By a postal worker A TWO DAY walk out by 15,000 London postal workers put the brake on management's offensive against conditions, jobs and union organisation.
When management suspended all 150 delivery staff at North West District Office Camden on January 19 all district offices in London - bar one - struck in response. The next morning most delivery offices in London were out too.
With millions of mail items held up management quickly backed down promising to lift the suspensions and take no further disciplinary action.
The dispute stems from the introduction of the ComputerAssisted Delivery Revision System which involves a massive In early January around 650 workers walked out when a union member was suspended for refusing to get into a dangerously overloaded van.
They returned to work only after immense pressure from union officials and promises of legal action and improved health and safety.
In a single week 50 workers were suspended for alleged "slow working". Hundreds of casuals were brought in to take over deliveries.
After a further one hour strike delivery staff were instructed to sign a declaration waiving their right to strike. Refusal was met with suspension. and then the spreading industrial action.
None of the key issues were resolved in the back to work agreement - which only went through after pressure from the national leadership on their A major opportunity for the whole workforce to go on the offensive over CADR, job losses and new duties was rejected by a leadership more concerned about the union's bank balance and its good relations with Royal Mail management.
For postal workers the lessons are clear - there will be more fights over jobs and conditions. General Secretary Alan Johnson and the national leadership will not lead a fight.
We have to build an alternative leadership in the union which has the respect and support of the membership.
For all workers and the labour movement as a whole, the postal workers' action shows how solidarity action can win, and that faced with widespread strikes the anti-union laws are not worth the paper they are written on. redundancies. • Benefits for Youth and Students • Workshops and discussion • JOHN LISTER (London Health Emergency)
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK No.77. 11 February 1995, Page 6 THOSE WHO wish to abandon Clause IV argue that it says nothing about the kind Ф Women are the home-making, child-rearing, pin-moneyearning, sex-object majority.
Lesbians and gays, whose acceptance as genuine equals tinker with the system. They will propose some fine phrases. But until and unless Labour is willing to tackle the fundamentals questions of the way soci-