O INS COWLEY Alan Thornett's firsthand account of ade union truegles in the car industry from the 1970s, with serious lessons for trade union activists today. 448 pages, illustrated. £11.95 plus £2 post and packing, from Socialist Outlook, PO Box 1109, London N4 2UU. overseen by the former CPSA scrutineer - the right increased its vote and the four sitting left Inland Revenue members all lost their seats.
No excuse Even if there has been ballot-rigging, however, this does not excuse Left Unity from blame. Its political practice is geared almost exclusively to elections, rather than mobilising its membership around campaigns. This strategy is self-defeating, since the absence of consistent leadership by the left means that members have little motivation to support left candidates.
Left Unity's relatively open and democratic structure is also in danger of being undermined by as doubt prove less contentious, most of them advancing positive positions on issues like the minimum wage, PFI and solidarity work. There is also a discussion document on Left Unity Organisation, -a welcome attempt to ensure that the grouping functions according to consistent democratic norms. Another proposes the left should take the lead in co-ordinating departmental pay campaigns. Whether Left Unity will now begin to provide effective, fighting leadership for PCS activists, however, will be decided not on 24 October, but at the PCS national conference in November, and in its subsequent work 'on the ground' in civil service departments.
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK