Limited Seating FREE ADMISSION***
Screening & Panel Discussion:
“We Have Always Done It This Way”
Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS
Tuesday 22 November 2011, 5.30 – 8.30pm
Please register: sertucevents@tuc.org.uk / 020 7467 1220
You know the media stereotype; a unionised workforce, portrayed as living in the past, is threatened with large scale redundancies and it says “we will not accept change”, and so heads are buried in the sand. This is a film from the labour movement archives that shatters that mythology.
In 1978 unionised workers at Lucas Aerospace were threatened with large scale redundancies. Their response, informed by their expertise, collectivism and commitment to social welfare and peace, was to draw up detailed plans for diversification of production away from defence manufactures and to the design and production of high specification health equipment, such as kidney dialysis machines, and low-pollution vehicles. How much more forward-thinking could you get?
The Shop Stewards at Lucas Aerospace were convinced that their business plan would not only sustain the employment and skills of the workforce, but that it would generate socially useful production and critically, be the blue print for a viable and successful long-term business.
However, Lucas Aerospace management was hostile to the proposals, infringing upon ‘the management’s right to manage’ – and so the stereotypical images that much of the media has so often portrayed were turned upside down.
“We’ve Always done it This Way” is a fifty-three minute film that documents this vibrant and important episode in British labour movement history. It is distributed by Concord Media, which is a charity that distributes programmes that feature issues of importance to society and the arts. [www.concormedia.org.uk].
The film will be followed by a panel discussion with trade unionists from the time, and from the present, discussing the key themes with the audience. It will conclude with a short drinks reception.
Please register: sertucevents@tuc.org.uk / 020 7467 1220
Limited Seating (book early) FREE ADMISSION ***
No comments:
Post a Comment