Downing Street Years - Margaret Thatcher [67]
It was against this background that I met first the unions at their request and then the management of BSC on Monday 21 January at No. 10. The union leaders had seen Keith Joseph and Jim Prior the previous Saturday. One difficulty we had was that the unions might have drawn the wrong impression from widely reported remarks made by Jim, criticizing the BSC management. I had been angry to read this. But, when a week later I was asked about it by Robin Day on Panorama, my reply was sweetly dismissive: ‘we all make mistakes now and then. I think it was a mistake, and Jim Prior was very, very sorry indeed for it, and very apologetic. But you don’t just sack a chap for one mistake.’
In my discussion with Mr Sirs and Mr Smith (the leaders respectively of the ISTC and NUB), I said that the Government was not going to intervene in the dispute. I did not know enough about the steel industry to become involved in the negotiations though, of course, I was keen to hear their views. The unions wanted the Government to bring pressure on BSC to make an increased offer. They wanted some ‘new money’, but I pointed out that there is no such thing: money for the steel industry could only come from other industries which were making a profit. The real issue, I said, was productivity where — although Bill Sirs disputed the figures — it was generally accepted that BSC’s performance lagged far behind. Luxemburg had reduced its steel workforce from 24,000 to 16,000 and substantially increased its productivity, with the result that it was now exporting railway lines to the UK. When I had heard this the previous autumn I had been cut to the quick, and I told him so.
That same afternoon I met Sir Charles Villiers and Bob Scholey, the Chairman and Chief Executive of BSC. They described to me precisely what was on offer and the very limited scope for flexibility. I gave them my full support.
On the following day Bob Scholey and Bill Sirs held a meeting, but to no avail. Bill Sirs continued to ask for 20 per cent, a figure which was obviously unrealistic. The only thing we could do was see the strike through. At my meeting of ministers and officials on 1 February we were told that steel was still moving from the docks. There was little or no evidence of shortages except for the deteriorating position in Metal Box, the food can producers. The report for the week ending 2 February again showed a strong position: manufacturing production was at 96 per cent of its normal level. On 12 February we received clearer evidence still about how industry was coping. Ninety per cent of steel stockholders were continuing to maintain a satisfactory level of deliveries. Limited imports were continuing and getting past the obstacles the unions put up against them. Not surprisingly, perhaps, steel users were reluctant to divulge the size of their steel stocks and potential endurance, but their morale was good. Metal Box expected to deliver 50 per cent of what customers demanded. At British Leyland full production could continue until the end of February.
The real problem was now arising in the private steel sector. The mass picketing at Hadfields raised the stakes. It had overtones of the kind of intimidation and violence which had led to the closure of the Saltley Coke Depot during the miners’ strike in 1972: it was vital that we win through.
British business proved resilient and resourceful in meeting the strike: this turned out to be the decisive factor. Somehow, they got hold of the steel they needed. In the reports presented to my meetings the crunch point at which serious problems