Fighting monopolies and multinationals AS WE go to press, the first-ever national strike by the Telecom | had to get permission from the
engineers' union, the NCU, has just begun. Already it is clear that the scale of the management attack on working conditions - aimed at slashing as many as 24,000 jobs - has been the key factor in unifying the resistance of this craft union. familiar to countless thousands of workers in manufacturing industry and elsewhere. The success of the NCU in defending the conditions they have fought to achieve will be of concern to the engineering staff of the more recently privatised British Gas who are next in line for the chopping block if British Telecom management prevails. the striking printers at News International, whose struggle had been left isolated by their own leaders and the "new realism" of the international significance of the dispute and of the industry itself, with extensive reports from a recent international rank and file conference of telecom workers. IN A historic meeting, rank and file telecom throughout world converged on Amsterdam from December 4 to 7. Delegates from Japan, Brazil, Chile, Italy, Spain, Mexico, the Nicaragua, USA, Belgium, Britain, Germany, Philippines Denmark, Malaysia and discussed their own trade union and political situations as workers in the and hugely profitable vast multinational telecoms' industry. The Conference, organised by the Dutch-based Transnationals Information Exchange (TIE), was a tremendous experience in working developing class internationalism. Ohyama Kiyomi, a clerical worker at NEC in Kawasaki, spoke of the tremendous exploitation of Japanese workers. She is a supporter of the Rodo Joho group of militant workers, opposed to the yellow company unions which dominate industry in Japan. In NEC the normal working week is
Telecom workers The main outlines of the management's onslaught will be The start of a new national strike will also improve the chances of This issue of Socialist Viewpoint also helps underline the By RICHARD PAINE Delegate, GEC Joint Shop Staffs Unions (in a personal capacity) 50 hours. There is a management- imposed paid overtime limit of 120 harris lar are pushed to engineers id , unpaid basis. average 200 hours per month effect a 13½ hour working day 7 days a week. NEC has a medical unit on site which not surprisingly specialises in and dealing with the breakdowns mental which nevitably result. Kiyoni pointed ou other developments, particular in women workers increasingly being placed on VDU (Visual Display Unit) "satellite" terminals remote 111 stations. This could easily lead into a new form of home-working. Oliveira, a Brazilian metalworkers organiser, covers a telecoms plant Ericssons of Sweden. He told how he Socialist Viewpoint No. 15 February 1987 p4
Brazilian police to leave the country to come to the conference.
Both he and shop steward Lucas dos Santos Filho, members of the left-
Wto Brazil in the preparations for a General Strike on government.
The common and central thrust of all the contributions from the Latin American delegates was the demand being raised for the non-payment of the foreign debt.
Juan-Carlos Contreras from the argued that (short of direct military intervention) "the burden of foreign debt is the last card the capitalist class can play in Latin America.
The demand for non-payment was welcomed by other delegates as a international finance capital. And a opposition to the US government's
Telecoms is now, linked
Information Technology boom, the most dynamic industrial contrenced captain.
Conference progressed, it became clear that the increasingly rapid development of telecom technologies controlled by the multinationals results in the same problems for workers worldwide. Attacks on Trade Unionism Intensified exploitation of workers as evidenced in Japan is coupled with an anti-trade union offensive by telecoms' bosses. The National Communications Union (NCU, previously POEU) in Britain is a good example of this.
Dave Ward, who until last year's right wing takeover was a member of the NCU Executive, reported that 15,000 jobs had been lost since the privatisation of BI. Unprecedented overtime is now being worked, and
the previous national bargaining unit has been broken up. Canadian-based telecoms manufacturer Mitel, which has a factory at management's response to the NCU's repeated requests to discuss recogni-
At another existing BT manufacturing plant in South have been told to accept a £56 per week pay out in order to compete
"Like a roundabout, cuts in wages only force the competing comtechnology has forced our members to become political, " Dave reported.
drive in existing companies is matched by the increasing number of non-union companies entering the market.
The US computer giant IBM is using the natural link between digitalised telecoms equipment puters to join the race. IBM is totally
Perhaps the most startling development though is the rise of Electronic Data Services (EDS). Bought in 1984 for $2½ billion by General Motors (GM), EDS is again totally union. In EDS a "Code of Conduct" discourages beards, cohabiting unmarried, and prescribes skirts for women, ties for men!...
EDS is devising and General Motors' worldwide communications system, the "Saturn Project". It is designed to give GM management knowledge of what is happening anywhere in any operations within a tew moments — making existing national puter networks obsolete, encouraging competition between each local GM "profit centre" ', and being able to move production elsewhere at the slightest sign of workers militancy.
Outside of GM, the US government is already EDS's second largest customer, EDS has taken Unilever's in-house computer work, and is fast developing into a computer and communication systems provider to companies and governments worldwide. It is currently front-runner for a £200m contract with the British government for a new computer network. Attacks on public and private monopolies Liberalisation and privatisation of the telecoms networks is taking place in country atter country worldwide.
Laura Unger, a supporter of the "Bell Wringer" rank-and-file paper In Communications Workers America (CWA) local 1150, works for AT&T in New York. AT&T is the world's largest telecoms with current annual sales of over $io billion.
Laura outlined to delegates the first move on liberalisation worldwide the "divestiture" of AT&T. AT&T was
10% NC LEASt OUR lAGS HARD WOW ALONE the anti- running data of its GM com- national strike. over until 1982a net- million employees. yellow paging and Each one is as big as BT. AT&T retained equipment sales and of calls. But particular company tion with parallel long-distance networks. lost immediately
GOD 15' OM OUR IDE NCU NIl. POWER WHO -HIND PROFIT DESTROYING BRITISH TELECOM British Telecon engineers on their first regulated private, monopoly controlling all aspects of telecoms in the USA from manufac- distance calls! ture to supply. In 1980 it had over 1 Swiftly following its own move into computers in 1980, AT&T was forced in 1982 to divest its 22 area operating companies. These are now formed in- to 7 regional "baby Bell" holding out: companies, each independent and in direct competition with each other for other services. manutacturing, the long-distance long-distance was deregulated and now other com- panies - MCI and GTE Sprint in - are in direct competi- non-interchangeable Iwenty-seven thousand jobs were major upon divestiture. The CWA's response was weak, spen- Socialist Vieupoint No. 15 February 1987 p5
47 MORTERS 5 • 0 PHOTO: NCU 10% Andrew WITH NO Wiard, STRINGS Report ding $2 million on a campaign for the public to select AT&T for their long
In 1986 the union accepted AT&T's proposal to move their contract date to May, leaving the contracts for the 7 "baby Bells" in August. This led to separate strikes and the worst contracts in 20 years. As Laura pointed
"It's a public catastrophe - not all long-distance companies have links to all cities, repairs are almost impossible (the "baby Bells' control
Kline, AT&T the equipment). Local call prices have risen for domestic consumers and fewer people can afford telephones."
Clearly the Thatcher government had learnt a few lessons from some of the more stupid blunders of the AT&T divestiture when it came to the next
move worldwide the privatisation of BT
For instance, BT's rival, the Mer-
cury network linking business users in Britain's major cities, is linked in to the BT network to avoid the problems of the US competing systems. But the principle is exactly the same - open a growing market up to competition, existing union organisation in the process.
Liberalisation of the market is now taking place in virtually capitalist country in the Privatisation is underway or planned in Spain (by Gonzales' government), Chile, Japan, Malaysia (with the advice of BT), Sri Lanka, Australia and others. The Bosses' International The drive for profits spearheaded by new technology (digital systems) and brivatisation/liberalisation, land with an ottensive on workers ir the industry, has resulted in the internationalism of manufacturing and the market.
The vast sums required developing the new systems estimated at between £500m-£1, 000m for a new digital switch — are forcing through a sweeping rationalisation of operations worldwide.
The recent takeover bid by GEC (10th largest manufacturer in the world with a telecoms turnover of £746m in 1984) for Plessey (12th with £677m) was turned down British government. Looking at world competition, it was a decision British capitalism is likely to regret.
The American multinational ITT has just sold its entire operations in over 75 countries (the largest in the world after AT&T, with £3,500m turnover in 1984) Alcatel-Thomson (7th at £2,010m)
Workers of America (CWA).
but his sons were tortured and are still in jail.
ASTTEL prevented from holding union meetings.
ANTEL has broken 3 successive contracts.
Salvador, rather than ASTIEL.
SAWA sort long-distance and break every world "socialist" ISSUE I APRIL. 1982 RODO JOHO tionalised electronics group CGE. Uli Gross telecoms subsidiary SEL in Frankfurt by the will happen. telecoms the to with a takeover of CGCT (France). DEFEND ASTTEL IN EL SALVADOR One of the most savage examples of trade unionists under attack was given by Ilene Winkler from Local 1101 of the Comunication A worker at Nytex (the New York Telephone Company, one of the "baby Bells") and active in the "Bell Wringer", Ilene spoke on behalt of the Labour Campaign to save ASTTEL union in El Salvador. Duarte's regime has been systematically attacking ASTTEL, the Union of Telecoms Workers, which has responded with a series of • In November 1985 ASTTEL leader Humberto Centeno and his two sons were kidnapped by the Treasury police. He was later released • In January 1986 ASTTEL General Secretary Raphael Souchez was illegally fired from his job, union offices ransacked, and • All worksites have been militarised, and the telecoms Company All this might be expected. The most scandalous thing of all however is that the PTTI, the international federation of public telecoms workers unions (to which the NCU is affiliated) recognises the ANTEL Company Union (with 35 members!) as its section in El Socialist Viewpoint No. 15 February 1987 p
Local- Local 1150 Communications Workers of America We Tried In Ficht for Tratin. an THE for BELL WRINGER WHAT THE AT&T SPLIT MEANS 1986 NO. 13 4-21-1, Shinbashi, Minatoku RODO JOHO Tokyo, Japan phone 03-433-0375 NEWS FROM MILITANT JAPANESE WORKERS has telecoms subsidiary of the French na- from the ITI German told the Conference "in 20 days time we will be part of CGE. We've been told nothing and we don't know what the The German giant Siemens (3rd at £2,530m) has just bought the US com- pany GTE's (8th at £1,710m) Euro- pean operations, and followed that up TO SPUR COMPETITION BUT MY PHONE BILL HAS DOUBLED
september is. Spirit open forum TELEPHONE WORKERS
If a direct takeover isn't possible, then joint ventures will do: AT&T now
Philips (Netherlands, 9th, £1710m) making its digital switches, Telefonica (Spain) producing its semiconductors, has taken over Telektron (Ireland) and has just taken a 25% share in Olivetti (Italy).
The pace of change in a business expanding at 8% a year (well above
average) is staggering. Rationalisations and plant closures will follow. The control exerted by the multinationals over the communication and information systems of the world is obscene.
Nowhere is this more obvious than in the "Third World". Telecoms industries in Latin America provide the operating service and sometimes manufacture too, but design (other I THOUGHT THAT THE AT T THAT'S CORRECT SETTUEMENT WAS SUPPOSED
IT'S IN COMPETITION WITH YOUR HEATING BILL
Telecom workers' union