176 lines
7.2 KiB
Plaintext
176 lines
7.2 KiB
Plaintext
2 articles
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** Can we take on the multinationals? **
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PACKARD HIGHLIGHTS the power of the multinationals.
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Owned by the giant General Motors, they laid down the
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law and got away with it. 38 people who had already
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been laid off were made redundant, 400 more laid off
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(and are not expecting to be called back), and the
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remaining 450 are working a 41 hour week for 39 hours
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pay. The firm is promising to pay retrospectively for
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the extra two hours at some undefined later date. In
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the meantime the unpaid hours have been used to finance
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the redundancies. And ironically, as the laid off
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workers left the plant on June 23rd, some of the
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remaining staff were put on overtime.
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With 40% of the workforce in manufacturing industry
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employed by multinationals a realistic strategy is
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needed to stop them playing off workers in different
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plants against each other. Without a strategy the
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bosses can get away with wage and job cuts by
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threatening to move production to other locations if
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they don't get their way.
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Most negotiations between big multinational firms and
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their workers are dealt with on either a plant-by-plant
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or a national basis. However times do arise when the
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head office decides to "draw a line in the sand" and
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make no concessions. This can happen as part of a cost
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cutting programme (to boost profits) or as a lesson to
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their staff everywhere that management make the rules
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and woe betide any worker who gets in their way.
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Employers (are) offensive
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For the past few years the employers have been on
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the offensive against us. They want lower wage costs,
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lower staffing levels, more casualisation, more mega-
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profits. In 1993 the Financial Times spoke for many
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bosses when it wrote that one of the good things it saw
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going on in the "third world" was the pauperisation of
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the workforce and a high level of unemployment. These
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were offering new ways to undercut what they called the
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"pampered Western European workers" with their
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"luxurious lifestyles".
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So how do we deal with powerful multinational firms who
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often have an international income greater than the
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Irish government? If we end up having to strike they
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can often pack their bags and move to another country;
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where they will receive another round of tax breaks,
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free workforce training and preferential treatment.
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They can't always do this, especially if they have a lot
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of investment tied up in the plant, but it is sometimes
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a real threat.
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Give 'till it hurts
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And where there is no resistance to their demands
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they will keep coming back to insist on more
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concessions. So what can be done? In times when there
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is a higher level of militancy and solidarity among
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workers, action can be taken against their imports if
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they threaten to shut down their Irish plants.
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This would entail winning the support of ferry
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crews, dockers, airport staff and road haulage drivers.
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Because this would run foul of both the Industrial
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Relations Act and the British anti-union laws it will
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not be organised by the union leaders.
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Not only have most of them bought into "social
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partnership" politics but they also are afraid to risk
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their unions' funds. They know that the state would
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seek to financially cripple them as a warning to others.
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The last time such an approach was tried was almost
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fifteen years ago during the Talbot Motors dispute. It
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worked, with government forced to intervene and create
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jobs for the workers. The key was not whether such
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action was legal or illegal but how much support it
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enjoyed from other trade unionists.
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Trusting the state?
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Another tactic that is suggested at regular
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intervals is pressurising the government to save jobs.
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This suggests that the state is some neutral body that
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can be influenced to take the workers' side. It isn't
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and it can't. While on rare occasions we can take
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advantage of splits in government or impending elections
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to make small gains, we should remember that the state
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serves the interests of the bosses. It has been called
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"the executive committee of the ruling class".
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It is the state which entices multinationals to
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come here, which promotes Ireland as a country with low
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wages, generous tax incentives and the promise of a
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higher than average return on investment. It makes no
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sense to expect this same state to turn around and
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support workers against their bosses.
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As employers organise across borders, so should workers.
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There are international trade union federations for most
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industries (food, transport, chemicals, etc.).
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Unfortunately these are of little use when big business
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decides to play tough. These federations do a useful
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job of collating information about health & safety
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legislation, making submissions to international
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conferences, and exchanging information about new work
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practices, but that is about all they do that is useful
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to rank & file union members. They are run by senior
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union officials, members have little or no input into
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them. The vast majority don't even know they exist.
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Break through the borders
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Real face-to-face links are needed with workers who
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share the same bosses. Shop stewards meeting shop
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stewards is the first step. We need to reach a
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situation where if one plant is threatened the others in
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the multinational refuse to take on their work. In most
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unions the leadership will not help to build such links,
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they are afraid of losing control over their members.
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Rather than support for such sensible initiatives we
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will be faced with condemnations of "unofficial"
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activity.
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Yet workers in GEC, IBM, Ford and many other firms
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have built links in the past. The best way to start is
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for shop stewards to contact their counterparts in other
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parts of the firm, and then arrange to visit them. A
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small levy on union subscriptions or a couple of
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shopfloor collections per year would pay for travel
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expenses. From here we can work towards increasing co-
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operation. This could take the form of sharing
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information about what the firm is doing, what actions
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have worked in winning claims and ensuring effective
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blacking during disputes.
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From there we can move on to extending co-operation
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and solidarity against the employers offensive. Such
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organising should not be in opposition to the unions but
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should be independent of the officials - workers'
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organisation that is truly answerable to workers.
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Alan MacSim<69>in
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***********
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The Land of Opportunity
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US LABOUR Secretary, Robert Reich, recently told an
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international gathering that sanctions should be
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enforced against only the very worst violators of
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workers rights.
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This means countries that rely on prison labour,
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suppress independent unions, or use force to break
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strikes. The US fails even this relaxed standard.
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The economy increasingly uses prison labour (such as
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making furniture, processing airline and hotel
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reservations, and doing outsourced clerical work for
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wages ranging from $1 to $10 a day). The government
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routinely suppresses strikes (airline attendants,
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railroad workers and teachers have all been ordered
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back to work by government decree in recent months).
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A growing number of US unions operate under court-
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appointed "leaders".
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Source: Libertarian Labour Review
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