A STEP TOWARDS CONFRONTATION ON BL PAY
Socialist Organiser1980sTranscribed by hand from the printed page.
BL workers took a step towards confrontation with Michael Edwardes in a series of meetings which took place last week.
The current wage agreement for BL workers terminates on November 1st and the claim for the 1981/2 period is due to be lodged with management in the month of August.
But BL workers have many problems before they can take Edwardes on, not least the problem of the committee to negotiate the claim.
Currently, there is no National Joint Negotiating Committee (NJNC) in existence within BL. There is therefore no one able to submit or negotiate a new wage claim.
The General Secretaries of the main unions in BL, principally Moss Evans and Terry Duffy, agreed to reconstitution of the NJNC as part of the sellout formula for the 1979/80 wage review — when Edwardes said accept the deal and clock in on Monday morning or be sacked.
Both Edwardes and the General Secretaries saw it as a move towards a less representative body, dominated entirely by the national officials.
The NJNC was finally disbanded after the sell-out of last year's 1980/81 review, when a series of mass meetings voted no confidence in it. Since then Edwardes has taken the initiative and tabled a very dangerous new procedure document, which among other things, calls for an NJNC comprised entirely of full time officials.
Ken Cure
In July TGWU Senior Stewards threw it out, but Ken Cure, the AUEW Executive Council man responsible for BL, has obstructed such a decision being taken within the AUEW.
BL workers are therefore now faced with a complicated situation. They have to tackle the problem of the negotiating committee before they can begin to effectively tackle the wage review itself.
Already it is clear that militancy is very high. The bulk of production workers are on a flat rate of £94 — the product of repeated sell-outs. On top of this they have seen Edwardes' own recent 38% increase.
But T&G National Automotive Officer Hawley will check this militancy if he can. He has now sent a letter to the convenors asking their opinion as to what the claim should be and asking them to reply by August 21st.
This effectively puts everything into his hands. He can then decide the claim and the method of negotiations — which, as far as he is concerned, will be through the national officers.
Faced with this situation, the role of the Combine Committee is particularly important, since it is the only representative body which can coordinate a claim. (it is also the correct body).
But the CP-led Combine Committee, which is overdue a meeting by more than a month, is not due to meet until August 28th — by which time Hawley and Cure will have stitched the claim up.
This situation has resulted in various plants formulating their own claims, some with very dangerous implications.
Longbridge has called for 17% across the board. Not 17% on the basic rate but 17% of the basic rate plus the full bonus potential of £22.00
This is a very dangerous move indeed. It will be management who will want to negotiate on bonus and forget the basic rate and this plays straight into their hands. The mere mention of bonus gives management a loophole.
The bonus scheme was not in any case negotiated or agreed by the trade unions — it was imposed by Edwardes. Management controls all the criteria. This means that Edwardes can give bonus money away with one hand, take it away with the other and cut jobs at the same time.
Ad hoc
The other dangerous position adopted at Longbridge is to call for an "ad hoc" committee to negotiate the review.
Such a committee would simply allow negotiations to proceed with no solution to the problem of the NJNC. The door would be left wide open for Edwardes to force in his new procedure document and establish an NJNC for next year comprised entirely of full time officials.
But Longbridge is not alone in adopting dangerous policies.
Jaguar
Jaguar convenors have proposed limiting their claim to £12.50 arguing that jobs are more important than money. They, of course, have spent the last few months giving jobs away by the hundred.
The clearest lead on the wage review has been given by the stewards at the Cowley Assembly Plant.
They met off plant last Friday (7th), after being refused facilities by the management, and passed the following resolution:
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£20 across the board on the grade rate — no negotiations on the bonus;
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An emergency meeting of the Combine Committee on Saturday August 15th to agree a common claim;
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Reconstitution of the NJNC as an elected body, on the basis of proportional representation and accountable to the membership. If this is not achieved, the T&G, as the major union, should negotiate the claim separately.
Spearhead
That resolution was put to a mass meeting on Tuesday 11th and carried by a big majority.
With the backing of the mass meeting it should become the spearhead of the review.
The Combine Committee should adopt it on Saturday 15th and move quickly to take the initiative from Edwardes.
The betrayals of recent years have given Edwardes some very important advantages.
Not only is there no negotiating committee but Edwardes has a rigidly centralised wage bargaining structure. It bars any negotiations at local level, yet the bonus structure creates widely differing rates in every plant.
Shop stewards
But these potentially divisive conditions can be overcome by the militancy of the BL workforce if they are given a clear lead from the shop stewards' movement.
If Company tactics alongside the betrayals by the national officers, prevent a united response to Edwardes, then the obligation will be on the strongest plants to give a lead and call upon the rest to follow.
If this kind of initiative is taken the call will be answered by BL workers: they have had enough of low wages; they have had enough of Edwardes; they have had enough of compromise and retreat.