by Ken Tarbuck.
Following on from the ENV management's decision to close down their works comes a move by the U.S. owned Roberts Arundel of Stockport to smash union organisation. There has been a dispute at the factory for four weeks now. This arose over the recruitment of five women workers after 45 men had been declared redundant.
The strike at the factory has been declared official by the A.E.U. and has received widespread support in the north-west. On Monday of this week - 19th December - there was a mass picket of over 300 including representatives from Manchester Shipbuilding and Engineering Confederation, and various shop stewards committees in the area. The managing director had to force his way through a storm of booing when he entered the factory.
Following attempts by Confederation Officials to get the Engineering Employers to put pressure on the firm to abide by national agreements, the firm has left the employers' organisation, and declaredrthat it will not abide by the agreements. It has alse declared that it will not recognise trade unions or shop floor crganisation, and will recruit non-union labour. In its attempt to smash the strike it has sacked all those who are involved in the dispute.
This present dispute follows a definite pattern for firms that are taken over as U.S. subsidiaries. Local and national agreements are observed for a time, then the management starts complaining about ‘restrictive practices' or ‘obstruction'. There follow attempts to weed out militants on the shop floor and weaken factory organisation. Closely associated with this are demands for revisions in agreements and in the case of ENV a threatened shut down when these are not conceded. At Roberts Arundel, probably because of the local labour position, they have resorted to mass sackings. The firm no doubt hopes to intimidate any labour they recruit from trying to organise.
So far they have been very unsuccessful in their attempts to recruit scab labour, only 26 people having crossed the picket lines. There have been reports that the police have been active in trying to intimidate pickets by their usual technique of warning against 'violence'. However, none of the measures so far seem to have affected the spirit and solidarity of the strikers.
The importance of this dispute cannot be stressed too much. On numerous occasions in recent months it has become clear that employers are using the present recession to attack workshop organisation and so pave the way to lower living standards. It becomes very dear that the ‘secred' national agreements, that are constantly invoked against shop stewards when required, can be thrown into the waste paper basket when it suits the employers.
The London building disputes (mentioned elsewhere) and this dispute all follow the same pattern. This is why it is necessary for all workers to support these individual strikes by a massive show of solidarity,
Donations to the strike fund should be sent to:-
The Treasurer, A.H.U. Office, 125 Wellington Rd. South, Stockport,
Cheshire.
They should be marked clearly for the Arundel dispute.