strike is still strong after a year on the picket lines. 21 of the 31 original strikers are still picketing the South Wales label printing plant demanding reinstatement and union recognition.
Critchley Labels was formerly BT's in-house label printing operation, including printing the labels which you see on telephone boxes throughout the land.
In 1993 BT, in line with its strategy of concentrating on its core (profit-making) business sold the factory and the exclusive contract to Critchley Labels.
Despite the usual assurances concerning pay and conditions, Critchiey quickly moved to cut both. Branch officials were made redundant. Finally the CWU was derecognised, and branch members took strike action for which they were then sacked in February 1997.
The CWU has organised financial and picket line support; Telecom members are paying a 2p levy and there have been several major rallies and demonstrations.
The strikers - mainly women -have become confident and popular speakers at meetings across the land. The next major event will be a demonstration 24 March at the Critchley plant in Siroud, The problem however is how to win. The CWU has pursued the line of demanding that BT reemploy the strikers on the basis of honouring its 1993 commitments. Despite sympathetic noises BT has only re-employed one striker, while offering some others agency work on worse terms and conditions than they had previously enjoyed at the facOn the initiative of Broad Left NEC members the union has also used the issue to initiate a camTU rights.
But important though this is, it will not get our members in Critchley their jobs back, given Blair's attitude and the fact that no legislation would be make ret rospective.
The CWU leadership has however so far studiously avoided the issue of solidarity action which could win the dispute. The union's London Engineering Council and several branches have adopted this policy.
80% of Critchley's production goes to BT. A boycott of Critchley products by CWU members in BT could quickly bring the company back to the negotiating table.
Socialist Durloo John Lister THE DECISION to jack up prescription charges by another 15p to a massive £5.80 is iust the latest of a non-stop series of retreats on the NHS since Tony Blair's right wing or worse than the Tories would fit together logically with Labour's longer-term plans for ihe NHS mapped out in the White Paper (ominously entitled The New NHS) published before Christmas.
While claiming to scrap the Tory internal market, Labour "new NHS".
The catch is that by imposing this new system Labour would for the first time impose cash limits on primary care services, which have until now been demand-led.
The reality is that many GPs will - as now - be unwilling or unOne out of three is not good enough! ISON UR
prescription for NHS failure