“INTRODUCTION Unemployment continues to rise. For the increased on…”

INTRODUCTION ...

Unemployment continues to rise. For the increased 10,757 on the same period last year. The overall unemployment now stands at 72,499. During this period the number of workers on short-time also increased dramatically from 41 to 2,975.

* The primary areas hit by redundancies are, the textile industry which employs 48,000 workers, the construction industry which employs either directly or indirectly, 100,000 workers and the car industry which employs direct or indirectly 10,000 workers. Thus a major section of Irelands 300,000 industrial workers is immediately threatened by this wave of redundancies.

In the articles below the RMG analyses the nature of the crisis in each of these industries and suggests demands which can help the workers combat the employers and government. The crisis, taken as a whole, cannot be fought at plant or even industial level alone. This crisis threatens ALL workers month of October the number of unemployed and it is necessary for workers to fight sedundancies to combine broad demands which can win the support of all workers, with their own immediate and specific demands. That is why the call for nationalisation under workers control of those industries threatened with redundancy, tariff protection, state aid etc. figure so prominently in our list of demands.

It also follows from the general nature of the crisis that the fight against redundancy cannot be waged at plant level or even at industrial level alone. What is needed is a fight right across industry. For instance a national committee of workers who have fought militantly against closures in the textile, construction and car industry, could have a great effect in mobising the support of the whole working class for individual workers who are now or will be in the future, fighting for their jobs.

other industries.

Reasons for crisis unemployed.

FACE give an adequate picture: The textile, clothing and footwear group of industries is one of the biggest sources of employment in the country. In fact 21% of all those engaged in manufacturing industry, work in this group. Accordingly, the fight against redundancy in this sector is very important for the whole working class. If the employers can get away with * ‘rationalisation’ in this area, not only will one of the greatest job providers be gone, but the way will be open for similar assaults on employment in In recent weeks up to 2,000 workers have either been laid-off or put on short time. The clothing and footwear industry have had the highest increase in the rate of unemployment in the last year. The overall rate of unemployment for the clothing and footwear industry is 8.7%, while in textiles 7.7 What has caused this crisis? There are a number of factors such as cheap labour, poor management, free trade, all of which are to blame.

Free trade is oné of the more immediately obvious causes. Since the introduction of the Free Trade agreement with Britain in 1966 and more especially since entry into the EEC, this group of industries has experienced a tremendous challenge from foreign competitors. The following table constructed from data in the government publication Competing Imports as % of home consumption: 1965: 26.9 1970:33.8 1973:45.8 1974: 47.1 Competing Imports as % of home consumption: 1965:8.3 1970:18.3. 1973: 28.9 1974: 31.4 In the textile industry, imports took away a further 20% of the Irish market from domestic producers between 1965 and 1974. In the same period, foreign competitors increased their shareof the market and gained an extra 23.1% for themselves.

The native capitalists in the industries are squealing to the government about their inability to compete with these foreign opponents, But why are they not able to compete? Here is where bad management and cheap labour comes in. The reason is because they have not invested enough capital to expand their plants and machinery. And one of the primary reasons for this is, that for years they have been supstituting cheap labour, For example the average hourly wage rate in the clothing industry in September 1973 was 48% below the LE, CLOTHING average Nourly rate in Manutacturing as a wrore.

The trade union movement itself bears a lot of the responsibility for t! is sorry state of affairs. At the A.G.M. of Dublin No. 6 branch of the ITGWU Secretary Colbert Moore condemned the importation of textiles and clothing from such countries as South Korea, Hong Kong and Poland, where sweated labour is used to produce cheap commodities. In South Korea, he said young girls worked an 11 hour day, 7 day week for the equivalent of about £7 a month. This is all very true. But something that deserves more attack is the fact that the trade union rate for most jobs in the clothing industry is below what many employers are willing to pay! Because of this, lots of employers are able to keep their workers out of the unions. Over of workers are unionised compared with a national average of, The result is an economically unviable industry that survives almost exclusively on cheap labour. Workers fight back But the textile, clothing and footwear workers , are not giving up without a fight. In recent weeks they have been the most militant workers in the country. Workers in the Genesco owned Kire factory at Kinsale, have placed an embargo on £400,000 worth of stock as a bargaining weapon against any attempt to get rid of them quickly; in Limerick, Danus workers have occupied their factory and empounded £300,000 worth of goods;

and in Waterford 393 workers in the Goodbody’s factory put an embargo on the company’s stocks, With the experience and courage of these group: of workers the’basis now exists for a national campaign to save;the textile, clothing and footwear industries. The workers involved in these disputes could use their authority to help form a national committee to co-ordinate action on an all-lreland basis. Such a committee could initiate a campaign, -(i) for the abolition of the Free Trade Agreement and withdrawal from-the EEC. This campaign would meet with a wide response from workers in other industries who are threatened by the same factors.

(ii) for an end to the cheap labour policy. The adult national male average wage for manufacturing industry of £36.96p for a 44.6 hr. week should be demanded for all workers irrespective of sex@as an immediate step towards a minimum wage for a shorter working week.

(iii) for the maximum trade unionisation of the industry. This campaign could go out in conjunction with the fight for a better wage.

(iv) for subsidy and protection tariffs to help threatened factories to get back on their feet.

(v) for the nationalisation under workers control of all factories which are threatening to close. This demand is necessary in conjunction with the demand for subsidy and tariff protection.

Why should these industries be put back into the incompetent hands of those who destroyed them in the first place?

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2.BuiLDING (WORKERS

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