Attack after Euro '96 march: Brothers Dilwa and Hakim Motin were assaulted dy Iliteen arunken england rans wno nad watched the England-Switzerland match in a pub on Old Bethnal Green Road. Local residents have formed 'Community Action Against Racial Attacks' in response. Nazi backs out: Protests have forced out Hull's nazi school governor Michael Cooper, the fascist candidate in the Hemsworth by-election. His resignation came at a meeting of the Andrew Marvell school governors lobbied by anti-fascist activists. Labour dumps lefty: Labour members of the NUS executive suspended leftist Vice-President Education, Clive Lewis. Union president Jim Murphy suspended Lewis by memorandum for opposing the Union's ending commitment to free education. Dockers' London blockers: The London office of a company supplying scabs to Liverpool docKs will be picketted. The dockers' London Support Group pickets the Drake International offices everv 'Tuesdav afternoon be. iween 3.30pm and 6pm. The company is based at 66 High Holborn, London WCI. Scargill spurns Militant: The Socialist Labour Party has rejected a call from Militant Lavour tor a Joint list or general election candidates. The SLP now plans to stand seven: Militant Labour hopes to stand 23. Geras at Mandel seminar: Norman Geras will speak at the Amsterdam-based Arnest Mandel Studv Centre's first seminar next month. Geras, senior lecturer at the University of Manchester, is the author of The Legacy of Rosa Luxemburg. Leeds Labour left rallies: "Dinosaur bites back" announces the first issue of Leeds Socialist, the bulletin of the Leeds Socialist Campaign Group. The group explains: "We believe that there is opposition to the changes taking place in Labour Party policies and the way to articulate this is to develop a collective of members who wish to retain socialist principles working within the party." Feathering nuclear nest: Britain's most modern nuclear power stations are to sold for around £1.5 billlion. £6.9 billion of Taxonvers morer a de aver la subsdies to aid the sale. The plants will make £2 billion in profits over the next five years. Won't too bill: Israel rourth Interna tionalist Michel Warshawski was mistakenly billed as speaking at the school of the journal Workers' Liberty. He never was. Knights of the Blair table: Labour Party whip Ray Howell MP has been awarded a knighthood, in breach of longstanding tradition. Sitting MPs are not normally given knighthoods from the Opposition's share of the Queen's birthday honours.
Greg Tucker DELEGATES at the RMT annual general meeting have had to grapple with a number of serious problems, not least an ongoing financial crisis. Caused in part by loss of members-a result of BR's withdrawal of the check-off-delegates can take some heart from the fact that for the first Cime membership has started to rise.
Significantly, TSSA and ASLEF members have been joining the RMT in disgust at their unions' failIre to reoresent new lhere ASLEF on LUL has been forced TONA UNION RAT JIME & TRASPORT WORKER "D & DIS DES As the CWU enters into action over the summer the RMT cannot afford to hold back on its disputes. to talk tough over pay, facing an immediate threat from the RMT with its history of fighting to defend its members.
On Great Western drivers have been forced to accept a deal, sup. posedly for a shorter working week, which will leave them working longer hours, up to | 1 hours a day— in worse conditions and for many with less take home pay. All with compulsory redundancies, too!
This great ASLEF "victory" is now to be used as the yardstick for negotiations around the country.
Aside from internal reorganisation-mostly finance-led-the key de. chises early and Railtrack is not to MU LIVE bates at the AGM revolve around two issues: how you relate to the Labour Party as it prepares for government by dropping all its previous commitments, and how you reor. ganise industrially naving gone trom one main employer, to literally hundreds of small companies and contract units in the space of a few months.
The 1995 Labour Party Confer. ence saw a commitment to a railway under "public ownership and public control". This soon evaporated.
There are no plans to end franbe renationalised. For some leading RMT members this has prompted a rm tonaro waci coes •rodose renationalisation—Scargill's Socialist Labour Party.
Others on the right have opted for a Labour government at any price. If this means dropping commitments so be it.
Neither is a solution. We have to maintain our links with cabour and pressure Blair, Short and company.
Industrially, the full legal effect of the breakup of BR is being felt. In a series of disputes the RMT is having to grapple with how to organise "legal" national disputes.
There are two answers. On the one hand we need to accept reality and devolve power to new union structures based at company level.
But this is only viable with proper education and backup for company level representatives and with a structure that allows both the views of the ranks to be expressed and for the union's national policies to be enforced. Too often we have suffered from weak representatives prepared to go behind the member. ship to accept management's wishes.
On the other hand, national action is being hampered because the union is finding it impossible to collate significantly detailed membership records to meet legal ballot requirements. The Executive has got to act, even if this leaves potential legal problems unresolved.
RMT policy over a number of years has been for repeal of all anti-union laws. In practice, however, the leadership-even in its current left majority-has always shied away from open defiance of legal restric. tions. The time has come for this to end.
As the CWU enters into action over the summer the RMT cannot afford to hold back on its disputes.
In particular, its Train Crew dispute (as featured in the last issue) cannot wait any longer. Ballot papers must be issued immediately, with a clear date set for the start of action. • London Train Crew Mass Meeting — 3 July Friends Meeting House Euston 7pm.