Asset-stripping at glass plant?

THE CLOSURE of a major bottle factory ji don was finally decided on the basis of the value of the land on which the plant stands.

At the same time, the shut-down and the sale of the land will enable the company-the giant Rockware Group-to ruthlessly rationalize production at its remaining plants.

At the Greenford site the 900 workers have been told there will no work for them from January 1974. They are bitter.

They naturally resent being made the pawns of a deal between a property company and Rockware. It s certain that any attemp • close the plant or sack workers there will be met with stiff resistance, and possibly a sit-in.

Rockware controls 33 per cent of the market in glass containers, a proportion which is growing. United Glass, the leading firm in the industry, has about 40 per cent. The two companies therefore form a virtual monopoly.

At Greenford the workers produce 750,000 bottles and jars a day, about 320 tons worth out of a total 2,200 LUIS turned out throughout the group's five factories.

With the new technology used in the industry, Rockware says it can produce what it needs at four factories instead of five.

But equally • the firm has admitted the need for f14m to finance the research and development needed to take it abreast of its competitor United Glass.

For a year the group had been studying what to do in this situation, where it was impossible to finance the rationalization programme from within the company itself.

In the past few years the group has developed two ultra-modern plants. One was at Wheatley, near Doncaster in Yorkshire, and the other at Irvine New Town in Ayrshire.

At both these companies it was discovered how to produce more bottles with fewer vorkers, while receiving gov. ernment aid the form of investment grants.

Remaining were the plants at St Helens, Lancashire, Knottiord. It was a question Greenford. of which one was to close. question of tand vantes at the Obviously the best site was that at Greenford — all 35 acres of it. A new Gunter is born REGINALD Prentice, the Shadow Minister for Employment, has become the Ray Gunter of the Labour Party in the 1970s. His latest outburst is predictable enough from this rapidlyexpanding right-winger from East Ham North. He has come out against strikes in opposition to the state pay laws.

ad law, he says, must be opposed by 'democratic processes' and not by strikes. 900 jobs in jeopardy at Rockware, Greenford PHILIP GEORGE COWLEY, an inspector in the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers, is spokesman for the co-ordinating committee set up to fight the closure. He told Workers Press: 'Shop stewards at the St Helens plant have offered their full support and we are visiting the other factories.

«We have explained to them that if they sell the land and close the factory, the money will be used to rationalize and mechanize con'If they start making workers redundant here we will undoubtedly take positive action. Although a sit-in has not been formally discussed, it is behind everyone's mind. It would be a practical means of keeping the factory open.

'Workers are beginning to realize that large corporations are only interested in profit at the expense of human beings.

"The West Middlesex area has thousands out of work. All that is going on round here is the construction of storage space. Everything is now being dominated by land speculators. Where Last book group admits more today. put it at over The picture at this point. group's first 1919 — would workers mar Some property buy the land would be on He goes further: the strike should not be used as a political weapon in a democracy. "That is why the Shadow Cabinet took the unanimous decision that we could not support any industrial action that was in conflict with the law? 'entice is a former full-time Transport and General Workers' Union official and is a union-sponsored MP. tinuously-and it might be their turn next.

Inspection department at Rockware does it end? Who cries halt?' valued in 1964 it had drice of £3.5m. But the it is worth far Some estimates £10m. becomes clearer Greenford-the plant, built in close, and the le redundant. company would and Rockware its way to a Possible sit-in against fm firm FI ist outside Lonsoaring market about £160,000.

33 per cent of the market. humming in the 1974 period.' further rationalization and closure programme.

Although no names have been revealed, is most probable that Rockware already have an offer for the land.

And last year Slater Walker Securities began buying Rockware shares thick and fast.

Jim Slater's group bought the land at Westland Helicopter's Welsh steelmakers plan huge march ORKERS throughout workers from Shotton in Flint- the country don't need STEELWORKERS throughout re nlannino nna-dav shire, the East Moors works at mourning. Wales are planning a one-day stoppage on March 1-St David's Day-in protest against the devastating cutbacks in their A demonstration by 10,000 steelworkers is being suggested at Newton in mid-Wales, which is conveniently situated THE ROCKWARE Group is run by the Bailey family. Managing director David Bailey has 209,000 25p shares with a market value of about £180,000. J. A. Bailey has 539,000 shares currently valued at £460,000. Group managing director J. H. Craigie has 194,000 shares worth For the six months ending June 1972 sales were up from £15.6m to £17.Im, pre-tax profits rising from £652,000 to £767,000 and the dividend increasing from £202,000 from £154,000.

Previous chairmen have earned about £17,000 a year. In 1971 several directors were sacked in a clear-out operation, each receiving £16,000 The total workforce — including those at In 1971 the group gave £1,000 to the British United Industrialists, a right-wing Tory fundraising body. Some £300 was also given to the Peter Parker, chairman, commenting on the Greenford shut-down, said: 'With this move I think we can look forward to 1974 with some relish. Our view is that if you get the logistics right and do get concentration of the best modern equipment you can really get something The firm manufactures milk bottles, beer bottles, vials for penicillin and so on. It has HOCKWARE GLASS Greenford-—is put at just over 7,500.

anti-trade union Economic League.

site nearby. That factory also closing down.

Ealing borough council, the local authority, says as yet there have been no planning applications for the site although 'a couple of inquiries' had been made about the 35-acre plot. The area is zoned for industrial use, but borders a residential area.

What the Rockware workers from Shotton in Flintshire, the East Moors works at Cardiff and Ebbw Vale.

Mr Ken Monti, secretary of the Shotton works action committee, said: 'We are going to ask everybody to stop work for the day and turn it into a day of mourning' steelworkers are faced with here is a com ination of a ruthless ration and specular. and the work of alization process by big land speculators.

As such it is part and parcel of what is fast becoming a natural occurrence throughout British capitalism. The planned victims in the process are the workers decent monice and Backing the company is modernize and rationalize British capitalism at the expense of the working class. Rockware workers are theich is not special to roes.

amount of persuasion will deter Rockware from pursuing its course ruthless conclusion It begins, naturally enough, from profitAt the centre of all the campaigns launched by the or the Has so on a t Rockware workers must for the right to work today is political figh against the lonopolies and their gover ment.

4 call must go out fron he co-ordinating committee for full THe government and trade union movement.

The Rockware workers' struggle for the right to work mee es todae. working Class on all fronts on the right o strike, to negotiate wage inCreases.

Act and rising prices, the working class ready LOVe LoWa At the of such mobilization the resignation of the the mass A Labour government must lationaliz the Rockware without correcusation the work in them must Only on can the be TOT They need a day of intense political organization to bring their demand for the right to work into the mainstream of today's struggles against the Tory government and its repressive laws.

See Steel series on centre pages.

'scheme including Town and The Arts Theatre Club. on PAGE & Worki BY PHILIP WADE PAR February AND NO HE Trendishoe by mere £625,000.

The company means to go straight ahead with a gigantic office block on the site, while the GLC will undoubtedly get the land it needs to widen Charing Cross Road.

ARTS THEATRE CLUB ARTS THEATRE CLUB MAHLER CALO Trust House Forte's chairman of directors is Thorneycroft, ex-Tory Aviation Minister.

With the GLC's rush to clear the dwellings, nearly all the tenants had to move out of the area. And, of course, "Tinians