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Salient. Official Newspaper of Victoria University of Wellington Students Association. Vol 40 No. 18. July 25 1977
Sackings — bosses cure to the crisis
Sackings — bosses cure to the crisis
On Friday July 15 in a sickening spectacle 1,350 Australian workers were given the sack — some got only an hours notice. Hardest hit were workers for Chryslers in South Australia where 700 were sacked.
The Chrysler sackings had been coming for some time. It had been reported in June that fully 20% of Australia's annual car production was being stockpiled in a crisis of over production and tough competition with imported cars, yet the auto giants had been steaming ahead at full production.
The crunch had to come. But when it came it was the Chrysler workers who were blamed for the sackings.
An Evening Post story (13.3.77) headlined "Ugly Union Battle At Chrysler Plant As Mass Sackings Loom" gave the bosses version. "Mass sackings . . . appeared inevitable today after the refection by brawling workers of a compromise job saving formula . . . Union officials who had recommended acceptance of the company formula . . . . were punched and kicked . . . the men pledged to continue working a five day week . . Senior executives were to decide whether to carry out their threat to sack 850 workers . . the compromise plan (had) called for a four day week and the retrenchment of 300 workers".
"Your paper commented graphically on the so-called violence at the mass-meeting of Chrysler workers, but said little or nothing about the causes of the workers' anger.
"The Union officials concerned have consistently ignored or opposed decisions made by all the workers at the factory — during 1976 they refised to oppose company decisions to sack workers, they agreed to company proposals to provide redundancy payments to sacked workers that were unnacceptable to mass meetings of the workers, they refused to support democratically called-for stop work meetings and workers trying to get better safety conditions and they began publically attacking workers for trying to better their conditions and keep their jobs.
"At the end of the year, during Union executive elections, the workers at Chryslers and other car plants in Adelaide stood candidates against these union bureaucrats — they intended to finally get officials who actually did what their members told them! Strangely enough, the union bureaucrats declared the election results null and void (it has been suggested that they had suffered a heavy defeat in them). New elections have yet to be held.
"The Chrysler company's moves to sack 800 workers at this factory are part of the United States-owned multinational car companies' stated intentions to reduce their workforce in Australia. With unemployment there already at record levels (and rising), sacked workers have no job prospects. It is no wonder that they are fighting for the right to work".
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Slogans on wall of car component factory in Adelaide — painted after sacking of 700 Chrysler workers.
Since this letter was written, Salient has received news from Adelaide that Chryslers has sacked 700 workers from this factory — included among those sacked was the entire membership of the workers Rank and File group, which has been instrumental in that factory in leading workers in their fight for the right to work. The Union concerned (Vehicle Builders Union) has again refused to accept the decision of the workers' meeting — and has indeed gone worse — it has refused to support the 700 sacked workers, its own members!
The Chrysler workers will undoubtedly resist this attack on their rights, and by doing so will make it that much harder for further wholesale sackings to take place. This has already been shown by concerted action in the past.