From Militant, No. 402, 21 April 1978, p. 15.
Transcribed by Iain Dalton.
Marked up by Einde O’ Callaghan for the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line (ETOL).
The Bradford Trades Council stands opposed to the acceptance of any redundancies in the Bradford District. All three of the major sources of employment are now in decline. The wool industry has suffered a long period of contraction, the Tory controlled District Council has run down the labour force by a policy of demanning and now the sharpest decline is in manufacturing, the supposed salvation for this declining area.
If we allow the closure of Thorns and other threatened redundancies to take place, one third of engineering jobs in Bradford will have been lost in the short space of twelve months. Bradford, at the mid-point of the M62, could soon become an industrial desert, a process already far advanced on Humberside and Merseyside at either end of the motorway.
The first priority is to stand firm against the threatened closures and redundancies and to mobilise the whole labour movement to this end. The movement also needs to work out a fighting programme to deal with this whole question of unemployment. At the April meeting this Thursday, and probably at a special labour movement conference in a few weeks time, the Bradford Trades Council will seek to give such a lead.
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Last updated: 6 November 2016