Defending Jobs at Rover - 3
No confidence in BMW or Ford
- only union action can save jobs
By a Rover worker
(First published Socialist Outlook April 2000)
When 400 Rover shop stewards met at Gaydon last Tuesday, they rightly voted to campaign to keep the company together. This was a unanimous vote despite the fact that many workers in Solihull and Cowley feel that their particular plant might have a future. It was argued against this that nobody could trust Ford or BMW to protect these jobs.
Although there appeared to be a six week leeway before the changes were made, this has not proven to be the case. Workers are already being laid off, and plans are being worked up to implement the job losses. The unions have rightly called a national demonstration in Birmingham. But apart from this, and some desperate appeals to BMW and other employers to find a "solution", they have done nothing.
The TGWU chief negotiator Tony Woodley from the platform at Gaydon echoed the views of most shop floor speakers and called for Rover to be nationalised. But this demand is not being backed by any form of action. Longbridge should have been the immediate focus. The occupation of that plant would not only stop BMW's plan being implemented, but it would also encourage component workers and others whose jobs are at risk to take similar action. It would also point the way forward for Ford workers at Dagenham. It is difficult for Tony Woodley to argue for this of course. He has consistently shied away from any fight with BMW. At every moment of crisis he has argued for more concessions. This is one of the reasons why respect is not high for him on the shop floor. But if he and other union officials don't act soon, then the car industry will go the way of the coal mines. The first step must be action by the Longbridge work force, and then, on the basis of this there should be an appeal to the BMW unions.
Some questions certainly need to be asked about the way the link with the BMW unions has worked. Rover workers come under the same European Works Council as BMW workers in Germany. But what what has happened to this? Why weren't Rover workers told what was happening by the IG Metal representatives who sit on the BMW board? Obviously Rover workers can't expect much support from the union leaders, but what about in the BMW workers and rep's themselves? After all if BMW can do this to Longbridge why not Munich? At the time of the takeover BMW said that they needed Rover for the scale of production to ensure the company could survive. Now Rover is being closed down, where do they go next? Who is lined up to take them over?
If BMW cannot be forced to put a new model into Longbridge, then the campaign for nationalisation must come to the forefront. The position of Byers and Blair has been laughable. They have become the puppets of big business and apologists for the free market system and global capital. Even as their deal with BMW has disintegrated all they have done is criticise the company for the way it carried out its decision. Now they are best of friends again. The next demonstration should be outside Downing Street demanding the company is nationalised. The TUC, too, has done little other than talk about changing the law so that workers cannot be sacked so quickly. No major company is going to fear this type of response. Only if the unions fight back - hard - will the employers be forced to think twice. We cannot wait. Inactivity only allows the media to lull workers in to believing they have no choice.
What kind of nationalisation do we want?
Socialist Outlook has called for nationalisation throughout the Rover crisis, as we do in relation to Fords, steel and the component industry. But we have always stressed this is not to pursue a competitive struggle against other car manufacturers. The productive capacity of the car plants and their suppliers should be harnessed to help develop a planned transport system. This means that the railways, buses, air and road transport must also be nationalised.
Alongside this, other useful products should be developed. But who is going to control it? Any renationalisation must not repeat the disaster of the last time the government stepped in. When British Leyland was nationalised in 1975, Harold Wilson's Labour government immediately set about preparing it for sale, insisting that it must be competitive. Labour brought in Michael Edwardes, fresh from breaking the unions at Union Carbide. As his deputy they appointed Ian MacGregor, who went on to smash the 1984 miners' strike. The work force was reduced from 186,090 in 1975 to 46,000 in 1988 when it was privatised. Plant after plant was closed. There were deliberate moves to weaken the shop-floor unions through drawing stewards and officials onto so-called "participation" committees, where they sat alongside management.
After this softening up exercise, Edwardes and MacGregor then set about the unions with a vengeance. Longbridge convenor Derek Robinson was sacked, and the Combine Committee was smashed. Alan Thornett was then sacked from Cowley, followed by Bob Cullen and others. More stewards were sacked from Longbridge. Unlimited government money was available to carry out this task. This is not our view of nationalisation. We want workers' control of production through elected committees, not state appointed managers drawn from the most vicious sections of business.
End Concession bargaining!
Fight to defend jobs!
Occupy Longbridge now!
Nationalise Rover and Ford