Alternative Product Centres
Resources
Higher Education Resource Centres
The resources of Higher Education, funded largely by taxpayers have always served the needs of multinational companies. The Combine believed these resources should be accessible to serve the needs of working people and thus established CAITS at the North East London Polytechnic, followed by the Unit for the Development of Alternative Products (UDAP) at Coventry Polytechnic. Centre for Alternative Industrial and Technological Systems (CAITS) CAITS was established in 1978 as a result of the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust grant aiding the Lucas Aerospace Combine Shop Stewards Committee. The Centre was located in the Engineering Faculty of the North East London Polytechnic (NELP) enabling Polytechnic staff to have close links with CAITS and its work. CAITS was jointly directed by the Combine and the Polytechnic with Mike Cooley, the Combine representative and Richard Fletcher of NELP acted as joint Directors on a voluntary basis. At the outset Mike George was appointed as Co-ordinator for the Centre and Steve Alexander, a researcher from Loughborough University, was recruited with responsibility for cooperative development. As the work at CAITS developed, additional staff where taken on. The funding was granted to the Combine because of its positive response to the threat of redundancy.
CAITS acted as a clearing house for the Combine’s Corporate Plan and promoted the development and application of socially useful products. It was supported by an Advisory Committee of trade unionists and academics. CAITS accumulated expertise in the field of socially useful production and made it available to other workers including those at Rolls Royce, BAC, Chrysler, Clarke Chapman and Vickers who were also pursuing their own Plans. CAITS promoted design, development, prototype manufacture, production and marketing of “alternative” products. It also assisted in more socially desirable, non-hierarchical organisational forms of industry. CAITS also assisted in setting up small-scale co-ops and community industries in the East London…. For more click https://www.lucasaerospacecombine.co.uk/p/the-combine.html
Unit for the Development of Alternative Products (UDAP)
As the Combine had a very positive relationship with the North East London Polytechnic via CAITS, it decided to approach a number of local West Midlands Polytechnics to move things forward rather than continue attempting to establish a University partnership within Birmingham. The University sector was clearly concerned about disturbing their relationships with Lucas industries. The Coventry (Lanchester) Polytechnic had a substantial record of accomplishment of working with local businesses in the Motor industry. Equally significant, was the fact that Coventry had a significant number of defence and arms industry links within the city. Eventually agreement was reached to create The Unit for the Development of Alternative Products (UDAP), with funding from the Cadbury Geraldine Trust which was matched by the then West Midlands County Council. UDAP, was housed in the Department of Combined Engineering, which offered a wide range of disciplines including Design, Electrical, Mechanical, Electronic and Pneumatic Engineering. The principle was that Final Year Graduate Students would work alongside UDAP Staff to support the development of alternative products as part of their final year degree course work. Prior to the arrival of UDAP, many students simply worked on off the shelf Academic activities. From the Combine’s perspective, UDAP created an opportunity for a socially useful learning and development experience for students and staff whilst, helping to develop alternative socially useful products identified in the Plan. For more click https://www.lucasaerospacecombine.co.uk/p/lucas-plan.html
COMBINE ARCHIVES
The most immediately accessible Combine material is held on line and in hard copy archive at the Mayday rooms in London. The Mayday rooms are an archive, resource and safe haven for social movements, experimental and marginal cultures and their histories. For more click https://lucasplan.omeka.net/
RELATED ARTICLES BY COMBINE MEMBERS
Democracy within the workplace
Whilst we may consider we live in a democratic society the opposite applies when it comes to the workplace. As soon as you enter the world of work you leave democracy behind. You may be able to state an opinion, but the real decisions are made at board level and handed down through the chain of command to the workers. While there appears to be political consensus on devolving power to local communities, maintaining the status quo within the workplace is at odds with that approach. For more click https://www.lucasaerospacecombine.co.uk/p/rlated-articles.html
Corporate Welfare
Corporate Welfare is used to describe governments’ financial support for private companies either with money grants, tax breaks or other special favourable treatment. The definition of corporate welfare is sometimes restricted to direct government subsidies of major corporations, excluding tax loopholes and all manner of regulatory and trade decisions, which in practice could be worth much more than any direct subsidies. For more click https://www.lucasaerospacecombine.co.uk/p/rlated-articles.html
(The above articles are by Brian Salisbury and reflect his views. Please direct any comments to Brian via the Contact Us page).
GALLERY For images related to the Lucas Plan click https://www.lucasaerospacecombine.co.uk/p/gallery.html
LINKS For links to Lucas Plan articles, speeches and resources click here
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