Australian Left Review
Article Title
Changing the Union : 1981 Ford Strike
Abstract
This is not an expression of anti-unionism, rather it's the opposite. It's a call for an effective union organisation in an industry which has proved to be the most demoralising and alienating yet devised by western capitalism. Alienation in its sharpest form is a well known feature of assembly line work in the vehicle industry. One effect has been the creation of an extremely volatile workforce of a potentially explosive nature. The 1973 strike at Ford's Broadmeadows plant did explode. "The picture of the migrant worker, belting the wall of the boss's office with a long-handled shovel, is the picture of the utter frustration felt by the workers."
This paper has been withdrawn.