from Jolz Loonuzd, Vauxhall Workers Stand Firm, At a mecting of 10,000 Vauxhall workers last Monday only one vote was cast against a resolution calling for a continuation of the work-to-rule and overtime ban until the management agree to give a date for pay=productiv— ity talks on union terms, Harold Horne, AEU official, told the workers, "Vauxhall's wage plan is a charter for slavery, Wages at Vauxhall are the next to the bottom of the league for the motor industry." The men are asking for an interim increase of /- an hour immediately followed by a further 1/- when grading and productivity agreements have been reached, They have flatly rejected the company's claim that there can be no further rise for two years after the immediate one, The management's stubborn refusal to negotiate on reasonable terms has drawn support from two Labour M.P.'s, Gwilym Roberts, M.P, for South Beds., who addressed last Monday's meeting, said afterwards that if there is no move by the end of the week from either Vauxhall's or the GovernMent, then he will take the matter up with Ray Gunter and the Prime Minister, This not very radical solution to Vauxhall's intransigence was followed up by a statement from Will Howie, M.P, for Luton, He described the management's scheme for inviting selected workers to clock on as "extremely provocativey" Building Unions want Guaranteed Wage. A guaranteed weekly minimum wage of £15 for labourers and £17 lls 8d Lor: ; craftsmen is the basis of a new claim by the National Federation of Building Operatives. The employers claim that this represents an average rise of 15% obscures the fact that wages in the building industry vary drastio— ally from region to region, A guaranteed minimum weekly wage based on a realistic hourly rate would be a first major step in the union's campaign to end the present casual system of hourly paid employment. It would also act as a much needed safeguard for those building workers in the high unemployment regions who are at present paid the minimum rate of 6s 6d an hour for labourers and 7s Ted for craftsmen, Even under the present pay freeze this claim is more than justified by the rapidly increasing productivity in the building industry due to the new technology, A new wage agreement is due to start in November of next year, Negotiations start next month and the employers will attempt to take advantage of a comprehensive agreemwnt on wages and condi .ons of employment to remove the present bonus system and to drastically cut into what little negotiating power men on the site have gained in the past, The building workers must fight against this with practical plans for full control of the industry -
by the men themselves.