from Hamza Alavi The six week long strike of the workers of Woolf Rubber factory at oo the overwhelming majority of whom are coloured imnigrants, te ee, much publicity in the national press (But many of the —— 8 “pale quite misleading). The strike which began on the 1st Decem me a =a on 10th January on the basis of a partial settlenent, The form la return to work provides that negcotisiasr on issues in dispute will con inue after the return to work, The strike has raised a number of issues of deep concern to CARD members. The Southall wrkers are also badly in need of more financial helps We are therefore issuing to CARD nenvers this rReport on the Southall Strike and an Appeal for Helps Underlying the immediate issues in the present situation is the active and leading role played by coloured immigrant workers in Southall in organising themselves, in solidarity with fellow British workers, to bring to an end the practice of managements to subject them to intolerable and discriminatory working conditions. Far. from,accepting lower standards, the coloured immigrant workers have demonstrated their determination to be in the vanguard of working-class action to put an end to such a situation. For 20 years of its existence the management of the Woolf Rubber factory did not allow a trade union to be established in the factory, until coloured immigrant workers made a decisive breakthrough in March, 1964. Of about 800 workers the overwhelming majority are Indian workers; Pakistanis, West Indians, Cypriots and Irish workers are estimated to number less than 10% of the total, British workers in the factory are in supervisory grades. A trade union was established in the factory after more than a year of hard struggle by the workers with the full support of the Indien Workers! Association of Southall, a CARD affiliated organisation, The factory union was then formally brought under the wing of the TGWU. In October and November, 1964, the workers staged a major strike, following which they won many important demands together with a 40% increase in pay. Having gained confidence from their long struggle and their success, the immigrant workers began playing an active role in trade union work in meny factories in the surrounding area. This has brought many benefits not only to the immigrants but also to their fellow British workers. They have therefore won the respect and the goodwill of all workers, They have thus laid a basis not only for the solidarity of all workers in defence of their just demands but also the unity of all communities in the area in the fight against racialism, A matter of great concern to CARD members was an (unsuccessful) attempt to create dissension between Indians and Pakistanis in order to disrupt the unity of the workers, In view of the fact that the majority of the workérs were Indian, attempts were made to recruit Pakistanis in their place. At an early stage in the strike Pakistani CARD workers were active in Southall explaining the importance of solidarity, to their compatriota a faw of when ~ hed been enticed into the factory.. A most encouraging aspect of the strike was the fact that the Pakistani community in Southall, led by the Pakistani Welfare Association, stood solidly with the Indian community despite provoce ations, An isolated incident of violencé at the factory gates on the 3rd of January, given quite misleading publicity in the national press, brought a joint appeal for solidarity from the Pakistan Welfare Association and the Indian Workers Association whose leaders have worked effectively in their respective communities to see that good sense prevailed. The failure of interested parties to pit one community against another bodes well for the future. + A statement issued by David Pitt, chairman of the Campsign Against Racial Discrimination, in the form of an appeal to CARD members.
United action by Southall workers continued/
An aspect of the strike which gives eccuse for misgivings is what some workers describe as the step~motherly attitude in some sections of the Union, The district officials of the union have learnt to respect the work of the immigrant workers and serve then loyally. But some regional officers are said to have been not quite so forthcoming, It is understood that the workers had to secure the help of national officers of the union before the regional office could be persuaded to declare the strike official. Moreover, little effort appears to have been devoted to mobilise solidarity and support for the strikers, The Woolf Rubber Factory workers appear to have been left ° largely to deal with the management with their om limited Tesourcess The workers were not given strike pay. The explanation given by the union is that many of the workers did not qualify for benefits; to do so they must be fully paid up members of the union for at least 39 weeks without break. Those who were once in benefit but who - ‘had fallen in arrears would not qualify until 4 weeks after they had paid up their arrears, This does not, however, explain the non-payment of strike pay to those who were in benefit and were not in arrears. Furthermore, it is understood that 211 the workers had cleared their arrears before the strike was declared official; this was the union's condition for declaring it official. Thus many of those who were not in benefit when the strike was declared official would be in benefit for the last two weeks of it. It is understood that the union is now considering making a token payment to the strikers, As strike pay as such is very small, this payment is not likely to give much relief to the strikers. é The union action in interpreting its rules on strike pay so rigidly (if its action can at all be justified by the Rule Book) has not. been calculated to bring about an early and successful conclusion of the strike, The workers! bargaining position would obviously heave been far stronger if the union had been prepared to bend the letter of the lew in order to make the maximum payment possible, As it is, their action encourazed the management to take an uncompromising attitude, This might have broken the backs of the workers and in consequence the union in the factory but for the magnificent way in which the entire immigrant community in Southall rallied to the support of the strikers, Landlords postponed or waived their rents and grocers extended generous credit. A strike fund of over £800 was collected and distributed amongst 200 most needy workers by the Shop Stewards Committee. The fact remains that the workers have been forced to accept some unfavourable terms in the final settlement; the management evi dently felt encouraged by the wesk support for the strikers from the union. The real issue in the strike was an attempt by the management to by-pass and undermine the union, A worker who was ten minutes late from lunch break was suspended without consultation with the shop stewards and in violation of the National and Local Agreement with the union, The refusal of the company to reinstate the man and to undertake to observe the recognised and agreed union procedure led to the strike, Apart from the reinstatement of the worker concerned, the strikers demanded a 100% union shop, an assurance from the company that they shall honour the National and Local Agreements and also to settle long pending wage claims. The company,which refused to discuss the issues until the workers returned to work, dismissed the workers on strike. The settlement which has now been reached is that the company will re-instate the workers and will-start immediate negotiations on the other issues in dispute, But under the plea that the company has lost business due to the strike, it refuses to take back all the workers at the same time
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