by James Ivens, London Socialist Party
Striking staff at Ford Motor Company rallied outside the engine plant in Dagenham, East London, on 13 November. In the middle of five days’ rolling action that week, salaried staff at Ford told us they’d had enough of management trying dictate to the union.
On top of an insulting pay offer rejected this time last year by members of general union Unite, bosses want to bring in performance-related pay. Related to what performance? They’ll decide after workers sign up to it!
“It’s a black box,” one picket told us. “If they showed us what the rules will be, well, then there’d be something to discuss.”
Bosses previously forced a two-tier arrangement on salaried staff, with post-2012 starters on inferior pay and pensions. Now their attack on who decides conditions means collective bargaining itself is on the line.
Meanwhile, the pay offer is a one-off payment in place of a consolidated pay rise — an effort to skimp on final pensions. Ford has allowed the dispute to drag on for so long that Unite is about to enter talks over next year’s offer!
Industrial action in the run-up to that meeting sends a message to management that this isn’t over. One rep told us the strikes this year are the first for salaried staff at Ford since 2012, and before that the 1980s.
A united fight is needed, of salaried staff with the hourly-paid production and skilled workers, against the plans of senior management.
The backdrop to this and other car worker disputes is big changes in the industry, driven by automation and electric vehicles. The production process, end products, infrastructure and legislative framework are all uncertain.
Defending union bargaining rights and organisation will be crucial to defending the future of the workforce. A mass political voice for organised workers to assert their interests would further strengthen that — especially linked to socialist planning for guaranteed, decent jobs and workers’ control of industrial transitions.