ABSTRACT

(Next item: Cyprus situation) 2. 21 February 1975 13.00 Item 2(Previous item: Leslie Whittle kidnapping)IMPERIAL TYPEWRITERS/VTR/FILM As from this morning, 3,000 workers at the Imperial Typewriter works in Hull and Leicester are out of a job. Despite continuing efforts to save their jobs, Litton Industries, which owns the plants, decided to go ahead with the closure as planned.But 300 workers at the Hull works have taken over the factory and say they intend to stay — despite the fact that more than 600 of the work force there have already taken their redundancy pay and left.The workers who’ve decided to stay on say they’re looking to the Industry Secretary, Mr Benn for help to save their jobs.Mr Benn himself was in Leeds this morning, and he’s accused Litton Industries of ‘behaving irresponsibly’. He said he was still awaiting a report on the firm commissioned by the Government, but he thought things might have been different if there’d been a planning agreement.Our industrial correspondent, Michael Green reports: filmsuper: green/ hull Five weeks ago today, the Imperial workers were told the plants would close, and a rearguard battle to save the 3,200 jobs has been raging ever since. Litton Industries, the American conglomerate which took over the ailing Imperial Company in 1966, has lost £9 million trying to revive its fortunes, but its been beaten by a rapid rise in costs — particularly wages, and a slump in sales. Here in Hull, many workers have but little chance of another job. Vox Pop: There’s no prospect at all. Green: Have you been looking? Vox Pop: Well, yes, we’ve been to the Employment, and there’s nothing in the Employment in town. There isn’t anything. Not for the women. Green: Are you on the assembly line? Vox Pop: Yes, we’re ever so sorry it’s happening, aren’t we? Green: Was there nothing you felt could be done? 295Vox Pop: Well, we’re trying — that’s all you can do, isn’t it? Green: The job situation in Hull is already bad, with unemployment over 4% and jobs for unskilled men hard to come by. Independent consultants appointed by the Government to see if it’s worth saving have been urged by the unions to recommend a £3 million grant to keep them going. But the company is convinced this wouldn’t be feasible. Littons, which bought the German Triumph-Adler company after it took over Imperial, plan instead to sell the German machines in this country under the Imperial brand name. The company deny accusations that it left things too late to mount a rescue operation. super: freddie st.clair imperial at 1.49 cut to vtr 20” avail. St. Clair: The real problem was that as we got deeper and deeper into our discussions in connection with the productive capacity of…within the Litton organisation, a very dramatic change in the market as a result of a fall in the market it became quite clear that Litton itself would be able to meet its obligations from its German factory, and under these conditions, the least cost-effective of the units was virtually bound to be sacrificed because of the market conditions. at 1.59 back to film after words ‘the government hadn’t to do’ Green: But the workers don’t accept this verdict. On Tuesday they went to London to lobby MPs, but Mr Benn the Industry Secretary, told them the Government hadn’t decided what to do. What makes the Imperial case so important is that it’s one of the few instances where an American company has deliberately shut down its operations in the United Kingdom with the intention of supplying the home market here from abroad. It’s bound to make the Government more sceptical about foreign takeovers in the future, and will increase its determination to exert closer control over the multinationals here in the future. MG, FR, Hull. rt: 1’06” + 2’29”