Tan Mikardo's Important Statement.
The Sheffield steelworkers'! group met last Sunday at Transport House, Sheffield, to consider the next moves in their campaign for workers! control in the nationalized steel industry. It was a significant occasion. Within two years of first formulating their demands, they face important decisions as to how they will react to the Steel Corporation's offer of "workers! directors", on the eve of nationalization. (vesting date is July 28th.) Im that time, they have come a long way, and the chairman last Sunday, Michael Barratt-Brown rightly commenced the proceedings by congratulating them on shifting the whole climate B| of opinion. In his opening remarks however, he also added a note of warning. Richard Marsh, the government spokesman on the industry, having last year rejected all pressuré for workers' representation as "inappropriate", was now turning to the workers - because he needed them to collaborate in the nationalisation of the industry. Seen correctly, this meant that the workers were in a very strong bargaining position. They should respond by saying "yes..IF". Their conditions should include proper accountability of workers' representatives, the opening of the books, and the power of workers to. vote managerial appointments. They should include the right to insist on the provision of alternative work at existing wages, before redundancies took place. Later, the conference discussed and endorsed many of. these, ‘points | - several steel-workers expressed very strong objections to Ron Smith's proposals for worker directors. They agreed however, that positive proposals” for properly accountable representatives were an essential part of nationalisation. The if conference discussed plans for a big public meeting’ on or: near vesting day,: and for leaflets, and a Steél Voice, to carry the campaign onto the shop floor. It was agreed that the other major steel areas should be approached for their participation in the campaign. The conference’ welcomed ‘the: idea of taking ‘the whole issue to the Labour Party Conference, in: the form of @ reconvened all- | industry national CSE conference, “and found great encotiragement from the evidence of the Coventry conference, that many other industries were moving into action on workers! control. . ' Ian Mikardo, in a most effective and thoughtful speech, - stressed that the parliamentary role in the campaign could not claim priority or exclusive inportance, It could reflect and express the demands which workers made - for. themselves. Workers! collective actione if necessary industrial action. =; could alone ensure effective control. He looked forward to the time when. a strike would occur about a precise issue of workers' control - such as the ‘demand. for secret information. He welcomed the change of attitude. towards workers! representation which was evident in the trade unions and the TUC. From a long experience of nationalised industries! joint consultative machinery, he showed how effective representation had been prevented, in part by the almost exclusive occupation of the higher level committees by full-time trade union officials. He wanted to see a pyramid of representative committees, occupied by elected lay members, reaching from local to national level, and accountable downwards at each level. He stressed that documents - such. as the recent | published Labour Party Report on Industrial Democracy - were best seen as” supports or "crutches" upon which workers could lean whilst i they worked out their own demands more fully. ' 3 Mikardo thought that Harold Wilson was personally Nvery. ‘yeen" ‘on. the ‘industrial democracy idea, and predicted that, apart from. the steel and. docks, ‘cases, there.
would be legislation soon on participation in private industry. He hoped
however, that the Prime Minister did not see this as a method of diminishing
orheading-off criticism of the incomes policy. He agreed with Michael Barratt
Brown on the strength of the workers! bargaining position, and suggested the
following principles as starting points.
1. That workers' representation should be organised through the unions.
2. That there should be an end to the division of industrial relations
into bargaining and joint consultation. Bargaining should cover all
aspects of managerial authority.
36 That far from minority representation, workers should be seeking
rights of joint management - as in the proposals of the ‘Labour Party
Report on the Docks.
4e That workers! representatives must have proper fasilities for
carrying out their function - time off work, etc.
De That they should be able to call on independent qualified inves-
tigators, to probe the workings of their industry.
6. That the books should be opened ~ he drew attention to the long
list of items on which workers! representatives should have
informaticn, which is included in the Labour Party Report on