Seafarers' struggle escalates
in Britain. At last a national leadership has been prepared to break the law and spread the action throughout the industry.
It was precisely the refusal of the leadership of the print unions to spread the action to the rest of Fleet Street and to defy the law which was the biggest single obstacle to success at Wapping.
In sharp contrast to this, McCluskie, who has taken the leadership of the strike after his earlier attempts to end it, has said that the court can take away the union's money and its buildings but it cannot take away the hearts and minds of the membership and that the strike will go on irrespective
Since P&O announced their ultimatum in late April, action in the ferry ports around Britain has continued to escalate. On 2 May the NUS announced that 5.000 of its 5,200 members working on ferries, for the various companies around Britain, were on strike.
Ferries were halted in 17 ports including Weymouth, Falmouth and Portsmouth. All ferries to Ireland were halted through strikes at Holly Head, Stranraer, Cairnryan and Liverpool. Isle of Man Ferries were at a standstill. In Hull, North Sea Ferries were at a standstill. There were also strikes in Dover, Folkstone, Fishguard, Fleetwood Heysham, Middlesborough, Harwich, Ipswich, Aberdeen and Peterhead.
All this makes the claims by P&O that it is getting its ships back into service look a bit silly. In fact they are not operating a service of any kind. They are simply attempting a strike-breaking operation which they hope they can spread
The decision of the NUS to stand and fight is by far the most important decision by a trade union since the end of the miners' strike. Since the defeat of the miners, the trade union movement has been increasingly hamstrung by the systematic introduction and extension of the use of the Tory anti-union laws.
The strike is an absolutely central issue for the trade union and labour movement in Britain. McCluskie has already called on other unions for support: he has publicly called on the TGWU, for example, to stop handling the scab ferries at Dover.
The trade union movement is again at the crossroads. There is a chance now for a victory. There is a responsibility at all levels to rally to the support of the seafarers.
Support committees must be set up. After sequestration the only financial support seafarers will have will be that raised by the movement. The issue must be taken into every trade union and into the TUC. All scab sailings must be boycotted and the action spread beyond the shipping industry itself o ALÂN THORNETT
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