SCOTLAND 1979 — a CATALOGUE of DISASTERS West-Central
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FOCUS Marxism Today February 1980 5 SCOTLAND 1979 — A CATALOGUE shire) and British Shipbuilders (Glasgow and OF DISASTERS Greenock). West-Central Scotland — the industrial belt In most of the cases listed in the table around the city of Glasgow — probably lost below, local trade union organisations have more manufacturing industry during 1979 either had their recommendations to fight than any other part of Britain. Given the redundancies rejected by the workforce, or overall pace of deindustrialisation in Britain, they have recommended acceptance of the current situation in West-Central redundancy terms. In at least two cases Scotland is without comparison in post-war (Singers and Massey Feguson) the workforce history. The table below shows the major have, at the instigation of their stewards, closures or redundancies announced or acquiesced in closures on the basis of co implemented during the last year or so. operation with management to attempt to The table includes only some of the larger find alternative uses for the plant. The companies involved. Estimates of the total willingness of workers to fight appears lower loss of jobs in West-Central Scotland over the than it has been for decades. last 12 months are as high as 30,000, taking The experiences of Clydeside in the past into account not only the list shown but the period are probably more acute than in most smaller, less dramatic cutbacks in large firms other areas, in that job loss has been higher, which have received little publicity, and the but they are fairly typical in that (a) the rate of hundreds of closures amongst small firms in closures has been accelerating and (b) there fields such as engineering, sub-contracting has been little effective resistance from the and, especially, textiles. labour movement. Prospects for the future are equally grim. The labour movement, and in particular It is difficult to be completely confident about the Communist Party, has three major the remaining several thousand jobs at responsibilities in the current situation. The Talbot, Linwood. Caterpillar Tractors first is to understand clearly the processes appears to be considering a rundown of their which lie behind the collapse of manu major Uddingston plant, and job security at facturing industry, in areas such as West- Rolls-Royce's East Kilbride works seems Central Scotland. The second is to have a shakey in the light of that company's clear programme for immediate action to attempts to turn itself into a multinational. fight closures which is related to a longer term Above all, the current Government's economic strategy. The third is to have the handling of the public sector in manu political and organisational ability to translate facturing industry raises fears for the that programme into effective mass action. operations in West-Central Scotland of Only then can we reverse the decline in British Leyland (Bathgate and Glasgow), the morale which has developed, as time after British Steel Corporation (North Lanark time the trade union movement has appeared Massey Ferguson Kilmarnock Agricultural Machinery 1100 jobs Monsanto Irvine Artificial Fibres 1000 jobs SKF Irvine Ball Bearings 600 jobs Talbot Linwood Motor vehicles 1200 jobs BSC Glengarnock Steel making 600 jobs Prestcold Hillington Compressors 700 jobs (Glasgow) Singers Clydebank Sewing Machines 3500 jobs JBE Clydebank Gas Turbines 600 jobs Goodyear Drumchapel Tyres 700 jobs (Glasgow) Rest Assured Queenslie Bedding 150 jobs (Glasgow) Templetons Glasgow & Carpets 200 jobs Hamilton British Shipbuilders Glasgow & Ships 2000 jobs Lower Clyde BSC Lanarkshire Works, Steel making 600 jobs Motherwell BSC Hallside Works, Steel making & Rolling 700 jobs Cambuslang BSR East Kilbride Domestic-Electrical 1000 jobs Collins Bishopbriggs, Glasgow Printing & Publishing 200 jobs 14850 jobs 6 February 1980 Marxism Today FOCUS helpless before an inexorable tide of closures. North American owned firms such as General Election, as it was obvious that a We need to start winning battles, and soon, if Massey Ferguson, Monsanto, Goodyear and Tory government would make it easier for the areas like West-Central Scotland are not to be Caterpillar came to Britain in the post-war British plant to be closed. The impact of devastated to an even greater extent than took period because Britain represented one of the these processes has been that many of the place in the 30s. most politically stable bases from which to 'mobile' multinational owned manufacturing The recent spate of closures in West- penetrate the European market. Within operations in Scotland have shut up shop in Central Scotland highlights one aspect of the Britain, they came to 'development areas', the past period, and others are likely to follow decline of manufacturing industry located in but especially Scotland, because of regional suit. Britain which must be carefully noted by the incentives amongst other reasons. The The past year's catalogue of disasters poses labour movement. Some of the names on the precise reasons for the recent spate of closures us with two urgent problems. The first is: in above list reflect the continuing decline of vary in each case, but several underlying the short term, given a general lack of new British-owned manufacturing industry — currents can be identified. The first is the investment in British manufacturing the consequence of decades of under-invest- relative decline of American capital in world industry, how should the labour movement ment related directly to British capitalism's markets, in the face of EEC and Japanese respond to incoming foreign investment? huge scale of overseas investment. There is competition. The Goodyear and Monsanto The second, and much more critical, is: how unfortunately little that is new in this. But closures can be directly related to this. The and where are we going to get an effective others (Massey Ferguson, Monsanto, SKF, second is the impact of Britain's EEC fightback? In the longer term, it is clear that Talbot, Goodyear) represent redundancies in membership, and the third is the non-inter the labour movement, especially in areas the wave of 'new' industries which were ventionist industrial policy of the current such as Scotland, will have to reappraise its brought into areas such as West-Central Government. It is significant that two major whole approach to regional policy — an issue Scotland over the last thirty years or so, partly Scottish manufacturing operations have which will increase in importance as 1930s on the basis of the package of government changed or are changing from US to EEC type regional disparities reopen across incentives known as 'regional policy'. The ownership in the past two years (PSA's Britain. On all these issues the resources of two decades following the Second World War acquisition of Chrysler, and UIE's takeover of the Communist Party, both theoretical and saw a hugh influx of such firms into areas like the Marathon oil rig yard in Clydebank, organisational, must be mobilised on a scale the West of Scotland. Many of them were which is in process at the time of writing). appropriate to the gravity of the situation. American-owned (so much so that Scotland Massey Ferguson are shutting their reputedly has now the second-highest level of Kilmarnock plant on the basis of centralising combine harvester production in their American investment as a proportion of total Contributors: French factory. The company hung fire on investment of any country in the world, after Paul Fauvet their final closure decision until after the Canada). John Grahl, Doug Harrison, .