from a Glasgow correspondent TROUDLSA
Readers of The Week will have _ same ee ee ee of 27 workers at the Linwood works of Presse ; e ; eT ee ae
's events was a dispute over the sacking of one to pn iy Pattee 2 where, it was alleged, production had ony to SO to 75%. This led to a strike of the die setters, and this = pei ee laying off of other sections. Workers in the final section 0 eS ou making Ford Truck Cabins disputed the necessity for a full ay © : s sine that there remained adequate work in hand for them to dO. a ng for work on Friday they refused to leave the shop and were eventual y nh removed by police. The action was entirely solid and happened in a #e9 where there was a very stable labour force and where there had not been a stoppage for three yearse The arrested men have received full moral oe financial backing from their union , the N.U.V.B. and from the Stewards Committee, They are to appear on Friday at Paisley Magistrates' Court charged with a Breach of the Peace. Reaction in the Scottish Labour movement has been immediate and universal condemnation of the action of Pressed Steel management.
However, the problems of the workers at Linwood will not be solved by a successful conclusion to this dispute. The background to this situation lies in the very narrow base of the new industry which has been created in this overspill area 12 miles outside of Glasgow. The Pressed Steel factory is capable of producing a wide variety of pressing for all sections of the engineering industry. But its sole guaranteed customer is the only other major factory in Linwood, Rootes, producers of the Hillman Imp. The very big short-fall in sales of this car - $ of projected production - and the reluctance of the Rootes management to expand production into other vehicles, has led to chronic instability for all workers at Linwoods This can only be removed by the implemertationof Labour election policy on the diversification of industry and the direction of new science based concerns to the more depressed areas of the country - the existence of Pressed Steel makes Linwood an ideal location for this sort of expansion. It might also be considered whether the behaviour of the Rootes' management in their apparent unwillingness to diversify production in the face of falling demand for the Imp does not fall into the category of ‘failing the nation! and strengthens the arguments of those who have called for public owmership of the car industry.