NALGO's executive elections saw important defeats for the left. In London leftwingers Jean Gelchart and Chris Eades were defeated. together with leading Morning Star supporter Ivan Beavis.
In the North West Mistant supporter Roger Bannister from Knowiesly branch was also defeated.
Despite the defeats suffered by NALGO through cuts and redundancies, i seems unlikely that the basic cause of these defeats is a sharp shift to the right. of the right wing, especially in the London Metropolitan District, as opposed to the weakness of the organisation of the left.
Left organisation in NALGO has suffered from the lack of a viable broad left. despite the large numbers of left wingers in the union.
warfare between the Miltant and SWP, as well as the persistent refusal of the various remnants of the Communist Party to be invotved in left organisation, is at the root of this problem.
Meanwhile the executives of agreed terms for the proposed merger. The new union will be called Unison. Merger is likely to be put to a balot of the three union membershoe in the autumn, and vesting day. the creaton of the new union. will be in the spring of next year.
Unison will be the country's largest union with 1.5 milion members, terothirds of them women.
besote amorin about the prit ciple of seil-organisation for oppressed groups, which has been won in NALGO, the new union will imple. ment 'proportionalty' in leadership elections, ensuring that a big majorty of the incoming executive wit be
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