Spanish workers won't talk until men freed Citroen threat: Blanket sacking

THE CITROEN management in the ment northern Spanish port of Vigo yesterday. threatened to dismiss its entire labour force of 5,000 who are now in the lith day of a strike for a 44-hour week.

This threat is the company response to the decision by an illegal workers' - meeting on Wednesday not to allow any negotiations to begin until all imprisoned workers have been released and the sacked re-employed.

FOREIGN. NEWS Stench of Nixon deal as Kremlin sells its gold LARGE SHIPMENTS of Soviet Zurich airport during informed sources. But how the gold will be disposed Rumours of Soviet gold sales to the west have brought a temporary fall in the free market price of the metal, which now stands at $64.50 an ounce in London compared with over $70 earlier this year.

The Soviet Union has large reserves of gold and is one of the world's biggest gold producers. It customarily sells relatively small quantities (about 10 to 15 tons a month) to the west in order to earn hard currency.

But following President Nixon's visit to Moscow earlier this year, there was speculation that Soviet gold sales might be sharply increased.

The USSR is importing Schweitzer begins to fight back Schweitzer, who now heads the International FORMER French central banker Pierre-Paul Monetary Fund, is fighting back against American have thre de indicatic FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT The labour force will be sacked unless there is return - Oday unless there is a to work. Accotding. to Spanish labour law, the employer has the right to sack workers who strike or disrupt production in any way.

All means are being used to break the strike. Apart from arrests and the breaking up • of demonstrations. by. the police, yesterday, two documents against the strike were being distributed in Vigo.

One was a leaflet from an annonymous workers' organization' calling for a return to work. The other was a pastoral letter from the Bishop of Vigo, José Baeza demanding an end to violence, a peaceful solution to the strike and a return 'normal wo king' attempts to drive him out of office. Schweitzer has headed the fund since serving out the last few months of his term as managing director. Last week. -Naste nu "MAN D .O iving at pas ding to is r moment a quarter of the U S grain harvest in order to over come a severe agricultural crisis and the latest gold exports may be designed in part to pay for the American grain.

Despite its talk of 'demonetizing' gold, the United States is extremely anxious to increase its depleted hoard and strengthen its hand in the economic struggle with the Common Market and Japan.

Part of their rapprochement with the USSR may well involve Soviet agreement to release gold onto the market and undermine the position of overseas goldholders.

Bishop Baeza has made no statement about the presence of a large number of the 2,500 police in the city at the funeral yesterday of a Citröen worker's father who died carlistrikers week. About 1,000 attended the funeral.

In the Asturias, 400 workers in the Hunosa pits have now been on strike for four days for better piecework prices. The employers have locked* out a group miners in the 'San Vitor' pit until the end of the month.

Franco's police have arrested nine Bilbao youth belonging to a Maoist group and have confiscated two duplicating machines, four typewriters and books by Marx, Lenin and Mao.

The police said some of the youth had asked for passports in order to contact political groups in France. Their movements were watched once they were in France.

1963 and is now second five-year George Schultz, the American Tre asury Secretary told him the US would not support his reelection.

Despite the US pressure, Schweitzer says he will not resign before his term of office ends and intends to stand for reelection next year. This implies he has the backing of other fund members against the US, certainly France and probably other EEC countries.

Schweitzer was originally regarded as close to the Americans, who campaigned actively for his re-election in 1968. He was thought to favour the American position on the question of gold, against the Gaullists.

Relations between America and Europe, and particularly France, have deteriorated SO markedly since that time, however, that Schweitzer is now persona non grata as far as President Nixon is concerned.

The struggle over Schweitzer's position is a symptom of the extreme tension between America and the Common Market on the eve of the Washington IMF meeting which opens on Monday.

Pierre Rinfret, one of Nixon's economic aides, has said Nixon may well take the rostrum at the meeting to declare a new and harsh series of trade-war measures.

Rinfret said earlier this week the US was studying the possible effects of a 150-per-cent border tariff on key imports such as cars, steel and electronic goods.