THE LIVERPOOL docks dispute has been going on for six months. It is one of the key industrial disputes of the moment. The dockers have shown remarkable resiliance and determination. GLENN VORIS speaks to three leading shop stewards from the dispute, JIMMY NOLAN (Chair of the Mersey Docks Shop Stewards), TONY NELSON (Shop Steward in charge of picketing), and TERRY TEAGUE (Shop Steward in charge of incernational relations). GV: The dockers have been in dispute for a long time. What is the strength of feeling! JN: The general feeling is that we won't go back to work until every worker is reinstated with full trade union recognition and the proposed introduction of casual labour is scrapped. In a recent ballot result, 85 Welfare State Network Conference Action, Solidarity and Rights! 23 March Mechanics Institute, 103 Princess Street, Manchester Ken Coates MEP, Doreen Cameron, John Sheldon, John Lister, Dave Anderson, Kenny Ball sector, health, disabilities and Europe. Network" for £5 waged £2 unwaged Name Address Organisation Unit, 42 Braganza Street, London, SEI7. Phone 0171 639 5068 per cent of the sacked workforce rejected a pay off deal. TN: We have pickets at different times of the day for one and a half to two hours. This has so far caught the police on the hop and compictely stops the port. Around 150 of us picket every day and the spirits are JN: Every shop steward (12 in total) and a further 40 dockers regularly speak to meetings up and down the country. So far we've spoken to 2,100 meetings. GV: What level of support have you received from the TGWU leadership? JN: Because of the Tory anti-trade union laws the TGWU haven't supported us ouricially. Eney seem too worried about the union funds being sequestrated. They have organised a hardship fund which has helped but it isn't regular. Our demands on the Sendershin have been for them to cam paign up and down the country with John Monks to vigorously resist all the anti-union laws. But this seems to fall on deaf ears. The TGWU leader. ship urged us to have a ballot to see what the strikers thought of the man. agement's offer. We had the ballos to Speakers include: Jeremy Cortyn MP, Audrey Wise MP. Neil Gerrard MP. Workshops on housing, education, JSA, youth rights and benefits, public To register please send cheque/postal order payable to Welfare Scate Return coupon to: WN conference, c/o Southwark Trade Union Support SUPPORT tainers from Liverpool go there. They agreed to send regular donations and organise go-slows at the port when unloading containers from Liverpool.
Our next visit was to Stockholm. The union leadership organised various well attended meetings with the rank and file. They agreed to send regular donations ano not to nandie any Liverpool containers. We came away with very high spirits.
Two delegates visited Montreal and a further two went to Sydney. They again received tremendous support. In both countries the dockers unions agreed to send regular financial support and organise overtime bans. go-slows and 24 hour strikes when any Liverpool ship comes or goes. Al. ready this has caused major problems.
The Longshoremans Union of America picked up our dispute on the internet and sent messages of support visited them. Four of us went to New York. The union agreed to block any ship loading or unloading in all the major ports in the USA both on the Atlantic and Pacific side.
This forced the Atlantic Contain. ers, the largest company using Liverpool docks, to engage in discussions with us and forced the Mersey Dock and Harbour Company to the negotiaung tole for toe test tie song in the ballot. We shall be going back Containers honour their words and not use the port.
Delegates have also been to Italy. Greece, Israel, France and New Zealand. The dockers in all these countries have sent regular donations and organised go-slows and overtime bans. We look back at the beginning should have concentrated on gaining international support first.
Because of this support we decided to hold an International Dockers Conference in Liverpool. IDe majority of these countries have similar problems to us, fighting casualisation and privatisation. We are building up an international dockworkers solidarity group. GV: What kind of support and solidarity have you received nationally? JN: We've received financial and moral support but not action due to the anti-trade union laws and economic fears. We are going to organise a national conference to bring together all the dockers support groups, trade unions, community organisations, the unemployed etc.
We are jointly organising with the Merseyside County Association of Trade Union Councils. The bureaucrats won't like it but workers need to come together to start building a real grass roots movement. Employers can hire and fire at will, shut factories, intimidate workers—-this must be stopped!