Rough Tyneside ride for McGarvey

A STORMY meeting is expected on Tyneside this morning when Boilermakers' Society president Dan McGarvey tries to get his Swan Hunter members back to work after eight weeks.

McGarvey will outline the terms of a deal giving the 3,800 men an immediate increase of $4.50, 50p in January, 50p in April and fl next Power union chiefs hold back action POWERMEN'S leaders yesterday eaders yesterday postponed their threat of indust ria Laction over pay after the Electricity 'put proposals' to them next ThursCouncil offered day.

And after a 45minute meeting of the four unions representing the 110,000 powermen, chief negotiator Frank Chapple said that they could not help but be influenced by any agreement at Downing Street between the TUC and the Tories in the interim.

The union leaders' bluff of industrial action if there was no OLICI vesterday Was called offer by resterday was letter Bitter disappointment as Thornycroft sit-in ends UNION OFFICIALS yesterday finally succeeded in ending the Il-week sit-in at the Thornycroft gearbox factory in Basingstoke, Hants. After a 90-minute intervention by Bill John, executive council member of the AUEW, over 400 men voted two to one to accept British-Leyland proposals.

But many were bitterly disappointed come. 'Eleven weeks for nothing.' one told 'This is a sell-out by national officials—-we these terms in the beginning.' WEATHER NORTHERN Scotland will remain mostly cloudy, with rain at times. Over remaining districts of Scotland, over Northern Ireland, northern England and north Wales, the Midlands and east and south-east England there will be bright periods with showers at times.

Over south-west England, the showers will be few, but cloud will increase during the day with perhaps some rain later.

Temperatures will be near normal.

Outlook for Sunday and Monday: Rain at times. Sunny periods. Temperatures near normal. 86a Clapham High • Clapham SWA JUG.

DAVID MAUDE delivered by hand to Channlo fram Hannla Spear, Industrial Relations member of the Electricity Council.

'We should be glad to resume our negotiations on your claim in the National Joint Industrial Council on Thursday, November L, when we can review the position in the light of the further tripartite talks at Downing Street, Spear said, "and we should expect to be in a position to put proposals to VOU The power unions are August.

Although this appears • to come close to the men's initial demand for a £4.72 cost-of-living rise, a large minority of shop stewards have already voiced their dissatisfaction with the terms.

They are unhappy that not all of the increase is to be put on the basic rate.

Swan Hunter is insisting that part of the £4.50 increase should be paid as bonus, which does not affect overtime crease alruss-lt-buara for their members. This claim already represents a reduction of their expected demand for £5.50 on minimum rates, with proportionately more for semi-skilled and skilled But Chapple denied yesterday afternoon that the postponement industrial action meant his members would be 'sold out'. "They're never • sold OUt venr although some some of the thways with the outcould have had In effect the terms are no different from those decisively rejected twice last week except for an extra £100 for those sitting in.

British-Leyland only guarantees to supply three years' work for 740 men who the Eaton Corporation will employ next January.

But the orders will be subject to 'market conditions'. . And yesterday it was announced that Leyland's share of the new car market had slumped from 40 per cent to 30 per cent in a year. (See p. 3).

So, all in all, the deal amounts to a betrayal of the Thornycroft workers' principled fight for the right to work.

During the meeting Bill John told the men that union officials were not prepared to fight for 'unscrambling' of the hivingoff deal with the Eaton corporaAnd as Leyland would 'not offer better terms, they should go back to work.

Basingstoke's Tory MP David Mitchell also made a similar appeal yesterday. He told the local paper that to unscramble the deal would mean 'major changes in the whole economic and political organization in Britain' ology. claiming a £5.50 in- think they arasca amance tha hanad "Thantsearnings or raise the rates of other workers in the yards.

Voting at the stewards' meeting on Thursday which endorsed the offer, is understood to have been extremely close, with only a small majority in favour.

• Order for new ships from British owners have "practically dried up', a •shipping chief said last night. John MacConochie, president of the United Kingdom Chamber of Channla. 'Rallan' inats not erminology vith.' He said powermen's would have sidered on The AUEW's Bill John was tackled by workers after the decision to return.

•Of course this is a sell-out,' AUEW member Noel Geraghty told me. "The blame has to be laid at the door of the national executive.

'Workers will have to start choosing their leaders very, vehe carefully from now on, added.

Albert Robertson AUEW steward said: 'We've achieved what we could have. The national officials have not given us the support we should have got.' As Bill John left the factory angry workers gathered round and said they had been made scapegoats by the union leaders.

"There's nothing in it for us,' one told John.

Earlier in the morning the occupation committee had split 12-10 with eight abstentions in favour of the deal. Committee secretary Tom Lewis, who voted against the proposals, was bitterly disappointed with the result.

After a long pause he told me: •Right along the union officials have taken British-Leyland's word this deal would not be unscrambled.

'For 11 weeks this was drummed into the men and the result was inevitable in the end.' Are, he said. he kind of I go along that the claim to be conits merits and in the light of their productivity contribution rather than be determined by whatever agreement was agreed at Downing Street.

But he added:

"This doesn't mean to say that if a settlement was reached at Downing Street we would not be influenced by it' Shipping, warned:

'We are convinced that if this present dearth of orders continues much longer, there will be unhappy consequences not least for the national economy.

•.. Before we can go in for new investment, we have to be able to see a reasonable prospect of an adequate return? he told a North of England Shipowners' Association dinner in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.