See this fascinating video of hundreds of
Oxford BMW Mini plant workers getting the sack with just one hour’s notice. A
manager gets up on the stage and reads the terms of redundancy for the 850
associate and agency workers, some who have been working there for years. They
are informed they would be getting 4 weeks pay in lieu of notice. The crowd
starts to grumble when certain limitations are placed on pay claims. They are
then informed that they have to turn in their work clothes right away or face a
£25 deduction. A worker shouts “They just spit you out onto the street naked!”
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Then they are informed that they face
another £10 deduction if they fail to turn in their ID cards immediately
despite complaints from the workers that they wouldn’t be able to get to their
vehicles in the car park. At this point, a worker walks right up on stage and
makes a big show of handing in his work wear and ID card.
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On top of all this good news, the manager
then reads a letter of apology from their boss apologizing for not being
present. This causes huge offence and her attempt to read it out is met with a
barrage of yells and heckling.
Pointing at a union official a worker asks
“Where has the union been?” Now, the volume in the room goes right up to full
blast as the crowd demands an answer.
In what must be considered some kind of
attempt at self defence the UNITE official offers, “We are here. We could have
taken the easy route but we are here”. By ‘easy route’, we assume he means not
showing up at all for the sacking of hundreds of union members. This is an
amazing illustration of what some union officials think the nature of their
work is.
He continues, “The hours you got were
negotiated by the union…I won’t apologize for the shift change but, the way
that it’s been done to you is a disgrace and you should ask the BMW people why
they done it to you that way. They done it, not the union! They wouldn’t listen
to us!” The crowd responds “What the f*** are we paying you for?” A worker says
“We pay the union. The union is a corrupt organization (cheers of agreement). They’ve
given us one hour’s notice that we have no job in a credit crisis!” Another
worker yells “We want our money back!”
The workers accuse the union of having
plenty of time to tell them what their situation is so they could at least
prepare but, almost as if doing the bidding of the company. they chose to
remain silent. A worker yells, “You lied to us!….You represent us, not BMW. Do
you understand?”
In his reply, the union official reveals
his total capitulation to the idea that workers, through no fault of their own,
have to pay for the mistakes of the bosses who have run industry and the
economy into the ground; “Understand this! That it is not us that are getting
rid of you. We have tried to negotiate as best we could given the
circumstances. Listen, this is not of anyone’s doing. This is the climate we’re
living in. It’s happening everywhere. We’re not saying that the notice period
you were given is right. We condemn the company for that but, we do not employ
you.”
He then goes on to tell his members that
this is not the end of the redundancies and lists the next ones in line. When
someone in the crowd throws something at them, he ends the meeting.
This video shows in graphic terms, the
orientation and limitations of the present union leadership. They abide by the
rules set by the bosses. They confine their negotiating and demands within the
boundaries set up by the companies. What is the union for if not to defend
workers under attack? The workers shouldn’t pay for the crisis that is not of
their making. If companies are riddled with problems and can turn people’s
lives upside down, they should be nationalized under worker’s control and
production and the whole lot should re-organized to produce things that people want
and need – not just stuff for profit.
The union is our organization but it’s been
hijacked. We need to take it back.
