The Workers’ Struggle for Ryton and to Define and Fight for the Alternative

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The Workers’ Struggle for Ryton and to Define and Fight for the Alternative

Keep Ryton Open Campaign

The Ryton car workers and their unions are taking forward the struggle to prevent Peugeot Citroen from closing down the Coventry plant and transferring production to Slovakia.

It is very necessary, both from point of view of the interests of the workers as well as the interests of the local and national economies, that the workers and their organisations take a stand and battle against the social irresponsibility of the car monopolies. This is not so much a matter of protecting British industry and British jobs as one of fighting for the dignity of workers everywhere and against the motive force and logic of the car monopolies, including Peugeot, that what counts is the all-out competition to overcome your arch-rivals in the global marketplace.

The issue when it comes to fighting against de-industrialisation and the destruction of the manufacturing base is that the right to a sovereign economy must be defended, together with a motive of production that puts the social well-being in command. It is important that workers do not lose sight of this, and in any way conciliate with the chauvinism that all that matters is "British" workers and "British" jobs. The stand of the car workers in the West Midlands has been to see through this narrow perspective and to make common cause with workers in other countries fighting against the same logic of the monopolies which is performing its wrecking activities on other sovereign economies. The best sentiment of the workers here is to support the workers in the countries of Eastern Europe, for example, who themselves wish to fight for their nation-building projects, while joining hands in their common fight against stepped up exploitation.

The monopolies have also wished to fashion the European Union against the sovereignty and self-determination of peoples and as an area of free-trade, a bloc that allows the neo-liberal agenda to have free rein so that they can have a uniform market and maximise the share of social product which they grab. The workers here too have common cause as they struggle against the Europe of the monopolies and the dog-fights which take place between the European monopolies for control of this market and to compete with the US, Japanese and other monopolies, both within Europe and on a global scale.

The fights between the car monopolies is particularly fierce in the conditions of over-production which the industry faces. The workers cannot ignore these conditions and imagine that they can solve the problems of capitalism where the monopolies have failed. But neither does this mean that they surrender to these conditions and accept that there is no alternative but to let the laws of the jungle take their course.

While recognising that they have to resist the dictate of the monopolies, they must also fight for the alternative, and for positions of political power. This means that they have to recognise that the "level playing field" does not exist under the social system which sanctions the private interests of the monopolies as sacrosanct, and the planning for the social well-being and the production for the material and cultural needs of the people as outside the scope of government.

To succeed in their fight to save Ryton, the workers can neither accept that the issue is one of thinking of England, nor that the issue is one of capitalist profitability. The viability of Ryton must be defined in terms of its benefit to the social economy, to the workers themselves and to the future direction of the economy.

Transport and General Workers’ Union

Oppose the closure and support the trade union alternative

In April 2006 Peugeot announced that it intends to close its Ryton manufacturing plant near Coventry in 2007, but Ryton is a profitable plant so the T&G is leading the fight back to keep manufacturing at Ryton.

The unions representing workers at Ryton, the T&G and amicus, have put forward a comprehensive survival plant which shows that profitable car production can continue at the Ryton plant.

The plan has been widely welcomed by politicians, the general public and workers in Peugeot unions across France, Belgium and Spain. It proposes:

1. Peugeot commits to build a new model at Ryton in 2009/10. This would save PSA euro 105 million in investment
2. A single shift would operate at Ryton to build the 206, and perhaps other models (convertibles, for instance) which are currently outsourced
3. The unions at Ryton support the move to single shift this summer and enables those who want to leave to do so
4. The unions support an examination of  all ideas from every source in order to minimise costs until a new model comes in
5. We seek guarantees of UK government support for company with grant aid and other financial help. The unions have already had fruitful discussions with senior UK government ministers.

Since the closure announcement, Ryton workers have taken their case to the people of the West Midlands and the whole UK trade union movement. Ryton representatives were warmly cheered at the major May Day Rally in London, where T&G general secretary Tony Woodley pledged support, and have met an enthusiastic response when distributing leaflets about their case in Coventry and elsewhere.

Background: Why Ryton should stay open

Peugeot are claiming that they need to close Ryton because of production and logistical costs and instead wants to set up production in Slovakia.

However the company originally intended to build a new model in Ryton and made a successful application for European funds and aid to support an investment of euro 250 million.

So why did Peugeot change its mind?

Is Peugeot unprofitable and looking to reduce losses? No, Peugeot made profits of over euro one billion in 2005.

Is the Ryton workforce inefficent, unproductive or inflexible? No. T&G members are the most flexible in Europe and have delivered everything asked of them by the company and more, a fact admitted by the management.

Is the closure announcement a result of falling car sales or a need to reduce capacity? No. In 2005, the Peugeot group sold 3.9 million vehicles and the UK is Peugeot's third biggest market.

So, what is the real reason for closing Ryton? Closing Ryton is about sacrificing UK workers to appease shareholders and increase profit by exporting jobs to Eastern Europe.