by a Cowley worker
The 'democracy' of the right wing has been shown up by the series of elections that have taken place in the Rover plant in Cowley, Oxford.
First came the election for the branch secretary of the main T&GWU branch, 5/60.
This position has sometimes been elected at branch meetings, and sometimes by ballot. The ballot method of election of a TGWU branch officer is unique to Cowley: it was originally imposed on the old Morris' branch in Cowley by the Regional bureaucracy in the late 1970s, as a device against the left.
The 5/60 right wing decided to hold this election for branch secretary at the December branch meeting. As the the meeting came closer it became clear that the right wing branch secretary, Roy Edney, was going to lose.
So in the week running up to the election the right wing started circulating a petition within the plant, which achieved 300 signatures. This called for changing the election to ballot.
But the rules of the union are clear; it is the branch that decides the method of election, and both the November, and then the December meeting, decided to elect at the meeting. The right wing then tried to change this at the election meeting itself.
They were defeated, and then had to run the election, with left winger Tony Richardson being elected by 26 votes to 3.
Mass meeting
The following week the right wing declared they would not accept the result and, completely against the rules, they called a stewards' meeting followed by a decision making mass meeting.
The amazing thing about this mass meeting was that the company stopped production for one hour, and told the membership to attend. It is estimated that they lost in the vicinity of £1-2 million of production.
Strong support
What surprised the right wing was the strength of support for Tony Richardson. His supporters thought that he had won, but the right wing chair declared it was 'too close to call'. He then divided the meeting – only to repeat the same declaration. This was follwed by the announcement that he was calling a ballot.
The right wing were in complete control of the administration of this ballot, and it was subsequently announced that Roy Edney won by 688 votes to 588.
All of this breached T&GWU rules, and complaints went to the Regional office, but of course the investigation only took place after the ballot. The result is not known.
At the same time the elections for senior and deputy senior steward were taking place in the plant.
The votes for senior steward were 1001 for Tom White, 712 for Roy Edney and 654 for Tony Richardson. The run off was 1468 for White and 917 for the sitting Roy Edney. For deputy the votes were 1542 for Bernard Moss and 948 for Tony Richardson.
Dissatisfied
Edney's defeat was a clear indication of the dissatisfaction felt by the membership over the lack of opposition to 'Rover Tomorrow', the new draconian discipline procedure, the introduction of short term contracts, and many more issues relating to New Management Techniques.
The contortions to which the TGWU has been prepared to resort to exclude a left wing candidate suggests that more tough times are ahead for the Cowley workforce.