Engineers and Exports
The 24-hour token strike of engineering and shipyard workers on December 2nd will be primarily a token of their intransigent attitude and their refusal to negotiate. The decision of the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions was, it is true, opposed by the two general unions, and some of the union leaders are probably hoping for a deus ex machina from the Ministry of Labour to make a return appearance this year. The fact remains that the Confederation has got Itself into a position from which it can only extricate itself by showing much more skill than it has so far revealed, unless the engineering employers quickly yield—which seems most unlikely—all or most of the 15 per cent. wage increase claimed. The effects, even of a 24-hour strike, must make themselves felt in the December production figures and delayed export. deliveries. Even more significant, however, is the veiled implication that the strike may be followed by more far-reaching action, such as a ban on overtime. The Chancellor of the Exchequer's warning to both sides of industry last week that, though the engineering industry is vital to British exports, its achievements in the first three-quarters of this year had been less than in the corresponding period of 1952 needs no underlining. But at the same time the engineers must realise that any restrictive action on their part must ultimately, whatever other harm it does, react upon their own conditions and standards.
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