Cowley strikers return
Socialist Organiser1980sTranscribed by hand from the printed page.
THE NINE-day old strike by workers from the Acclaim and Princess tracks at the BL Cowley Assembly plant ended last Friday after dismissal notices had been sent out to the 750 workers in dispute.
The strike, over the loss of a day's pay in breach of lay-off agreements, was very militant, with a large picket maintained on the gates throughout.
Despite the militancy, however, the strikers were split at a mass meeting last Thursday, when the AUEW Executive issued an order instructing their members — about one third of the strikers — back to work.
Although the mood of the meeting was strongly for continuing the action, continuous pressure from the platform for a return to work eventually split the meeting, which voted by a majority of only three to continue the strike.
The split vote, and the AUEW instruction, was more than enough to give Edwardes the cue to send out sacking notices. An emergency meeting was called on Friday afternoon to make a collective response to the sackings.
There clearly had to be either a good majority for a continued strike, or a return to work on Monday morning. The convenors urged a return to work, and the meeting eventually voted to go back by a majority of two to one.