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Visteon occupation shows
ACTION GETS RESULTS


By Peter Hadden, 8 May 2009

The workers at Visteon – through their month long occupation of their factory – have written an important chapter in the history of the labour movement in Northern Ireland.

Had they done as was demanded of them and meekly left the factory when administrators arrived to take it over they would have walked away with their basic state entitlements and nothing more.
Ford/Visteon would have got away with their scheme to close the factory on the cheap by declaring it insolvent and thereby washing their hands of redundancy and pension commitments.This could then have been a model that could have been used elsewhere in the Ford group and by employers generally.
Fortunately the Belfast workforce decided to make a stand. They refused to accept the ultimatum from the administrators to vacate the premises and began the occupation. It was the administrators who were forced to leave.

Workers in the other Visteon plants in Basildon and Enfield initially complied with the ultimatum to leave the factories – until the news came through of the Belfast occupation. Encouraged that there could be a fight back, they immediately began occupations of their own. Heavy handed police action plus the use of the courts eventually forced them off the premises but they began round the clock picketing to ensure that the machinery stayed where it was.
The decisive action taken by the workers of the three plants forced Ford/Visteon to come up with a significant redundancy package. This is an important victory which can in turn encourage other workers faced with layoffs and closures that resistance is possible.

However the silence in the Visteon canteen when the ballot result accepting the deal was announced spoke volumes about the attitude of the workers to what had been achieved. Most workers saw it as a victory but only a partial victory. There was anger that the national negotiating officials had come up with a deal that gave less to the non Ford protected “Cost Competitve Rate” (CCR) workers.
Above all there was deep disappointment that the factory was still to close. For most of those who had maintained the occupation this had not been a struggle for better redundancy terms, it was, first and foremost, a fight to keep the plant open. The thought that the factory gates would permanently close and that the machinery would be shipped out for most workers tempered the sense of victory and achievement.

The fact that Ford has not been forced to reopen the factory is in no way the fault of those who led and those who maintained the Belfast occupation. From day one, the leaders of the occupation saw that the key to winning lay, firstly, in consolidating their position in the factory; secondly, in building support in local communities and other workplaces; and, thirdly, in stepping up the pressure on Ford by organising solidarity action in the Ford factories in Bridgend and Dagenham.
The first two tasks were achieved hands down. The occupation was a model of discipline and organisation from the start. Rotas were drawn up from lists of volunteers to make sure that there were enough people inside the plant at all times. Basic tasks from cooking, cleaning, maintaining the site, to manning the gate were allocated and carried out efficiently. Most importantly there were regular meetings held at different times each day so that the shop stewards could keep everyone informed and everyone, in turn, could put forward suggestions as to what should be done.

The overwhelming community support was shown in the regular donations of money, food and other essentials and in the stream of people, including trade unionists from other workplaces visiting the factory to back the occupation. Faced with this support, the administrators thought twice about pressing the courts to implement the repossession order that they served on “the occupiers”. An attempt to physically seize the factory or to use the courts to fine or imprison any of the leaders of the occupation would have resulted in a dramatic escalation that could have had far reaching consequences.
However the third task – to get Ford workers in Bridgend and Dagenham to black the parts brought in to replace those previously supplied by the three Visteon factories - proved more difficult. This was  mainly because of the role of the national Unite leaders who, from the very start, dragged their heels and refused to lead from the front on this.
What was needed was a clear instruction to Ford workers from Unite General Secretary, Tony Woodley, not to handle the replacement parts.

The closure of Visteon could well turn out to be a dress rehearsal for the eventual withdrawal of Ford from Britain. The Unite leaders should have explained to the Ford workforce that the time to fight for their own jobs is now, not down the line when the company has already been pared back to a skeleton and resistance is more difficult.
A clear call from Tony Woodley for the blacking of parts, plus a guarantee that any reprisal by Ford against any workers would be met by strike action throughout the Ford group, would have got a response. For weeks the convenors and shop stewards from the three plants kept up the pressure on the Unite national officials on this. Eventually it did seem that the union was prepared to support picketing by Visteon workers at Bridgend. Thjere was some caution about this because picketing form the outside is not a substitute for action organised through the union in the  plant. There was also justified concern that the union leaders, who were giving a nod and a wink of approval, would wash their hands of the action should Ford respond with legal threats. In any case on the eve of the picketing - and as workers from Belfast were preparing to travel over - the union pressed them to hold off to allow for negotiations.

These talks did take place - resulting in the deal that was eventually agreed. The question that now remains is that if the occupations and blockades plus the threat of blacking forced Ford to move significantly on the redundancy package, how  much more might have been achieved had the Unite leadership acted much earlier and much more decisively to implement the blacking?
The redundancy deal, once it goes through, will mean the end of the occupation. There is now no prospect of Ford being forced to reopen any of the Visteon plants. This, however, should not be the end of the matter. Rather than allow these factories to close, they should be taken into public ownership and placed under democratic workers management.
If Ford does not provide a market for the parts now produced in these factories the equipment and the skills should be retained and used to produce other socially useful products. The Unite leaders should be putting pressure on the government to nationalise Visteon and invest in the necessary design, retooling and retraining.

While pressure should be put on Brown,  this does not mean that the local politicians should be allowed to duck their responsibility. During the occupation politicians from all the main parties visited the factory offering their support.
Naturally the Visteon workers were grateful for whatever support they received and are keen that the politicians keep on backing them in the ongoing fight to secure their pension rights.
However, not one of the local parties has anything to boast about when it comes to their own record on saving jobs. During the ICTU organised rally for jobs, called to support the occupation, Translink workers stopped the buses in Belfast in a gesture of solidarity. Their battle is not with a private company like Ford; it is with the Assembly politicians who are in the process of axing 75 Translink jobs.

Support for the occupation also came from parents who are occupying their Lewisham school against an attempt by the council to privatise it. A delegation came over for the Belfast May Day parade and spent the night in the factory. Yet schools around the plant have been privatised in exactly the same way – and other Belfast schools are set to follow – because of decisions taken by the Assembly.

The Assembly parties have rightly joined with the Visteon workers in pointing an accusing finger at Ford. Ford’s decision to pull out has now passed the responsibility for keeping the factory open to them. If  - as is now more or less certain – there is no movement by the Brown government to nationalise Visteon the onus should be put on the Assembly to take the Belfast plant into public ownership so that the facilities and the skills are retained for the benefit of the local community.
The Visteon workers have struck a blow on behalf of workers everywhere. Whatever the final outcome they can walk away from this battle with their heads held high.

Interview  with John Maguire

What is your view of the settlement?

From where we were a month ago this has to be seen as a victory. Together with Basildon and Enfield we took on two massive multinationals who had walked away without giving us our statutory notice and left us with only statutory redundancy entitlements. We have forced them to come up with a £40 million settlement which at least provides the workforce with a financial cushion while they look for jobs.

But in the overall sense we are far from happy. This is a viable factory which we wanted to keep open. These are not our jobs, they belong to the next generation. If we had been asked to sell these jobs we would never have done so, not at any price.
I’m not happy either that the CCR lads were treated differently. During the negotiations we were pressing for the same deal for everyone.

If there had been 100% support from everyone to fight on we would have done so. Under the circumstances we faced after the negotiations I’m realistic enough to know that what we got is the best redundancy deal we could have got.

The Socialist Party is raising the call for the Westminster government or, if they don’t, for the Assembly to take over the plant in order to keep it, save the jobs and preserve the skills.

Yes indeed. Too often the unions just look for financial settlements. No money can compensate the community for the loss of jobs. The problem is the Labour Party is not a Labour Party and won’t take firms over.
Our union should cut the funds to Labour. The Socialist Party’s call for a new party of the working class should be supported.

Will the end of the occupation be the end of the struggle?

No. We still have the outstanding issue of pensions. There is a £210 million hole in our pension fund. As things stand Ford/Visteon will be able to walk away leaving the taxpayer to make up this deficit through the Pension Protection Fund. This means less money for the health service and other public services.
After the occupation we will be setting up a committee to continue the struggle to ensure that our pensions are paid by Ford/Visteon, not by the taxpayer. We want the government to set up a public enquiry into the Ford/Visteon pension scheme to expose what has happened to these funds. With the political support we have got I am confident that we can make Ford pay up.
We have had good support from local politicians including Sinn Fein throughout the occupation. Through your paper I’d like to thank the Socialist Party who gave us great help from day one.

Sean McCaffrey from the Visteon / Ford occupation in Belfast spoke to The Socialist

“Six of us from here went on a solidarity visit to the other Visteon / Ford plants in Enfield and Basildon and well as visiting Swansea to protest at the threatened sacking of Swansea convenor Rob Williams. We arrived in the early hours of Tuesday morning and after visiting the other pickets we made our way to Lewisham, we had heard about an occupation of a school there and we decided to lend our support.

“When we arrived at the school on Tuesday evening we saw tents and banners pitched on the roof, we shouted up that we were from the Visteon occupation in Belfast. Straight away the ladder was thrown down, phone calls were made and quickly other parents turned up to welcome us. We stayed on the roof for hours with, Eleanor, Kirsty and Juliette, some of the parents who are occupying the school. They told us that our action had inspired them to do the same as they didn’t know how else to save the school for their children.

“We had been nearly two days without sleep so we were about to leave to find somewhere for the night but the Lewisham mum’s wouldn’t hear of it and insisted that we stay in their houses. We couldn’t believe this, it was an incredible gesture to  have six people they had just met hours before, stay in their homes while they went back and slept on the school roof for the night, we gave them our heavy Visteon work coats to wear. To be honest their actions have restored my faith in people. The next morning a big breakfast was made for us and the three women  arranged to visit our plant the following Saturday. They came over and marched with us on the May Day and came up and spent the rest of the day in the plant. They have a diary with ideas for campaigning and how to win their struggle, they had filled in another five pages before they had left to go home”.

Socialist Party, 13 Lombard St, Belfast BT1 1RB Tel: 02890232962 e-mail: socialistpartyni@btconnect.com