ISJ Index | Main Newspaper Index
Encyclopedia of Trotskyism | Marxists’ Internet Archive
From International Socialism, No. 62, September 1973, p. 4.
Transcribed by Christian Høgsbjerg, with thanks to Paul Blackledge.
Marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for ETOL.
THE AUEW and the TGWU between them dominate the engineering industry, whose claim is likely to be one of the first to clash with Phase Three. At first sight the claim seems to be very militant, with its demand for a £10 rise, a 35-hour week, equal pay and longer holidays, all without any productivity strings. But despite this verbal militancy, the leaders of the main unions involved have put forward a claim that will make it difficult to unite behind it all the workers in the industry.
The money part of the claim is for a minimum skilled rate of £35. At the Eastbourne conference of the confederation of engineering unions, Tom Crispin of the TGWU claimed that more than a year ago 51 per cent of engineering workers already earned more than £30 a week. It is probable that half the industry’s labour force are now over the £35 mark and so would not benefit from the claim. And this is, in most cases, the more militant and better organised half. In fact, the union leaders have put forward a money claim of little interest to those engineers most able to fight.
That does not mean that the claim is not important. A wage rise is vital for the poorer organised and lower paid part of the industry and the last three years have shown that such workers will fight if given a lead. But they are less likely to get support from the other engineering workers than if the claim had been differently formulated.
As a recently published International Socialists Industrial Pamphlet on the claim [1] argues,
‘Clearly the best possible claim is one which can potentially unite all workers in engineering behind it. We believe this year’s claim should have been for £5 extra across the board and for the 35-hour working week. It could have been summed up as plus five, minus five and really have captured the imagination.’
Last year, despite their ‘left’ leadership, the engineers were the only major group of workers to be defeated. There are very few signs indeed that their leaders are making real preparations to ensure that the outcome this year will be any different.
1. Obtainable price 6p, including postage, from 8 Cottons Gardens, London E2.
ISJ Index | Main Newspaper Index
Encyclopedia of Trotskyism | Marxists’ Internet Archive
Last updated on 1 March 2015