Westland deal tied with strings

(above) voted unanimously Shouts of 'No, no' greeted the chairman when the question of moving these goods was raised. Already one Jamaican banana boat and 7,000 cases of S African oranges are held up at Southampton.

Perhaps the Southampton men have in mind submitting a claim at the end of the strike for 'dirt' money for shifting such cargoes after they have deteriorated.

One shop steward explained afterwards:

'Even if the troops are sent in to move them, they SITE against such action.

still have to contend with the problem of transport and I am much encouraged by the decision by the Smithfield and Covent Garden men to black goods moved by troops?

•Price increases are always blamed onto the docker when he goes on strike, but it's the middle-men who put up the prices and get a quick profit,' he added.

In opening the meeting the chairman told dockers not to expect an early settlement froThis strugs in go on for some weeks yet, he said.

While some dockers hoped for some increase in the basic wage from the inquiry, no one A MASS meeting at Westland Helicopters and the associated Precision Castings Division at Hayes, Middlesex, yesterday morning voted overwhelmingly to accept the management's pay and productivity deal.

The offer-made in answer to the men's claim six months ago for a f4-with-no-strings increase-was £4 7s for skilled workers, £3 14s od for semi-skilled and £2 12s for unskilled—tied to strings which open the way to speed-up.

The first is for work measurement or analytical estimates by so-called experienced people, subject to the mutual agreement provisions of the National Piecework Agreement.

Flexibility of labour is to be introduced subject to the limitation that it shall not be between skilled and semi-skilled jobs nor between Westland workers pointed out after the meeting that this still allowed management much scope for moving men around the different parts of the plant.

A joint shop stewardsmanagement committee is to be set up to agree on the implementation of the clauses in each department.

There was some hesitation Oneveuf LP. conference for ten issues for the fortnight.

Name Address

While O'Leary begged court to take into account his chauvinism and his long service as a right-wing union leader, Jones reassure Pearson that claim did not cut across the Devlin negotiations.

In engineering and other industries, he said, 'We have seen precisely this sort of agreement [on higher basic rates] arrived at which certainly has not prejudiced proIn the northern Asturiat ductivity agreements'.

Later he expressed the hope non-payment of holl that 'this inquiry can make the sort of progress that is necessary, so thation can cene question national basic wage and get on the matter of job opportunities and the future of the industry'.

The dockers' fight for the £20 basic wage is bound up completely with the fight against the Devlin speed-up scheme. That is why the employers and the Tories provoked the strike in the first place.

Above all they want to cléar the way for Devlin on their terms. This they see as the first step to mass unemployment and anti-union laws.

The dockers' resistance has forced the union leaders into an absolutely untenable position, where they can do no more than plead helplessly with the bosses and the Tories.

Decimation

In three years of the first stage of Devlin, one-third of the dock labour force has been driven off the docks. Stage Two plans mean decimation of remaining dockers.

The union chiefs have collaborated to the full in pushing through this scheme, as O'Leary pointed out when he asked the inquiry:

'Dockers have absorbed changes without any real struggle. Our fellows handle all this new equipment without resisting. We have handled the reduction in the labour force without strikes. Can you imagine other industry where this has happened?' TUC opposes At least one member of the inquiry could have done so arms sales without undue mental effort.

Pearson's right-hand man on the committee is former National Union of Mineworkers' secretary William Paynter, now of the Commission on Industrial Relations.

It is only 18 months since Paynter left the Communist after nearly 40 yéars' unbroken card-holding.

He left to join the CIR.

At the time, CP industrial