The dock strike and the law
DOCK WORKERS ARE RIGHT to see the Tory Bill to abolish the National Dock Labour Scheme as a fundamental attack on their jobs, wages. and conditions of етріоутем.
The conditions contained in the scheme were the fruits of a long struggle against using dockers as casual labour which resulted in the the jailing of the Pentonville Five in July 1972.
The national dock strike, which continued after their release. demanding that all ports be included in the scheme, culminated in the Jones/Aldington report, which offered job guarantees to the dockers in existing Scheme ports but at the same time also confirmed that unregistered ports would continue to exist and would be greatly extended.
the industry down the middle and
This was a sell-out which split was bitterly resented by dockers at the time. The Jones/Aldington report was accepted by Edward Hath since it was a formula for a massive reduction in registered dockers. Under its proposals we have seen a reduction in their numbers from over 60,000 at the time to under 10,000 today.
Now, however, the Tories sec the scheme as offering unaccep table guarantes of job security and conditions of employment which are out of step with the con ditions they are imposing on the rest of industry. This is in conflict with their requirements for 1992 and the single European market. They have the nerve to present a "job for life" for a docker as outrageous when most of the rulling class (not to mention TGWU officials) have always had this
The port employers, who bave always hated the scheme both for its job security and the joint ad ministration which challenges their 'right" to hire and fire, have welcomed the Bill with great enthusiasm and intend to extract the maximum possible advantage from it. They have already an nounced the ending of the current national wage bargaining arrangements, which are not a part of the scheme but exist as a separate arrangement. The employers have given 'assurances' on job losses which are rightly seen to be as
U P No, lads, don't ask me to break the law' - Ron Todd worthless as the 'assurances" given to the miners during their
All indications are that the current ballot will produce a majority for strike action. Registered dockcrs handle over 70 cargo through British ports, much of which cannot be switched to unregistered ports, which have not the capacity or the special facilities to handle it even if they were prepared to do so. This is admitted in a Department of Trade and Industry circular to regional offices which says that: rectors heavily dependent on imports of raw materials or components could face problems quite quickly. Steel vehicles, newsprint and textiles could all be
The dockers have both the detcrmination and the industrial strength to win the strike, but the problem remains of the leadership of the TGWU and its attitude to the courts. Ron Todd's immediate reaction to a dock strike is that it must be within the law! He presumably had the support of the left majority on his executive for this stand, since the executive agreed to overrule the docks national committee, who had agreed to ballot the dockers directly in defence of the scheme.
Todd's stand is well to the right of previous leaders faced with
AT E similar situations. The NGA defied the law at Warrington until they were stabbed in the back by the TUC. Arthur Scargill refused to comply with the law during the miners' strike. Print union chiefs, Tony Dubbins and Brenda Dean were at least threatened by the courts before they complied at Wapping. Sam MacCluskie defied the courts for a period during the seafarers' strike, saw his union's assets seized, and talked about being prepared to go to prison before he caved in and complied
Todd's position, announcing in advance that there would be no resistance offered open couragement to the courts to do their wont It accepted from the outset that a strike would be illegal if it was seen to challenge a decision of Parliament! This would represent the most far reaching use of the law since the Tories started legislating against the unions in 1982, and would outlaw strike action aganst any Government decision - for example the Baker Bill or the White Paper on the NHS
If thie couts are prepared to take such a step at the present time their decision would be based on what resistance they expect, not on technicalities such as whether the TGWU had met employers and insisted that the dispate was with them. It is clear that each new extension of the law against trade unionists since 1982 has been introduced on the basis of a precise assesment of the balance of forces - a judgement on what the courts and the govemment can gel away with.
In any case it is very difficult for a dock strike to be kept within the law. Even if the port employers fail to win a decision to outlaw the strike, that would not be the end of the story. If the unregistered ports continuc to work, striking dockers will picket them when their work is diverted, and this will be unlaw. ful secondary picketing. If unregistered ports join the strike, that too will be automatically declared unlawful secondary action. Several of the non-sheme ports have already pledged support since they know that the wages and condition they enjoy are un derpinned by conditions in the scheme ports.
The only viable way to defend the Dock Labour Scheme is for the TGWU to be prepared to defy the Taw if necessary, and see the strike as against the Goverment. Ron Todd is worried about the funds of the union, but the funds of the union are worthless unless they can be used to defend the jobs and conditions of the membership, and they can't be whilst they are hamstrung by the courts.
Previous anti-union legislation was destroyed because it was defied, It was the dockers in 1972 who dealt the fatal blow to the Industrial Relations Act with their defiance of the National Industrial Relations Court.
If these political problems are tackled a national dock strike can become the comerstone of a fightback against Thatcherism, at a time when the government is losing its grip on the economy, and industry is Faced by a wave of disputes over wage claims generated by rising inflation.
International suppport for the strike will be helped by the fact that dockers in many parts of the world are under attack. Indian dockers are on strike, There was a national onc day dock strike in France in March and there have been striker in Holland, Spain, Austrailia and New Zealand.
A dock strike will of course not receive the support of Neil Kinnock (despite his talk at the last