WIVES and workers at Metal Box are organising to discuss the problems that they are facing and how they can support the strike. MAVIS GILES, wife of Ray, a senior shop steward spoke to Socialist Challenge about why women should be involved.
Why do you think wives and companions should be involved in the occupation?
Gradually T.nesike s progressed women become SO aLeU within the home facing the BODCIS any strike brings.
The wives are at nome some with small children, little U10blems bills, knowing whether they can claim on social security, difficulty finding out exactly how the strike is procompanions of the occupying gressing and whether there's HOver management.
Sometimes their husbands are away they get the the radio or the press. So we felt that if we had a wives' action group we could get discuss pronenc unai affect us as a roup and individually. : direce c pente Cot to talk directly the wives, DulC us uo to car and tell us how the strike ColllCe wiltol happening.
Also we can find ways in which we can be involvIn ralsing money and helping each other practical problems CuKe baby sitting.
Management are making noises about jobs being Laucalcicu direci result of this industrial acThe Illaliul ing that if the men don't the sit-in then they might lose everybody's jobs because the factory wl chose This can be quite frightening if you read this in the newspaper and you haven't had prior knowledge that this was an expected attack by manageLibill It's things like this that need to be discussed as a group with the officials of the union.
Some of the people at the action committee were suggesting that girlLEflfriends were not in sup. port of the strike, that meeting that dead of the women were locking up their men to stop them from coming into the strike.
In the first place I'm nol colvilccu wives think like this. It seems that the wives who do take this kind of action against their husbands are the ones that people hear about. We don't hear toc much about the ones who are giving quiet support can appreciate that women are getting anxious and miserable about the financial Situalol that they might look at it in ine short term Fortunately many of the wives see the issues a being much broader and the implications wider.
The management will colu uv cone dack wn more and more redundan cies They'll be able to pick the shop when and how they because they'!l know they've broken off resistance They can eventually close the factory down if they want to because management that has no opposition 'and no determinanon among tne snop floor can just ride roughpeople's jobs SnOu OVCI