a Water (1972), Hoavy Chomicals coe Cement, Paper and Glass (1974-79), and tho Motor industry 1979-84). British Railways believe that within 5 yoars it could solve any Ba problem in applying automation to its operations over the next 15 to 20 yoars, Already tochniques oxist for running :driverless froight trains up to 150 Mr For some years now, the ratio of offico workers to production workers has beon rising. One large British chemical manufacturing firm has increased its sales 120% in tho last ton years with only 8% increase in its work force. IMoreover, the number of manual workors actually deolined mist the number of ne collars" workers
is esbectiie more ar onan than that of Siodidtton line operations Clerical work can already be done much mre efficiently and rapidly by data processing machinory and a more advancod system would probably eliminate the need for many office jobs altogether, In their drive to cut ovorheads, large .engineering firms are looking at the sizo of drawing offices. A now motor car needs approx. 15,000 now drawings. Automatic drawing offices using electronic techniques of two and three dimensional projection are not far away and should be in use within ten years. British Railways, having cut their work-foree from over 600,000 to 475,000 in ton years, can only carry out drastic roductions in the administrative fiold, That is why 95% of all rationalisation research is devoted to cutting dninist j 8 administrative costse ta: Be continued /
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It is not yet possible to say with certainty what the effscts of the government's abolition of resrile price maintenance will be. Obviously the decision must be based on an electoral calculation. It is hoped that some short-term pric-cuts will result soon, while the longer term consequences ought to be (in the words of the Rconomist) "to allow rationalisation in the distributive trades to go forward faster and even more generally". But in the same issue it is pointed out that “rather less than 30% of retailers in Britain are significantly affected by resale price maintenancs, So its gradual abolition...should not mean any suddcn ravolution for the shopper." However fast or slowly "rationalisation" of retailing will procood, socialists ought to define their attitude to the proc ss. Is it to be welcomed, or fought?
To fight it, in the sense of trying to prevent it happening and defending old-style retailing, is an untenable position. For this reason Tribune deserves criticism for its contribution to the debate. In a confused piscs in its issue of January 24th, it dsfends tho small shopksspers in tho following remarkable termss "In presont circumstances, it is no bad thing that they are sccurc snough to stock unprofitable goods which people nead, and to avoid matting cach others! throats or working their staff to death". In this idyllic image small traders become a band of brothors doing the public a service on a 40-hour wsck!} But the image is not accidental. Tribune wants to attack the government's action, and f27ls mistakenly that this can be done by siding with the main victim of that action - but the victim is such that it is only possible to side with him on the basis of a totally distorted picture of him!
If we carnot support small shopk=epers who cut each others! throats for profit and work themselves and their staffs to death - must we simply welcome "rationalisation", more chain-storos and supermarkets? ‘Socialists cnnot “welcome” this, in itsclf, because ths process is an extension of the power of large-scals capital, the pmetration of the big boys to a new level, a consolidation of ths syston.
What must be sesn is that simpls opposition or welcome to this or any other essential capitalist dovelopment is bound to be wrong. Given the power and logic of the system, an evolution such as this is insvitable, It creates the now conditions in which we will have to fight. Nor are these conditions sntircly unfavourable to socialists. If rationalisation appears to reinforcs the enemy , it also creates rotailing units that could be made more rational in socialist terms — by takoover or by transformation into co-operatives. Trade unionism has some hope of gctting into large-scale rotailing, in contrast to small shops. We must not try to put the clock back, attompting to defend the indefensible, but move the fight into tho now torrain.