Coates, from the Nottingham Labou Party, who moved the emergency resolution on Chile at the last Labour Party conference.
An important south London trades council is to support the national Chile solidarity demonstration called for 5 May. Waudsworth Trades Coricil decided to back the deinonstration at its meeting last Monday, & April.
Committee, Caledonian Road, London. N.l. Phone: 01-278 9526
A mess meeting of 2500 workers voted on Tuesday to end the strike on the Marina assembly line at BLMC Cowley. The strike (described in the last issue of Red Weekly) was against the company's breach of the agreement on the use of industrial engineers-time and motion studiers.
BLMC's drive to fully implement measured day work throughout the company's terms renders the vital clauses in the industrial engineers agreement into a virtual dead letter.
It wipes out the right of the shop stewards to mutual asteement on changes in track speed and manning L02C38 TOUGH LINE The company has taken a tough line throughout the dispute, It has been gormanca to maxc ine workers pay for its growing cash crisis, swelling cost increases, and shrinking markets.
In a letter sent to workers' homes, BLMC asked: "Do you wish to semain in out employment? If you won 1 work obtaining mutual agreement before increasing the track speed. This was tossed out by the company.
It did, however, show the company and the workers that the stewards had no coptigence in the men's determanaton to defend the agreement. It also confused the workers. After all they had already been on strike for a week aminst the use The vote marks a step forward for of the industrial engineers in aboarmal LUISANCES There are many reasons for the returncombine. The return to work on the leadership's attachment to the "politics to-work vote. Not least is the WRP last Decemoet. they chimeds We face the danger of catastrophe in this plant. The Government has imposed a three-day woek... This will crcate within the first week six million unemployed and then dou Lie that hoic.
No one will buy cars under these conditions and the impositions in the budget must be the final nail in the coffin of car sales." The WRP stewards concentratco on the unikaly crone oran Immediate BLMC bankruptcy and factory COOSITC They did nothing to prepare the workforce for the most likely event, which began to wonder what to believe.
the IMG and its factory bulletin, the Orgartiter. Although the Orgumiser produced twice a day throughout the dispute -had pinpointed the nature of the company's attack and propounded Press attacked it as disruptive of catestrophe". In a WRP leaflet published anti-IMG bandsagon and denounoed the 'extremists. The Workers Press artice could only serve one purpose that of splitting the workers.
not only the industrial engineers agree ment at Cowley. It also challenges the and revoletionaries will come under constant attack from the management, and that requires a political response Urganiser The offensive being waged by BEMC cannot he fought by 'pure trade Short on policy but long on vituperation, the WRP launched into an attack on a policy of united strugek, the Workers SPLITTING The management happlly joined the The defeat of this strike threatens very existence of an effective trade union DEAR OR C SOON BIHACES such as the publication of papers like the unionism", and abstract calls to build the The vote of 180 transport workers to Jay-oll agrooment can provide the basis Jur re-unifying the work-force, It has led to The Armstrong Defence Committee, Formed to fight for the reinstatement of sacked convenor Jean Jepson and other workers who have been dismissed and victimised at Armstrong Patents in Hull, held its first meeting on 27 March.
Wing Over thirty attended, including workers involved in the dispute, representatives of the local labour movement, and delegates from IMG, the Communist Party, and the International Socialists.
The principal decisions concerned the holding of regular pickets on Wednesdays and a public meeting with the broadest sponsorship to be held at the end of April. A tour of Midlands car plants by Jean Jepson is to be arranged This follows the blacking of Arnstrong products by 600 workers at British Leyland in Oxford. Armstrong manufactures all the shock-absorbers used in British cars other than those supplied by Girlings and Woodheads. They can be identified by blue markings, Last week, Jean Jepson held a factory gate meeting at the Annstrong plant in York, explaining the nature of the struggle and why they might be affected by the blackUnfortunately, the Regional Secretary of the Transport & General Workers" Union, Dave Sheaton, has not reaponded to these initiatives, in spite of the fact that his own Regional Committee has decided that Jepson was unjustifi ably dismissed.
Shenton has written to all car factories telling them not to black Armstrong products, and not to touch the Jepson case The Defence Comprittee meets every Wednesday at 8 pm in the Park Hotel, Hull Armstrong Trade Unionism under Attack', a pamphler on the struggic, orn be obtained from the Defence Comminter, 7 Parkside Close, Park Avenue, HuR Price 2p.
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Further detaiis (posters, stickers, Lea/ets) from: Chile 3 May Ad Hoe