ASLEF's history of sectionalism and capitulation to new realism.
They are not, of course, giving the membership an opportunity to express their view. In addition, the Assistant General Secretary of the union, has announced that members respecting RMT picket lines cannot expect automatic support. By contrast, the TSSA, which organises booking office staff, is balloting to take action.
The London Underground management is still smarting from their defeat in 1989. This is not over the Train Operators' pay claim, which was eventually ineffectual. Rather, they want to avenge the defeat of their attempt to destroy the 'seniority principlé.
Had they succeeded, the majority of agreements would have been undermined, along with joint negotiating structures. It was the co-ordinated strike action on rail and underground that stopped public transport and won the strike.
The RMT is now balloting No. 1 May 1, 1991 VOTING takes place in May for the new General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU), to replace Ron Todd who is retiring next year. The two main contenders are rightwing George Wright and Todd's favoured candidate, his deputy Bill Morris.
Morris, who has been nominated by 1163 branches is supported by the Broad Left, although his record is hardly left wing. On crucial struggles he has adopted the same attitude as Todd, especially in insisting that workers must not break the law. But like Todd he doesn't go all the way. with the extreme right of the union.
Most of the regional secretaries, the power-base of the right, are supporting George Wright.
Wright, presently secretary of region No. 6 (South Wales) has been nominated by 1120 branches. He is far to the right: if he wins, the TGWU position than Bill Jordan's AEU. Wright is strongly supported by the popular press, especially the Daily Mirror, which has run a strong campaign on his behalf.
À clear idea of the way Wright would run the TGWU has been given in a circular he sent to branch secretaries. His starting point is the poor financial position of the union. In an obvious attempt to buy votes, he promises to increase the secretaries commission - the money paid to branch secretaries for collecting subs.
He calls for the National Union of Mineworkers to be united with the scab Union of Democratic Miners, and brought into the TGWU - but declares that Arthur Scargill would not be allowed into membership!
The TGWU under Wright would be part of the engineers' (AEU) and electricians' (EETPU) axis. This would not just be a shift for the TGWU but a major shift in the balance of whole. It would have major implications for the Labour party, strengthening the hold of 'new realism' and Kinnock.
Because of this, the left is (reluctantly) supporting Bill Morris. It will not be an easy battle. The Broad Left are making much of the fact that when Wright stood against Todd last time he had more branch nominations but lost. This time Morris has more nominations than Wright.
But the battle is different this time. Media interest is intense. The right are waging a powerful campaign. And dissatisfaction with the existing leadership is widespread.
Morris is part of the leadership which let down the dockers; he is rightly seen as being part of the problem.
Disillusionment could lead to a big vote for Wright - and that would be a major defeat for the left in the labour movement as a whole. squeeze on council funding now threatens a whole swathe of nonstatutory services. In Haringey, for example, there is now no adult educa tion or school meals; whole areas of social services, education and housing are to go.
There is absolutely no national or district-wide campaign organised by NALGO against the redundancies. The only significant fightback has been a 3-day city-wide strike in Liverpool including both NALGO and the GMB, and some sections are now on all-out strike. Action is also being planned in Islington, Lambeth and Derbyshire.
However, these are isolated examples. These attacks cannot be fought on a branch-by-branch basis, and the members know it. They will support industrial action which offers a prospect of winning, not long-drawn out local action with little chance of success. This means a national industrial action and publicity campaign involving the whole local government membership. Merger with NUPE and COHSE may be an answer for defending the NALGO apparatus but it won't, on its own, defend jobs. And once NALGO starts suffering mass redundancies there is a danger of derecognition to follow.
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