|
Additional Reading for Session One |
[Homepage]
[Discussion] [Study Circles] [Help] [Project Library]
[Session1] [Session 2] [Session 3] [Session 4] [Session 5] [Session 6]
Alan Featherstone and Stephen Dawber (H.J.Heinz Ltd in Britain)
The last two decades have seen immense changes in the employment culture of Britain. Huge investments of foreign capital, traditionally associated with job security is now repaid with job losses, resulting in a quicker return of profits for major shareholders. Large parts of an elderly workforce with full employment rights and benefits have been replaced with younger more qualified people that have greater skills, yet who are not entitled to any redress through bad employment practices. Whole sections of servicing jobs and staff required by the parent company are now sub-contracted, often to other TNCs.
With less employment and less pay the effect on local communities, dependent on a manufacturing industry can be devastating. A decaying infrastructure, leading to less job opportunities leading to less education leading to less pay. Labour organisations throughout this period found themselves assisting with these changes, not to increase the benefits they themselves received, but to slow down the eradication of rights they had fought so long and hard to achieve. They were forced into adopting a policy of appeasement with the TNCs - throwing their friends to the crocodiles in the hope the crocodiles wouldn't eat them.
In the UK one in four people work less than 16 hours per week. This is expected to rise to one in three people by the year 2000.
Co-operation with other TNCs has seen Heinz corner the market, they are now the biggest supplier of Babyfoods and Tuna to the UK market. Two areas of expected growth.
Since 1984 job losses at Kitt Green 1000, Since 1994 job losses at Farleys 76, whilst John West Liverpool offices are to close.
Heinz profits (excluding Farleys and John West) has risen throughout this period of investment and job losses to record levels exceeding £60 million per annum.
Employment Law in UK now excludes workers with less than two years service, encouraging the use of short term contracts. Temporary employees at Heinz once numbered 450, this has been reduced to 60 with 250 being re-employed under Heinz short term contracts. Unions reduced this figure to 180 by agreements to make some permanent.
Canteen, security and some maintenance work are now sub-contracted. Cleaning services and temporary labour are provided by ISS HYGIENE LTD and MANPOWER SERVICES LTD, both are TNCs
Contractors are on less pay. Temporary employees are on same rates of pay but receive less benefits ie. Pensions, sick pay, bonus.
Reduction in workforce and pay has adverse effect on the surrounding area.
Heinz have reduced the benefits their workers have received in the past ie. Christmas presents, meetings for pensioners, childrens Christmas party, safety footwear, guaranteed bonus replaced by one linked to profits.
Announcement in 1997 that 8 workplaces in Europe are to close, the ones that are cheapest to run will stay open. This is the single most important threat to our terms and conditions that we have to face. It puts workplace against workplace, worker against worker. The use of temporary workers has the same effect in a single workplace. Temporary employees have to work harder have less time off and be less disruptive to ensure being kept in work.
Steve Grieves TGWU 6\707 Branch in Britain
I work for a large multi-national involved in speciality chemicals. The impacts of working for such an organisation have had a profound and significant affect on our working lives. Indeed the Company has as recently as five years ago followed the current global trend of forming a joint venture company with another multi-national Akzo Nobel. This has lead to a complete lack of autonomous control by the Site Management, and even at UK Director level, there is limited scope for geographical autonomy or control. This means of course that as a Site in the UK we increasingly find ourselves in competition with our fellow workers across the World. Morally of course this is a dilemma for us and any other workers who are basically 'divided and ruled' by the investment practices of TNC's. In the real world of course we are elected to represent our members in the workplace and inevitably we all end up fighting for our share of the investment, even if this has a negative effect on our International Comrades. Indeed such investment practices not only divide workers across continents but even divide workers within Nation States, who again are forced to fight for survival.
It is then a pretty pessimistic view that we hold from our little Chemical Factory in Northern England. However, we do believe that our fates are not inevitably and permanently at the mercy of our multi-national employers, and by utilising our organisational strengths we can begin to fight back. Our own experience in this regard strengthens that view. In the 1970's our Site which had at that time been taken over by an American Conglomerate was scheduled to close. Only through the National support of the TGWU and our personal links with our constituency MP were we able to exert sufficient pressure to ensure our survival. More recently, we have emphasised our links to the Union Nationally by having the last two General Secretary's and various Senior figures attend Branch functions. In addition, we have hosted Branch Social functions which have been attended by our Euro MEP and MP. This does have a significant psychological affect on our management who we often invite, and makes them aware of the political and thereby media access we have.
Undoubtedly as this project progresses we will discuss the forming of real and substantial international links with fellow workers. The Internet is of course an ideal vehicle for this and as such should be grasped by all who are interested in liberty and equality. The fact remaiins however, that unless such links become a real and direct conduit for international action, even at the basic level of Internationally organised consumer boycotts, we will remain divided and ruled by not only the TNC's, but also by our Nation States who not only appear helpless in facing up to International Capital, but more worryingly appear unwilling to even try.
Ken Murphy and Ian Bruce from Vauxhall Motors, Ellesmere Port, Britain
Vauxhall Motors is part of the General Motors Empire and is situated in Merseyside, England.
Following is a brief outline as to what is happening within GM Europe. (GME) at this present moment in time.
In the auto industry there needs to be regular investment, normally in five years or so cycles, this keeps a regular model change and helps keep up with trends in the industry, as well as keeping up with the competition.The company have used these periods of investment as an opportunity to seek unreasonable demands from Unions and workers.
In 1997 the company held secret talks, which continued for several months with the German Works Councils / Trade Unions, the object was to prise a deal out of them that would lead to a streamlined workforce that accepted the needs of the company.
This agreement was reached at the end of 1997, and as a result of their successes, subsequently approached the Belgian workers with similar demands and threats of closure and redundancy. The Belgian Works Councils / Trade Unions in their turn have agreed a package even more austere than the German agreement.
The company having found such success have now rounded on the British plants and have informed our sister plant at Luton in the South of England and ourselves, that unless we agree a new wages package to be concluded in a less that a month! There will be no further investment in Luton and hence no new model to replace the Vectra, which they currently make. They have informed us in Ellesmere Port, that unless we also agree the deal, then it would be unlikely that we would have any investment for the replacement to the Astra in 2002.
The company have agreed to make guarantees to the British Unions, in their demands for investment to safeguard jobs for the foreseeable future and on this basis it has been agreed to enter into negotiations.
I am given to understand that the company have been promised aid for the Bochum site from one of the EEC structural funds and are also looking for similar help at other sites.
From workers in South Africa
We have noted that at our workplaces our managers are pushing for us to become more competitive. They have introduced some new concepts such as "World Class Manufacturing" and "Lean production". At the same time they have also started changing their management styles. They say that they have learnt form other countries like Japan abour quality circles and green areas. However, we also see that lots of retrenchments have taken place. In one of our factories, National Panasonic, we use to have a workforce of over 600 workers, now we are only abour 120.
In our communities, basic services like electricity, water and telephones have become more expensive. Our housing crisis has become more acute. We have also had important political changes with local councillors now being elected democratically for the first time.
In our society we have also had important political changes since 1994. There is a sense of freedom amongst the people. However, economically things have just become worse for ordinary people. Whilst the big companies and a new black elite is profiting tremendously from the new South Africa, for over seventy per cent of our population life has just become worse. The new government is also practising "fiscal discipline" by cutting on social expenditure most needed by the poor whilst allowing tax breaks for the rich. Already thousands of teachers have been and are to be retrenched. This is despite the legacy of Apartheid which caused that the majority of people not to have access to decent education. Over the past 2 -3 years nearly 200000 jobs have been lost despite economic growth and government's promises of creating thousands of jobs.
We think that the causes of these changes are related to our country being part of the world economy and its re-admission to being part of the economic trends of "globalisation". Our government has also adopted a Structural Adjustment Programme to please foreign capitalist interests, called Growth, Employment And Redistribution (GEAR).
 |
Send mail:
|