Print strike special reign of terror! IT'S NOWA SUNDA "Tontons dark they mass class has accepted them! Yet the chord with displays of solidarity outside Wapping picketing guidelines miners, cians to fight back.
EEPTUN INT kneed and ineffectual even Eric Hammond chord with tintworkers' fight has struck a
millions of trade unionists. Thousands have taken up the call to defend the 5,000 sacked print workers. The despite the print unions' leadership determination against violating the TUC's timid
have demonstrated the willingness of printers,
engineers, even militant electri-
All those workers realise that this is a defeat of the fight for survival. It is not only Fleet Street that is at stake. Every employer in the land
THE TIMES Hun Пікета erik will be rubbing their hands at the savoury prospects Murdoch is opening up over the dead bodies of the sacked printers: •No more closed shop; • No more strikes; • No disruption; • Union representatives to be vetted by management and sacked at will; • Total unfettered "right to manage"; • And legally binding agreements, with the right to bankrupt trade unionists and union alike if they step out of line! Murdoch has drawn lessons from the and the miners' srike treacherous role of the TUC. He already Cont'd Back Page
What the NUJ could do
Build the picket: stop the lorries! ON THE first night of the Wapping picket about 300 people turned up, most of them either sacked printers or local people. There were some arrests but the police presence was discrete.
Three weeks later over 5,000 people turned up spontaneously - since neither SOGAT nor the NGA will officially call for mass picketing. The police were this time highly visible with horses and the Special Patrol Group out on the streets.
The move towards larger numbers on Saturday night had started on the second weekend with the call from SOGAT for a Women's picket. The union leadership gave only three days notice of the march and it was clear that they did not want it to be a "mass event" But the turnout was very good without about 1,500 women on the march and 1,500 to 2,000 men waiting at the main entrance of the plant. MURDOCH'S union-busting operation still heavily depends on the willingness of journalists to write, sub and compose on direct input computers. A little bribe and a tough word were all that was needed to bludgeon them into submission. But even now NUJ journalists at News International have the power to stop-Murdoch in his tracks. If only they refused to cross those picket lines!
The Sun and the News of the World chapels were, not surprisingly, bought off - with a £2.000 a year pay rise. But journalists on the Times and Sunday Times agonised for days before voting 2-1 (Times) and 68-60 Sunday Times) to submit.
From then on the NU] leadership wrung their hands in despair at the thought of 500 scab members helping Murdoch dig the grave of the print unions - but offered little coherent strategy to fight back. Instread they
TATOO:
The police were not prepared for this. But obviously the SOGAT leaders had promised the police that they would contain the march and would ensure that things did not get "out of hand".
From the main entrance we could see the coaches carrying the scabs home and some lorries going out. But they were going out the back entrance about four blocks from where we were. Women were shouting at them but were given no direction about where to go to stop them.
At the front of the march at the very time when scabs and scab papers were coming out. Anne Field a SOGAT official was using the Metropolitan Police Public Address system to tell the women and the men who by now had joined them in blocking the road to disperse and to go to the Square behind to listen to Brenda Dean and Anne held nervously to the tail of the print unions, settling for an uneasy status quo, while taking a cynical comfort from the fact that some 30 Nl ournalists, who refused to move to Wapping, are salvaging the pride of the Union. At two successive meetings of the NUI National Executive, resolutions laying out steps to advance the dispute were narrowly lost.
The demands in these resolutions still remain the only way to start making a dent in Murdoch's success:
•It is essential that NU] members working at Wapping be instructed to withdraw their labour not only in solidarity with the printers, but in defence of victimised NU] members. At present, the four week old instruction is that they remain at their old place of work in Fleet Street.
• The NU] must call on all its members to black News International. This call should be fought for in Chapel and Branch meetings throughout the union. If the vast potential of these members, whether freelances or PR. broadcasters or members of the Press Association and other press agencies. were properly
Scargill speak!
Most people just ignored the call and followed the people going down to the Wapping Lane exit. Within fifteen minutes a crowd of over a thousand forced a scab coach to turn back and kept it in the plant for an extra two hours.
Not since Jack Dromey led the mass picket away from the gates of Grunwick has there been such a concerted move by bureaucrats to diffuse a picket line.
Apparently it is not only the print bosses and their courts which regard trade union tapped. Murdoch could be starved of news.
• Those NU] members at Wapping who refuse to heed the call to strike. should be expelled from the union. The argument that if they are kept in membership they could be pressured to come out has proved useless.
A strong official NUJ picket, with a call by the executive for a mass picket. and coupled with the threat to expel those who refuse to abide by the Instruction, would swing many of the water dures wile top Walenge under duress while hoping to and gain employment elsewhere.
• In the face of generalised attacks by all Fleet Street bosses against NUJ as well as printers' jobs. it is essential that the union prepare for an all-out strike in Fleet Street. The bosses are already spoiling for a fight. Redundancies are looming on the Express, and the Mirror Group (again): even the "liberal" Guardian has Issued a Murdoch-style ultimatum. while the Telegraph prepares a major shake-up, If the Murdoch fight is not pursued now, there will be no second chance: the NUI's boasted Fleet Street "bastions" will crumple like houses of Lords.
solidarity as a crime. The unholy alliance of right wing and Communist influenced bureaucrats who run SOGAT and the NGA see outside support and class struggle politics as a greater threat than the scabs getting through. SOGAT instructions actually suggest that stewards should ask police to remove left wing paper sellers from picket lines!
On February 15 a print union official Mike Hicks, along with Brian Nicholson of the TGWU announced in clear hearing of the police that "anyone who supports the print workers should now march back to the main entrance of the plant." That meant away from the exits where the lorries come out. The angry crowd shouted no. He replied "anyone who refused to do this does not support us." This gave the police the signal to move in with their riot gear and horses with the blessing of SOGAT and the NGAI this attitude from their leaders welcome supporters from other unions. It is vital that the picket lines strengthened and set about the task of sealing off the Wapping plant. • 600 of the 5.500 sacked workers • are women. And. as the miners' strike proved, the strength and resolve of women is an essential component of a solid fight.
Of course there are problems. general sexism of print workers is legencary. Women are usually confined to the clerical lobs and the 'real' lobs are kept for the men. The attitude of print workers to women is very patronising. Brenda Dean as a woman general secretary of a male dominated union could lead the way in changing this.
Insted, she said in an interview "IfI was militant they'd regard me as a neurotic temperamental woman". Insult to the thousands of women militants
ment its own under Tory legislation should surprise nobody. the TUC in Wembley decided to call for strike action to delend unions penalised by the courts. But when this was invoked by the NGA in December 1983 when its assets were sequestered during the fight with Ed- dy Shah at Warrington, the TUC opted for betrayal. 1984 saw the deliberate isolation call action to challenge the sequestration of the NUM. Party- confetti from against a range of unions. the TUC has assistance - even to the extent of call- ing on the EETPU to members crossing the Wapping picket Murdoch's agreement, presented to the unions on demanded: 1. at local level. are 2. The union must promptly repudiate any industria Women must play key role flahting for their rights as workers. road behind a bariner proclaiming dad made Murdoch's money™ The strength" not start any trouble. women. This attitude is an - teach the male-dominated unions.
Don't let TUC off the hook! THE refusal of the TUC to imple- line. policies defence of unions attacked In April 1982 a Special Conference of could of the miners and the conscious refusal to Now, with SOGAT sequestered, the NGA under threat and writs flying like Murdoch's solicitors once again refused to offer the slightest EETPU stop its scab Union buster's shopping list 3. November 21. No recognition of chapeis or branches, and no negotiations 4. No strikes "or other industrial oc- tion for any reason whatever." 5. action 6. 9. • in unions throughout the country who are • 10. Brenda Dean cynically used womer on e the demonstration, leading them down the • "my and then • when she was finished with her "ahow of • 11. urged them all to go away and But the extinction of print jobs and the • print unions will do nothing to liberate • The only hopes of battering down the conservatism and sexism in the printe unions is through maximum common • struggles against the employers, show- ing in practice - as the miners learned • 12. that militant women have much to •
The atlempt to make strike action a sack- ing offence in the print and wipe out two major unions should be the signal for a call for immediate general strike action. But the wretched stance of print union leaders combined with that of the TUC means that the call for action must first be taken into Fleet Street and the unions directly involv- ed with News International. But those who claim that a TUC decision not produce significant action should remember the massive nationwide Fleet St) stoppage of work (including, which followed Len Murray's short-notice call for solidarity with union members at GCHO early in 1984. The printers are now fighting a similar fight for basic union rights: an official TUC call for action in their support would be more effective than two dozen mass pickets. Demands for the TUC to kick out the and call supporting action should be raised in every union branch and Labour Party. taken by members. Immediate dismissal for anyone taking part in a strike or in- lustrial action - with no right of appeal. Union officials have "a special duty to enforce this section" of this agreement! No closed shop - employees who are members of a union can leave it at any time. Union representatives can be removed from office by the management issuing a written warning. No union recognition for super- visors and management grades. Complete flexibilty of working with no demarcation lines. No job security - complete freedom for management to change methods of working. No minimum staffing levels - either by agreement or understanding. Management freedom to alter starting and finishing times at short notice. "exclusive right to Management's manage". ... to select people for jobs, classify and reclassify" peo- ple. "hire, promote, demote and transfer employees as required" They will also "suspend discipline, dismiss, lay off employees from work" as they see fit. Legally binding contracts, leav. ing the unions and individual members open to court action.
Sun Members of all The Sun production chapels refused to handle the Arthur Scargill Sam S picture and major assets headline on our lead insured story. The Sun has for Elm decided, reluctantly, * to print the paper a without either. *What have they ever done for us?" is a favourite crack against solidarity with the print unions. But the of trade solidarity the print unions have a record that compares well with others. They have repeatedly taken political action: •In 1969 against Labour's anti- union laws • In 1971-72 against Heath's anti- union laws •In 1972 in defence of jailed dockers • In 1980 against the Prior Bill of • In 1982 in support Healthworkers • In 1984 in support of GCHQ unions • In 1984 in support of the miners. Now the print workers need sup- port from the labour movement! ... ... .... Subscribe Keep up with events - from a Socialist Viewpoint! Our monthly magazine carries analysis and background coverage coupled with reviews, historical articles and comment. Make sure of your copy each month - take out a subscription at the bargain rate of 12 issues for £10 Including postage (or £12 overseas). Or take several copies to sell: contact us for bulk rates. Return the form below to Socialist Viewpoint at BCM Box 3956. London WCIN 3XX. Please send me further details of Socialist Viewpoint Name .. Address. Trade Union .... Labour Party Telephone ..
From front page
Murdoch (above),
NGA's Dubbins and Sogat's
Dean knew that, unlike Scargill, the print union leaders who had buckled before his archival Maxwell would beg for money rather than build solid picket lines. He had seen the TUC at Warrington and in the miners' strike refuse to defend unions sequestered by the courts. He knew that the NUJ members were too greedy or too frightened to use their powers against him, while the EETPU had helped him recruit a hardened gang of scabs at Wapping.
Murdoch gathered a closely knit circle of conspirators to hatch up the final plans.
Christopher Pole Crew sheriff of Nottingham, taken on last April for his invaluable knowledge of union-
This days running the Nottingham Evening Post; and Lord Harris of Greenwich, lately of the Labour Party, a director of Shah's new company and trouble shooter for the EETPU. co prepare Until union leaders did little to prepare. January 24, they pretended nothing was happening. Finally when Murdoch threw down the gauntlet, they made concession after concession - hoping to placate him — but to no avail. Among the unions' proposals was "a common commitment to pro-
harmonious relations, productivity and flexibility, and job security;" They were further prepared to agree a procedure which would include sion in its final stage for conciliation by
But Murdoch did not want a deal. They were forced to fight. But from the outset Dubbins (NGA) and Dean (SOGAT) lacked any strategy to win. Instead of galvanising their industrial strength, and using this as the basis for an appeal for full-scale support from other unions, they concentrated on impotent appeals for consumer boycotts of News International and a futile bid to win the "hearts and minds" of the general public.
SOGAT instructions to its members to disrupt distribution fell on deal ears; i became quickly apparent that mOst SOGAT members have bees bureaucratically demobilised for too long to be in a fighting trim. In the few areas where distribution has been successfully disrupted, this was due more to the action of militants in strong chapels or strong branches than to a general response by a united membership willing to fight for the survivaal of their union.
The print unions are indeed fighting for their very existence at the heart of the British newspaper industry — a keystone of their power in the whole printing trade. It is a scandal that Dubbins and Dean have ensured that their Fleet Street members remain at work as if nothing is happening -leaving each employer to pick and choose their time for fresh attacks on jobs and conditions.
But the fight is just starting. The print workers of Fleet Street with the backing of thousands of workers in other industries can rall back the barbed wire.
• Firstly, the mass pickets have become a focus for workers and strikers to mobilise. While they are not suflicient in themselves to win the strike, they will mobiline thousands of workers and give confidence to the sacked printers that they are sot alone in thin light, Print workers should demand that their executives call and build for mass pickets.
• Secondly, sacked printers should call for a general strike in Fleet Street. If the print bosses are not defeated, and the se questration of SOGAT is not challenged by the union as a whole, it will be open season on all print workers. Such a call should be built for in chapels where unice leaders must explain what is at stake and galvanise members into action.
• At the same time print union branches should sponsor the building of support groups up and down the country — where possible in liaison with existing miners support committees — to take the fight within their own communities to break the old craftist traditions.
• Finally, If the printers are seen to be seriously fighting back, solidarity action could prove crucial to the dispute. Postal workers must defy their leaders' advice to workes must maintain the blacking on transport of Murdoch papers wile stepping up the pressure on the TWU to stop the scabbing by its lorry drivers. Only when the labour movement is mobilised to help in whatever they can, can the print bosses be defeated. This will not happen spontaneously. It needs a fight by militants at
Crank and file level coupled demands on leaders for a clear and serious 77777777**; NOW it is Mirror Group
newspapers, owned by "socialist"
Robert Maxwell, that has decided to make strike action a sacking offence and dismissed the Daily Record workforce.
If the national newspaper bosses get away with these atacks. the now regime will soon hit priat unions and the NUJ on local papens across the country. The outrageous anti-union bias, sexism and rocisn of much of the press can only be worsened by the smashing of talen organisation.