Burlington Workers show how to tame Multinationals

| and encouragement, Management.

lessons of the struggle.

THE recent atrike at Burlingtons in Limerick ended in vietory for the workers, Despite presgure to settle for the management offer the workers went on strike and after two weeks, management met their demands. | The suctess at Burlington will have important consequences, Burlington is the sixth bigfest multi-national in. the world and receives a substan| tial £2) million grant from | the Industrial Development Authority {IDA). A third of the industrial workforce is employed in similer companies and knows the difficulties of taking on the multi-netionals.

The success at Burlington will provide mich needed confidence Most immediately the victory in Limerick will have implicea— tions for Burlington's three | other companies in Tullamore, Tralee and Longford, Workera in these plants accepted the Management's offer and now lag behind their mates in Limerick.

They are likely to learn the lesson that united action ean | overcome the resistance of Socialist Republic epoke to «4 leading shop stewerd in the Plant and asked him shout the The first Jessop coppemped ib ‘| haniting of nerctiations cy the trade union officials, who head insisted on = ballot of the Hatagement's first offer — despite the obvious opposition from workers at the plant. When the offer was turned down by a& Margin of eight to one there was talk of immediate unotficial action. The shop etewards however felt it would be better to keep up pressure on the ITGW official— den and fron then“on to give official backing to strike action. In this cage it worked The workers lesrmed that they could both defeat management and control their own union, Another Iesson was the need for anoverall strategy on wages by the whole trade union movement. Trade union leaders last year recommended a 25 per cent incr@ase in wages, But when hegotiation for a new national Wage Agreement collapsed they toned down this demand ta 15%: a figure the Federated Union of Eoployers (FUE) was prepered to accept. Many workers were disheartened as a result, In addition to adapting a sufficiently high and realistic wage norm, he suggests thet the trace union shauld have singled out a number of big firms to aim at first. This would have Made it easier for workers in & Weaker position to keep up with stronger sections of el OT Gio 5 a a a a Trade union leaders and officiels tend to teke the easy Way out and accept manazement