As engineers resist bosses demands UNION LEADERS

EMPLOYERS and union leaders their pressure for implementation Day Work and job-evaluation 'str last year's engineering package i Lucas CAV win crossings victory YESTERDAY workmen began erecting bollards for crossings outside CAV and Lucas factories at Fazakerley, Liverpool.

For the third time on Wednesday workers in the two factories had stopped work and blocked the road in support of their demand for satety crossings. '..

In the past weeks there have been statements in the press that the local authorities had not got the money to build all the necessary crossings in Liverpool.

Lucas CAV workers had been informed that they would have to wait at least 10 weeks before anything could be done.

As the activities of the workmen were reported, the feeling in the factories was that united action won a victory that no amount of petitioning or letter-writing would have achieved. IN A witch-hunting attack on Merseyside dockers, Robert Edwards, director general of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, accused "militants' of wanting to wreck British ports : in sale can for borie By a Workers Press conditions or for more money. It is unfortunate that the reat bulk of the men listen to them.' Edwards employed against dockers in the recent campaign to make them accept containerization:

I don't want to make any ones about this-the port of Liverpool is in jeopardy' Edwards claimed that support for plans of the dock employers was growing amongst portworkers:

meetings CASTLEFORD 'Workers Press' aturday December t 12 noon Ship Inn BENTLEY near DONCASTER Saturday December 6, 12 noon Bay Horse Inn NEWTON ABBOTT Saturday, December 6 Kingsteinston Road Speaking in London on Thursday night, Engineering Employers' Federation director - general Martin Jukes launched a bitter attack on Mr Hugh Scanlon, Mr Jack Jones and Mrs Barbara Castle.

Mrs Castle in incomes policy talks MRS Barbara Castle is to neet other members of the abour government this weekend to liscuss the final drafi of their new White Paper on Wednesday or next week.

No changes are expected t e made in the document a: a result of this week's meetings with the Trades Union Congress and the Confederation of British Industry.

posals for a 24-47 ceiling' ices and leone e on industry Manpower.

Port bluff repeated on Merseyside correspondent I believe the docker is now beginning to trust the employer and on that I pin my faith in Warning Thursday's statement, made Radio Merseyside, is a warning to all portworkers, not only those on Merseyside. checkedPort employers were attempt to force through containerization on their terms, which of course must lead to large scale redundancies, but they cannot afford to reconcile themselves to that defeat.

Edwards' reference to 'wreckers' is an attempt to drive a wedge between the most politically aware dockers and the rest of the men.

And when Lew Lloyd, district secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union replies:

'If Mr Edwards means that trouble-makers are militants, he is mixing two different aspects, this can only create even more confusion.

It already concedes Edwards' allegation that there are 'trouble - makers' trying to wreck the ports.

The only dispute is over terminology.

This new attack on Merseyside dockers may well be the prelude to a big offensive against militants in all ports. are stepping up of the Measuredngs' attached to leal.

His three separate grounds for criticism all boil down to one complaint. they are to Anarchy soft on the working class!

The said, if the Amagamated gineers' president went ahead with his threat to withdraw frustry's s5-yenr-nld disputes procedure.

'Precisely nothing, he thought, would done to halt industrial unrest by government's 'emasculated' Industrial Relations Bill.

And it did not help for Mrs Castle to make statements admitting that power had passed to the shop floor.

'Frightening and dangerous', he thought, would be the consequences of proposals advocated by the Transport and Jukes never mentioned Jones by name-to give more power to shop What really gets under Jukes' skin is the complete failure of either the Labour government or the union leaders to break through the stubborn resistance of the working class to the threat of speed-up, wage-cutting and unemployment.

Scanlon and Jones in themselves are no threat at all.

In fact, e raised completely out context of a struggle for the overthrow of the capitalist system, the ideas of 'more power for shop stewards' and 'workers' Control' end up in practice meaning collaboration with the employers' plans and co-operation with exploitation.

So far, shop-floor resistance has prevented engineering employers plementing the the 1968 package deal in a number of key areas. But they are keeping up their attack. Job-evaluation At one of the main centres of resistance - British-Leyland's Austin-Morris division at Cowley, Oxford--the management recently put forward proposals for a new dayworkers' wage-structure based on job-evaluation.

As we pointed out in Thursday's Workers Press, British-Leyland is already taking the toolroom at its Austin, Longbridge, factory through procedure for the implementation of job-evaluation.

The union officials have supported the employers' reference.

In order to push through SOME of London's striking teachers seen outside the Curzon Street headquarters of the Department of Education and Science, where they took part in a 24-hour picket. The pickets collected signatures from passers-by to a petition expressing full support for the £135 claim.

Govt. plans to slash expenditure THE international bankers, and primarily those in the US, will be well pleased with the Labour government's plans for public expenditure published this week.

For the average increase in government expenditure over the next three years is to be 3 per cent-half the rate of the last four years.

The repercussions on public spending of Britain's weakening economic position interkeeping door for Tories ment's measures were right and now bringing benefits to Britain'.

This hardly explains the very high scale of abstentions —at 69 per cent, the poll was the lowest for 20 years.

After five years of Wilson's government there are thousands of workers who can no longer bring themselves to vote Labour.

Nicholas' statement is an insult not only to those workers who stayed away from the poll, but to the growing number of workers who are realizing the need to keep the Tories out despite their hostility to Wilson.

The Wellingborough result is one more fruit of Wilson's Tory policies.

By their betrayal, the Labour leaders are opening the door wide for the Tory party of Powell and Heath. DEPARTMENT EDUCATION SCIENCE • ENTRANCE BERKELEY SOCK GARACE : :

education •.' TEACH HIS I AY THI PUTOR PROSPEHIY nationally become very clear, merely by looking at the In the year prior to devaluation in November 1967, pubic expenditure rose by 9 per cent and then the cuts following devaluation reduced the rise in 1968-1969 to only 1.6 per cent.

Failed

Their huge loans having failed to hold the pound sterling at the level of 2.80 dollars, the international bankers told Wilson that he had to solve, or attempt to solve, Britain's economic crisis without any further help from them.

This forced Wilson to step up the offensive against the working class both in the more direct attacks on the unions and wages and also through the deterioration in the social services.

The government's unprecedently detailed and longprojected spending figures are a pledge to the bankers that Wilson will carry out this task to the letter.

Example

Taking education as only one example, expenditure at constant prices is scheduled to rise from £2,232 million 1968-1969 to £2,499 million in 1971-1972.

All the reformist pipeBriefly

these 'strings', the employers will have to achieve the abolition of existing procedures in the industry • which guarantee 'mutuality' in relation to payments-by-results systems, including piece-work This would require, as far as the Transport and General Workers is concerned, the agreement of a trade group delegate conference.

Next Tuesday (December 9), senior shop stewards from various selected factories the industry have been called together for a meeting at Birmingham's Transport House. posed changes in she piere- They are to work system.

Is this meeting designed as preparation for a delegate conference at which changes in procedure would be discussed? HAVING read Barbara read Barbara Slaughter's article in the article in the Press on Saturday November 22, we would like dreams for education — class sizes brought below the 'maximums', raising the schoolleaving age, university education for all those who qualify, and so on-have been dealt a final death blow.

Teachers, in the same way as , many other sections of workers, have beer forced to defend, let alone fight for the improvement of, their wages and conditions against the economies of the government.

Alternative

Already the Labour 'lefts' are raising the cry that the cuts are 'not what socialism is about'.

But what is their alternative ?

The developing economic crisis is fast bringing to an end the period when the 'lefts" alternative to Wilson of arguing for the re-allocation of resources - 'Cut the arms bill', for example-could retain any credibility at all Wilson is now to cut defence spending by 2 per cent a year at the same time as curtailing the social services.

More and more workers will be drawn to revolutionary politics by the inability of the 'lefts' to put up any challenge to this latest proof of Wilson's complete subservience to the needs of British capitalism in crisis.

their function at home—-which to preserve the Wilson regime and its anti-working-class policies while acting as a parliamentary safety valve. served one purpose at least If the My Lai massacre has it has opened the eyes millions to the counter-revolutionary role of these people.

More and more workers are saying 'Save us from our "left" friends — and we shall deal with our own class enemies'.