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A review of "Under New Management? The Fisher-Bendix Occupation"
In 1972, the workers at the Fisher-Bendix factory in
the British town of Kirkby (near Liverpool) locked out management and occupied
the premises in protest against a proposed close-down. Perhaps ironically, the
factory was situated in the constituency of Harold Wilson, the Labour Party
leader and on-off Prime Minister (not in 1972, though).
This pamphlet was produced in support of the occupation by a small libertarian socialist group, Solidarity. They were on good terms with the leaders of the occupation. Apart from a somewhat dramatic account of the events themselves, the pamphlet contains political analyses from Solidarity's perspective, and even a kind of “happy ending”, since the Fisher-Bendix workers were eventually able to keep their jobs, when the plant was taken over by a new owner.
My edition of the pamphlet contains an annoying misprint – all of page 2 is blank! As usual, Solidarity's pamphlets are illustrated by curious comics. One shows a kneeling boss praying to God: “And please don't let them sit down in my factory”.
An interesting pamphlet about a probably long forgotten industrial dispute.
This pamphlet was produced in support of the occupation by a small libertarian socialist group, Solidarity. They were on good terms with the leaders of the occupation. Apart from a somewhat dramatic account of the events themselves, the pamphlet contains political analyses from Solidarity's perspective, and even a kind of “happy ending”, since the Fisher-Bendix workers were eventually able to keep their jobs, when the plant was taken over by a new owner.
My edition of the pamphlet contains an annoying misprint – all of page 2 is blank! As usual, Solidarity's pamphlets are illustrated by curious comics. One shows a kneeling boss praying to God: “And please don't let them sit down in my factory”.
An interesting pamphlet about a probably long forgotten industrial dispute.
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