The Shop Floor

HELL A notable aspect of the economic struggle which has emerged over the past decade. or so has been the increase in the number of trade disputes arising from the increasingly strict regime within the factory. David Hynes’ rebort is no exception in this respect. ‘The question for trade union militants and socialists, not to mention the ordinary worker who is being increasingly bewildered by the inhumanity.and lack of dignity with which he is treated, is why this regime is progressively worsening, and how it can be fought. INTENSIFICATION OF LABOUR The answer to why can be understood only in terms of the falling rate of profit suffered over a prolonged period by Irish capitalism. Prior to the reconstruction of the Irish economy which was heralded by the First Programme for Economic Expansiomin 1959, the organic composition in trish industry was quite low. That is to say that the ratio between capital invested in plant and machinery (constant capital) and capital invested in labour (variable capital) was down. The implication here is that the rate of profit was high since profit occurs solely on that portion of capital invested in labour.

But in accordance with the plans of the First Programme the organic composition of capital was transformed by massive injections of capital from outside the country. The new industries set up ; during the sixties were capital intensive i.e. the ratio between constant capital and variable capital was relatively high. In other words the organic composition of capital rose and the rate of profit declined. - In order to offset the decline in the rate of profit every attempt must be made to intensify the use of labour so as to produce a relative increase in profits. This intensification of labour can be observed creeping into the industrial scene in lreland during the sixties under the beguiling label of ‘rationalisation’ or ‘redeployment’. It found its most recognisable expression in the widespread introduction of productivity deals, especially in the second half of the decade when agreements were concluded in such big establishments as Guinnesses, Road Stone, and Aer Lingus.

Other signs were also appearing. Most unskilled workers suddenly found that it wes impossible to find employment which did not entail either shift work or considerable overtime. Workers who had probably never even heard of Time and Motion study soon had Work Study experts continuously breathing down their necks, The key thing for management was to get super value for every second of labour-time for which capital had been advanced, But as the Journal of the Irish Management Institute noted, a major obstacle to The Plough June 1973 Page 2 Last July the workers of Shannon Lapidary decided to join a union, despite previous warnings of instant dismissals from the management, They were certainly justified when you consider the conditions that existed there. Shannon Lapidary and Marketing Co., which processes precious stone, is managed by Count Van Siestaff from Germany and Raymond Naftule from Geneva. There are about 28 workers, including one girl; employed: Workers have actually been suspended for a week for talking. It is common practice to have workers brought before the management for such petty things as being a few minutes late, not producing enough stofes (even when only training), taking a day off and not producing a doctor’s cert., being more than a few minutes in the~ toilet, etc. Naftule (the technical manager) likes to make the workers feel inferior by insulting and abusing them constantly, and calling them by their surname. He also likes to keep himself amused by introducing new restrictions and regulations every few weeks, including erecting production boards around the factory, starting a bonus scheme to divide the workers by encouraging Wem to work against each other.

After the workers joined the union, they decided to present the management with a list of demands. Ata meeting that followed between the workers” union officials and management, the Company — realising that a strike would be disastrous for them as this was their busiest time and they would lose huge profits — agreed to most of the demands. These included wage increases, an extra week's holiday, and agreement on the same rate as that of male workers (approx. £6 more). This was rather-amusing, as the factory employs only one girl and does not intend employing any more.

More recently, after the anouncement that the factory was expanding and that a further 30 workers would be employed, the management decided to get Shan: non Development to carry out aptitude tests amongst the workers, in an effort to keep out militants. They did this by carrying out the tests first on a group of four supervisors and then on the four most militant workers. Naturally, Shannon Development gave different reasons for the tests, but it was quite obvious what their intentions were.

This company has been in existence for about four years and they are the only company in the world which produces a new type of stone which consists of 50% sapphire and 50% strontium. It is generally accepted that the employers stand to make a fortune out of this special ty pe of stone, through exploitation and other means. The workers must organise against this. This is just a sample of what these foreign capitalists will do in the name of democracy. These are the very people who get tax free concessions, which gives them the right to opt out whenever they like. Most of these companies move out when they have exhausted their tax free concessions (and the workers in the factory), often leaving thousands of workers unemployed. In 1951 only one in every 33 strikes was caused by bad conditions; in 1961, however, one in every four strikes was caused by bad conditions.

That this is not just a chance comparison, is borne out by the fact. that even the Labour Management SubCommittee has in the past. been forced to draw attention to the arbitrary nature of discipline in industry. O’ Mahony reports that: ‘The Labour Management Sub-Committee states that discipline is maintained in-many cases which are of a relatively trivial nature.” Among other things the Sub-Committee put this down to the whims of management. The massive strike wave of the sixties was a clear response to'the growing intensification of labour. But what was most notable about this response was the failure of the workers to make any lasting gains. This is not the place to examine all the areas where labour lost out, All that it is necessary to say here is that these failures resulted from the absence of a clearcut programme which could have been a focus for the struggle. Although the struggle is now beginning to ebb, it is-still not too late to begin proper resistance on a new basis, i.e. with a programme which can act as a barometer of success or failure.

Apart from dealing with such things as productivity deals, overtime, shift work, etc., this programme will have to deal with the regime within the factory. And the most powerful resistance weapon the workers could have in this field is the right of veto. The right to veto everything that management does is the only way the worker has of defending his limited rights on the shop floor. The task of trade union militants and socialists is to make the right of veto the watchword of the working class in their struggle against the dictatorial powers of management.

here the Officials go wrong

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such things as lak pay and retirement pensions. The management also decided to make a gesture(?) by abotishing the female pay scale and bringing it into