First redundancy notices in Weinstock's wind-down in Lincoln

CORRESPONDENT ENORMOUS dangers lie ahead of employees of the four GEC plants in Lincoln who are involved in a fight for jobs. With 2,999 on the dole this month, the Lincoln area has an unemployment rate of 5.6 per cent. Of the youth who left school last month, 220 went straight onto the dole.

GEC is the major employer town and with their jobs at risk there is little future for workers. Chamber of Commerce President Peter Lingeman revealed last month that 1,000 people a year are quitting the city.

The threat of big redundancies in the Lincoln plants started with the takeover of the Ruston factories by English Electric in 1966.

By 1969 English Electric had combined with Sir Arnold Weinstock's GEC and a huge programme of sackings was under way nationally. Lincoln GEC workers greeted a proposal to move work on the AO diesel engine to Newton-le-Willows, Lancs, with a 3,000-strong protest march to the Guildhall.

Already in October 1967, when the merger was still a rumour in the city, 'The Newsletter' (forerunner of Workers Press) had warned:

'Here, as on the docks with the Devlin plan and in shipbuilding with the Geddes report, the Labour government is using all the resources of the capitalist state to equip the monopolies for battle on the world markets. ..

'Mergers such as these already going through on the Clyde and the north east are certain to result in shipyard redundancies. The same is true of the Devlin plan, which has reduced employers on the docks from hundreds to a handful of the most powerful. There is no reason to believe that the electrical industry will prove to be the exception' ('The Newsletter' October 7, 1967.)

Sure enough, by February 1968, the new GEC-AEI combine was planning to sack 6,000 workers, mainly at the Woolwich factory.

In the absence a political in the Lesson from GEC jobs fight fight against the betrayals of Wilson's reformist government, the Woolwich works committee was unable to save the and Jane widespread publicity. When local AEF leaders called for nationalization to save the jobs, 'The Newsletter' pointed out:

"To call for nationalizatio, «OW means essentially to take up a political struggle against the Wilson government and its Industrial Reorganization Corporation. It means a fight for alternative socialist policies and leadership, to replace the existing leadership with MPs pledged to policies of nationalization' ('The Newsletter' February 10, 1968.)

Then in August 1969 the combine, by then including English A series which adDeared now available as a pamphlet in Pocket Library. 'WHY A LABOUR GOVERNMENT? A Reply to some centrist critics.' Price 5p Electric, announced over 3,000 redundancies on Merseyside.

A big movement developed immediately for a sit-in strike of all Merseyside's 12,000 GEC workers. But when challenged politically from the right, the stewards caved in and all the fighting capacity of the men was frittered away.

Now in Lincoln the first workers at Dorman Diesels face the sack.

These are by no means the last victims in Lincoln of Weinstock's preparations to go into Europe and of the general slump. lar but Early in August, GEC chairman Lord Nelson warned that turbine orders from 1974 onwards are at half the level of previous years, blaming the cutback capital investment by the CEGB.

The fight in GEC Lincoln is therefore a life-and-death fight to defend the right to work. There will be no future for any worker in the town unless this fight is taken up.

But despite a decision by the stewards to fight the redundancies taken early in July, full-time union i officials managed to manoeuvre a ballot against action on the issue. Vauxhall assembly men walk-out VAUXHALL assembly workers at Ellesmere Port, Merseyside, walked out yesterday over the dismissal of 35 of their colleagues.

The walk-out followed a simione on the night shift. Then 35 had reported for work, were suspended pending SOUTHAMPTON: Friday September 8, 7.30 p.m.

'The Glebe' ', Corner of Brintons Road and Northam Road. Speaker:

Alan Thornett (deputy senior steward Morris Motors, Oxford, in a personal capacity). 'The lessons of the docks strike and the fight for jobs.' BRACKNELL: Monday September 11, 8 p.m. Priestwood Community Centre.

HULL: Monday September 11, 7.30 p.m. Church Hall, Wayne Road, Bransholme (opp "The Swallow'), 'Fighting the Tories' Rent Act.' MEDWAY: Wednesday September 13, 8 p.m. 'The Greyhound', Rochester Avenue, Rochester. 'Defeat the anti-union laws. Force the Tories to resign.!

SOUTH EAST LONDON: Thursday September 14, 8 p.m. Deptford Engineers Club, opposite New Cross Station. 'For the Tories to resign.' SWINDON: Sunday September 17, 7.30 p.m. "Locomotive Inn', Fleet Street. 'Join the fight to force the Tories to resign.' A gas turbine plant in the Lincoln GEC-owned group of companies.

By a margin of 1,083 to 1,085 the ballot went against action.

Last week the first few redundancy notices were issued and stewards from all four GEC factories in the town met and decided to reject the redundancy terms, planning all-out action.

The lessons of Woolwich and Merseyside are clear. The Lincoln stewards must campaign immediately to reverse the ballot and win a mandate to fight for the right to work. But most of all they must fight politically to remove the traitors in the labour movement who are shielding the Tories from this fight.

The removal of pro-marketeer MP for Lincoln Dick Taverne shows that this fight will gain support in the city. What is required is the setting up of a Council of Action to unite the whole working class in the town to lead the campaign to force the Tory government to resign and replace it with a Labour government pledged to a socialist policy of nationalization of the electrical industry under workers' control without compensation. the outcome of a works' committee meeting on a dispute which arose on Tuesday night.

Workers from both shiftsmembers of the Transport and General Workers' Union-are to hold a mass meeting today.

The dispute started over transfer of labour problem.

Soclalist Labour LECTURES THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF MAR given by (SLL national -ONDON Marxism as the theory ledge Sunday September 17 Development of Marxism through working-class struggle Sunday September 24 Nature of the capitalist crisis Sunday October 1 Historical materialism Sunday October 8 EAST HAM TOWN HALL Lister Room Barking Rd, 7 LIVERPOOL Development of Mar :1s m through working-class si uggle Tuesday September 12 Nature of the capitalist Tuesday September 19 Historical materialism today Tuesday September 26 AEU HOUSE Mount Pleasant Liverpool 1, 7.30