- RSW 03 Page 11 -
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In October we were summoned into the conference room by the floor manager who read out a Level 1 Proto (a leaflet telling workers what Xerox planned). The news that there were to be 500 job losses between a number of sites shocked everyone: job losses in Interconnect (where harnesses are produced), Asset Management and Refurbishment (reconditioning old copiers). As well we were told of 250 job losses at the Ven Ray Xerox factory in Holland. The plan is for all the jobs to be relocated to a new plant in Dundalk, Eire.
US Senator Mitchell who took part in the recent peace talks and who is a director on the Xerox Management Board asked if jobs were being sacrificed in Britain to assist the peace process!
After the cuts were announced the Joint Shop Stewards Committee organised a meeting with Diana Organ, our local Labour MP. She said she would get support from MPs in the West Country of all parties and put forward a motion in the House in support of safeguarding the 500 jobs.
I decided to meet up with the local SWP branch and with their help drew up a motion calling for a demonstration in defence of our jobs. The intention being to march through Mitcheldean and past the factory gates.
I went round the people on my floor, sounding out the idea, and there was full support from both union and non-union members.
When the motion was presented to the Joint Shop Stewards Committee it was passed unanimously. However, they refused to agree to the date of the demonstration which I'd set for 14th November. They said they'd need to give it more time and put it to the union membership.
The Convenor (GMB & AEEU) met with representatives of the Department of Industry but nothing conclusive has come from this yet. My fellow workers keep asking for the date of the demo, and all I can say is "not yet". They seem keen to take part in some action.
I think the union is trying to water down any dissent. Their excuse is that they're waiting to see what space Diana Organ has in her diary as they plan to have her leading the march.
My fellow workers are feeling angry and insecure. There's some apathy, of course. A number of people are just shrugging their shoulders and accepting it.
A lot of people won't get any redundancy because they are employed by Manpower. Many of these workers have been at Xerox for as long as 5 years. Manpower holds on to their P45s, and as soon s there are redundancies, look to finding them work elsewhere - immediately. Sounds great, but one woman I know says she lives in an isolated place where there are only 2 buses a day: one to Cinderford and one to Xerox in Mitcheldean. If she's offered a job at Beechams (the second biggest employer in the Forest) she just won't be able to get there. With no transport she'll just have to turn such an offer down and Manpower will class this a refusal regardless. As a result, they'll hold on to her P45 and she won't be entitled to Jobseekers Allowance. 300-350 workers at Xerox are in this kind of Catch 22 situation.
I know people who've taken out mortgages in the last few years, believing their jobs were secure. The overall feeling, before the announcement, was of security, complacency even. No one was expecting job cuts on such a scale. Before it's been 20-50 jobs spread over several departments. You can imagine what the loss of 500 jobs is going to mean for the area. Unemployment is an ongoing epidemic in the Forest. Public transport here is inadequate and there are few leisure amenities for young people. I witnessed a sudden rise in heroin use here about 18 months ago. The proposed job losses will make everything worse. People are not optimistic.
The towns of Cinderford, Coleford and Lydney are going to be badly affected. Diana Organ has spoken to the Principal of the Royal Forest of Dean College, claiming to be opening up vacancies and career possibilities. We all know that's pretty meaningless.
I believe that united action is the only valid response to the news. As long as everyone stands together we can show that we won't stand for these massive job losses.
I confess I haven't seen much in the way of a fight back at Xerox over the years. The managers like to boast of their "good partnership" with the unions - read what you will into this!
When the date for the demonstration is finalised I'll inform Red SW. We need the support of other workers, unemployed people and activists in the area.