Robens' accusation brings out = more miners

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Part of yesterday's picket line outside the Acton electrical firm Evershed and Vignoles, where, workers claim there has been a continual lay-off of workers without a redundancy agreement being negotiated.

EVE: Despite predictions of a 'flop' demonstration 20,000 out against dole queues FACTORIES and shipyards in Glasgow and that the firm could not solve its economic difficulties withW Scotland were at a standstill yesterday as ut 18 per cent redundancie 20,000 shipyard and engineering workers staged mong indirect workers a one-day strike against unemployment in the Shop stewards calculate to mean about 200 men.

area.

Sacking The strike, involving almost every engineering factory in Already this year 132 the Glasgow district, took workers were sacked in place despite the absence of January and this was sup- a fighting campaign and policy posed to solve the 'economic by the union leaders and in difficulties' the teeth of gleeful press and "The situation has become televisions predictions of a impossible,' a draughtsmen's flop. shop steward said yesterday, Glasgow firms severely 'when the firm has to sack affected included hundreds of workers every Motors, Yarrow's Weir Pumps year to keep going Ltd, British Olivetti, Weir *Five years ago there were Pacific Valves and Upper 2,100 working here. Now there are 1,380 and that is On debate Giectricand before the threatened redundancies. also joined the stoppage.

We have been trying for two years to get a redundancy Great feeling agreement, but management just refuse to discuss. Today's The area's great feeling for action, though, has forced inst hem to agree to discussion: tomorrow. sterday by small non stewards are not For a tie in a year and stopping there, however. At a special joint shop stewards' committee meeting last week by corporation workers. the following resolution was passed: Glasgow AEF district secre‹This committee deplores tary Mr Alex Ferrie said he the national trend for redun- was delighted with the dancies and closures in the response. engineering industry 'We therefore call on al unions to fight government policy which is creating un- apitalist press, in which the! employment and poverty for ried all sorts of manoeuvres mane stewards are sending.

anti-ve will also factory out on December 8, said one.

'Not that a one-day strike will beat this government, but by manoeuvres. we have to make a star The Stalinist-dominated somewhere.' Paisley AEF district comMORE MINERS were encouraged to strike yesterday after Lord Robens' wild outburst accusing pickets of using violence to spread the The KENT coalfield came to a stand-still as 3,500 miners from three pits joined men in Scotland, Yorkshire, S Wales and Durham, swelling the strike total to 105,000. ANNUAL EVENT REDUNDANCY!!

PAY mittee last Sunday withdrew its recommendation for strike action after a meeting last week with convenors and subconvenors of factories in the area. Some of them had voted not to support yesterday's stoppage.

This weakened yesterday's action leaving Glasgow engineers to strike for the day while the Mid-Lanark AEF district committee called a 24-hour stoppage in thę afternoon.

Two thousand workers at Rolls-Royce's E Kilbride plant Electricity workers back pay negotiators ELECTRICITY supply workers at an inter-union conference in London yesterday promised full backing to their negotiators in their discussions for a £35 million pay increase for the industry's 120,000 manual About £30 million of this would provide a £5-a-week increase throughout the industry and the other f5 million would go on increased shift and overtime payments.

The claim falls substantially short of what militant power In EDINBURGH Robens was surrounded by angry miners outside Coal Board headquarters and crossexamined over his claim of hooliganism and violence by pickets.

Robens was also challenged from S WALES.

Secretary of Cwm colliery lodge, Bryn Williams, who was among 50 pickets at Cwm coke ovens told Robens to go to the police to see if pickets in Wales were using 'Lord Robens is doing a lot of good by putting up the backs of miners,' he commented.

Three hundred coke nven workers reversed a decision to return to work after seeing he Cwm pickets.

Alf Williams, secretary o the Cwm coke oven lodge told the Workers Press:

I think our leaders have really retreated. They should never have accepted the NCB's offer, all mineworkers should support the strike.' In KENT 3,500 miners joined the strike yesterday.

At Snowdown colliery where miners threatened not to strike, the stoppage was 100 per cent.

At a rowdy pit-head meeting yesterday some right-wing miners attempted unsuccessfully to prevent the walk-out, but the Snowdown lodge secretary told the Workers Press:

"These people were dealt with by the ordinary members who went back home' The dispute will cost the Board 25,000 tons of coal a In DURHAM there was no change. A total of 5,270 men are out and four big pits idle.

In YORKSHIRE 38,000 are on strike and in SCOTLAND another pit joined the strike leaving only four in producAlbert Martin, of the NOTTING.

HAMSHIRE miners, jumped on the witch-hunting bandwagon when he said in Coalville that there was evidence that outside bodies were encouraging the miners to strike.

The Nottinghamshire leaders issued a statement 'In view of the unconstitutional methods now being used by certain groups in the we are compelled to reiterate that we shall carry out the democratic decisions arrived at by the union— route to beres sures there bodies.' All the Nottinghamshire collieries were working normally yesterday, but today or tomorrow Yorkshire and Wales pickets are expected in the area.

'We will deal with Nottinghamshire when the time comes,' ( said one Yorkshire picket.

workers are demanding. They want a f10 weekly increase and the abolition of the notorious 202 clause in the greement signed by unions in 1967.

Under this electricity workers can be moved around districts and jobs within a power station.

The unions do not expect to receive a reply to their claim until they see employers at a meeting of the national joint council for the industry on November 19.

joined other engineering workers in this action.

Many of the several hundred attending four local meetings in Glasgow to hear full-time officials and Labour MPs came away feeling that a central demonstration should have been organized and wanting to know , 'Where do we go from here?'.

Protest

The Glasgow AEF district committee's refusal to look further than a one-day token strike and to link it with the fight to throw out the Tories and the Industrial Relations Bill reduced yesterday's action to a protest.

This was against the wishes of those taking part who must take up the fight in the unions for a new leadership pledged to a programme for defeating the Tories and the dole queues.

WEATHER SHOWERS will be frequent and heavy in Scotland and N Ireland with snow over hills and on low ground in the NW. Local hail and thunder is also likely.

England and Wales will start bright with showers developing over most places, but they will be heavier and more frequent in the W and N, where hail may also occur. Snow is likely over high ground.

It will be cold in the Nand rather cold in the S.

Winds will be strong Or gale in most W areas and gales may be severe in the NW.

Outlook for Friday and Saturday: Little change.

YOUNG SOCIALIST STUDENT SOCIETY LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS Thursday, November I2, 5 p.m.

Room S401

St Clements Building. 'Force the Tories to resign. Defeat the anti-union laws.' Speaker: Ray Athow, Young Socialists.

CONFERENCES underground, 7.30 p.m.

Militant Communist Party member Angela Davis was indicted by a California grand jury yesterday on charges of murder, kidnapping and conspiracy charges.

ROBENS' EVIDENCE?

Lord Robens said in Edinburgh yesterday that he was gathering evidence of hooliganism and violence by pickets in the miners' strike.

RETREAT ON BUS PAY Municipal busmen's representatives yesterday voted by 28 votes to 18 to accept the employers' 10 per cent pay offer, giving drivers a 33s increase.

Busmen throughout the country see this as a big retreat from the original claim for £4 3s across-the-board