McGarvey warns Sackings at Clydebank next month

UNION CHIEF Dan McGarvey has greeted the appointment of Lord Strathalmond to head Govan Shipbuilders Ltd, the Tory-created firm masterminding the break-up of UCS.

Kraft strikers talk to AUEW councliman Arthur Hearsey.

WORKERS in the eighth week of their reinstatement strike at Kraft Foods, Kirkby, Liverpool, were given the brush off when they lobbied the AUEW Executive Council for official support He hopes that 'as a Scot' the oil baron will 'carry on from where Hugh Stenhouse left off'. (Stenhouse was killed in a car crash several weeks ago.)

A member of the Scottish raser family, Strathalmonc is a managing director of British Petroleum, a director of Standard Oil (Ohio) and renowned as a tough negotiator.

Last year he led the world's top. oil bosses in their negatiations with Middle East leaders in Iran.

Strathalmond, who plans to meet union leaders and shop stewards before the end of the week, is unlikely to 'talk like a boilermaker' to paragraph summarizing the EC's position on the strike. It read:

'Executive Council feel that the joint officials should endeavour to get a return to work and are of the opinion that considering our member was only employed with the company for five weeks and he actually worked four of those fivé weeks, a satisfactory formula could be found.' But the question involved is a basic one and does not depend on the time a man has been in the union, said DAVID MAUDE McGarvey, as the union chief once claimed Stenhouse did.

His appointment 'in the national interest'-and Industry Minister John Davies' enthusiastic welcome for it— reflects the Tories' impatience to move in for the kill against the 8,000 upper Clyde A series of feasibility studies being carried out for the government at the Govan and Scotstoun yards are almost completed.

They should be out before the end of the month spokesman for Govan Shipbuilders said yesterday.

Strathalmond's appointment will increase McGarvey's anxiety to get down to the brass tacks and working conditions with the new company.

But to do this, he must come up with some formula giving apparent guarantees of jobs at the Clydebank yard.

All the persuasive treachers of the yards' Communist Parts hop stewards has so far beer anable to persuade the UCS workers to abandon Clydebank.

o on Monday, McGarves ilies to Texas for talks with Breaksea Tankships — a consortium which says interested in leasing Clydebank, laying off its workers and redeveloping the yard to build liquid-gas carriers.

FARE OFFERED The bilermakers' president has even offered to consider ayıng the fare of governmen quidator Robert Courtney Smith to the US for the talks.

By February, McGarvey now warns, 'there could be redundancies at Clydebank ..

"The Americans want talk to us about guarantees and long-term agreements, and we are sure we can show them that matters will be suitable?

He praised Davies' cooperative attitude.

But while these key moves are being played so-called owork-ine at the yards is virtually suspended for the New Year festivities.

The yards are deserted and their symbolic gates were unmanned :yesterday. .No one was available for comment at CPer James Reid's Clydebank convenor's office.

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