For many weeks, Red Weekly has been calling for an alliance between miners and engineers as the key to a successful fight to overthrow Phase 3. The government's announcement of a 3-day working week, which came as a surprise to the whole country, completely transforms the situation on the industrial front. What is the way forward now?
The 3-day week is an attempt to smash the NUM into submission by sabotaging the econonly, thereby bringing to an end the one struggle which could become a signal for the rest of the working class to go into action. But it is also designed to simultaneously pour cold water on the engineering struggle which is slowly getting under way.
There are two big dangers in this situation. The first is that the engineers will be thrown back onto the defensive, The second is that the miners will simply continue with their present overtime ban in the belief that the general chaos will force the government to yield a better and bigger offer in the New Year.
After last Thursday's meeting of the EC of the NUM, which rejected any form of ballot and reaftirmed the overtime ban, Joe Gormley said: 'It (the overtime ban) is having the same effect as a strike, and the men are getting paid". A few moments later, the Government was to shatter this cheerful attitude hy announcing a two-day a week lock-out of the entire working class.
Gormley's strategy has been In leave it deliberately unclear as to whether the overtime ban was intended as a preporation far a strike (by running down coal stocks) or as a rubaritute. lor a strike (by pressuring a government already in difficulty). Gormley was hoping that the government would find some compromise offer before a ballot on a strike became unavoidable. But the line of the NUM EC now makes no sense at all. To continue the ban on the grounds that this is a sufficient means of industrial action to achieve the cinim is no use: the government has just made it clear that it intends to stand firm on Phase 3 to the extent of sabotaging the economy at a cost of £400 million a week! Even as a preparation for industrial action the overtime ban loses some of its force, for a secondary aim of the power cuts is to conserve the existing supplies of coal in preparation for a Jong Mruggle.
The NUM executive was right to reject the idea of a ballot on the offer. The success of the overtime han so far is a convincing demonstration that the rank-and-file miners reject the present offer. But by cheerfully brushing aside a ballot for a strike, the NUM executive has allowed the government to go onto the offensive.
The NUM must now move rapidly to a ballot for a strike and thereby make it clear to the rest of the working class that it intends to lead tie struggle, along with other sections such as the ruilmen and engineers, to smash the Tory Government and its policies. If it fails to do this it will allow the Tory Government to turn large sections of the working class against the miners through widespread lay-offs and Jock-outs in a situation where no section of workers is providing a clear perspective for struggle for the whole class.
From 1 January, millions of engineering workers will be thrown on to a three day week. The CBI are pushing the Government to suspend all existing guaranteed week agreements and to drop the three day rule on unemployment benett so as to seduce workers to the Labour Exchango to get 2 days "compensation" rather than have them banging at the managers' doors. This will mean a sharp wage cut for the engineers. On top of this, many firms, unable to weather the economic crisis, will seck to close down altogether. Some factories will be closed in crash rationalisation programmes as the big combines made desperate efforts to cut costs. The Government's 3-day week will throw the engineers into defensive struggles at a time when plans were heing laid to step up industrial action for the AUEW claim. Until the Goverament's announcement, it looked as if the AUEW National Committee meeting on 3 January and the CSEU on 10 January would, if they intended to take any action at all, adopt an overtime ban, Such a decision would now he patently absurd. Of course, an overtime ban in engineering would have had a demoralising and divisive effect on engineering workers in any case, and is useless as a preparation for a national engineering strike, A national strike was always the only rational way forward; but now it is the only way forward left!
This means that Hugh Scanlon, and the Communist Party (who have so far refused to call for a national engineering strike because of their unwillingness to embarass the left" bureaucrats), will no have to come off the fence. If they do not go onto the offensive, then the engineers wil suffer a serious defeat. Several weeks of a sharp hoes of carings coupled with exhaustive local struggles will, if no pers pective of a national stoppage emerges, result in mass disillusionment with any form of industrial action. The backwash of such a defeat could be a wave of hostility towards the miners from many engineers, even though the miners' overtime ban is not directly responsible for the 3 day week How can the miners and engineers avoid the dangers in the present situation and move Clearly the most effective response to the entire present crisis, would be for the TUC to break off all talks with the Government and organise a General Strike,to bring it down. But it would be extremely foolish for any trade unionist to wait around for this august body to do what it bas sworn never to do again since 1926.
The miners and engineers should immediately set about cementing an alliance at all levels, The executives of the NUM and the CSEL should meet together early in January the CSEU to declare a national strike for the clain, the miners to call an early ballot. These executives should be bombarded with demands, through resolutions and lobbies, for