Fighting Yorkshire pit
closures By SUE OWEN IN the wake of the defeat of the miners' strike, many must be secretly wondering if it's even worth trying to fight pit closures. As a leaflet put out by the Yorkshire Miners Campaign Group says:
"Jobs have been lost by the thousand, members have voted to shut their own pits. The NUM is no longer effectively able to bargain nationally because. of the split. The rightward drift in the labour movement is influencing all of us... the pressure is on for us to be 'realistic and everything seems to be sacrificed to the sacred cow Labour Government Of electing a Yet many miners want to fight back.
The Yorkshire Miners' Campaign Group started when a number of rank and file NUM members together in the last months of the strike to try and halt the decline of the strike. They now see their fight as being within the NUM, to rebuild the fighting strength of the union.
They aim to do this by bringing together activists still keen to fight to boost morale, share ideas organise against management attacks, such as closures.
In the successful fight of Darfield Main against closure last year, the Campaign Group threw its behind the campaign of the branch and the contacts and publicity resources, For example the entire route of the
Yorkshire Miners' Gala march was
lyposted with "Darfield's Not Done" posters.
Similarly in today's campaigns against closure at Kinsley Drift and
Cadeby: the Campaign Group car
einforce what Branch activists are doing, organising publicity and support and helping to put pressure on the leadership to take action.
The meetings of the Campaign Group are organised by miners for miners and are democratic and open in atmosphere. Women from Women Against Pit Closures women attend.
Inevitably various left tendencies are present and get a fair hearing, but none is allowed to domineer or dominate. Speakers have attended
people just about from other disputes (including the printers and Silentnight) and other Broadwater Farm). The Campaign came Wapping to support the printers. Ed Fredenburah from the and Justice for Mineworkers Campaign. continuing There was a lively pit high weight offering Yorkshire-wide union's Area direction in recent months. These meeting quarterly and other both the the TUC - Bill Morris. Socialist Viewpoint No. 13 July 1986 p17
Yorks miners have been campaigning against nuclear power. from the NUM in Kent and Notts., fundraising. (South Africa Group were the main mobilisers in Yorkshire for the March 2 demonstration for the sacked miners and they have sent busloads to At the last meeting I attended, about 50 were present, mostly rank and file miners, including some new faces, and about ten women. The only united meeting heard Billy Etherington and National committed discussion showing strong feeling in favour of a fighting campaigning profile for the whole. Todd pressed by hard right IT looks as if the hard right majority in the leadership of the IGWU is far from satisfied with the speed with which Ron Todd has been moving in their Chair. remarkable untratern at the of the union's General Executive Council last week. Todd was snubbed when the meeting refused to accept his nominee for National Labour Party Executive and the General Council of holds the job.
I sacked and imprisoned miners and against confining activities to
The contrast between the rank and file enthusiasm at this meeting and the sterile bureaucratic rhetoric at the previous day's National Justice for Mineworkers' Campaign meeting was quite remarkable. As the Campaign Group leaflet says:
"The evidence is clear... the network of activists that was thrown up by the strike still exists if
Tin patches and without a voice. A handful of union members can begin to turn the tide at each branch and help rebuild the
spirit of the union as a By BILL PETERS
Morris's candidature for one of the I&G's four automatic seats on the General Council was defeated in favour of Wilf Jowett, TGWU Vice
The union will thus be represented by Todd himself, National Chair Brian Nicholson and Larry Smith. Rather than elect Morris onto the Labour Party NEC the Executive took the decision to reduce their representation from two to one; that will be Eddie Haigh, who already
When a "victory" i
Arguments by the right wing that they wanted lay representatives instead of appointed full-time officials would convincing if they could be taken as honest, but the trend in the union which they control is towards less democracy not more, making it look like an argument of convenience.
At the same time the failed to endorse two of Todd's nominees for vacant positions as Regional Secretaries unelected positions in the TGWU. Thus his moves to begin to staff the union with people of his own thinking have received another blow. It looks as if the positions will now go to right wingers.
The meeting appears to have been bitter and some of the media claim that Todd's resignation demanded and quote him replying:
"I am not going to resign. You will
Todd, however, is elected tor lite and cannot easily be removed. But ballot for General Secretary who is reported to be keeping his
Othe present confrontation) is convinced that once Todd goes he will get the job. Bells ring for bus jobs THE toll of jobs and services to be slashed by privatisation of bus services is likely to exceed 10.000, according to the latest
set of figures produced by the
National Bus Company.
Management claim record losses of £85m for the corporation, which is to be carved up and flogged off in small
arcels by the government. Private
ids already in would produce cuts of up to 20% of the 50,000 workforce.
NBC plans look to a immediate cut of 1,700 jobs. Whole areas could lose services alltogether.
The official balance sheet shows every sign of having been carefully manipulated by management to suit their purposes in pruning back the service prior to privatisation.
Bus staff fighting for their jobs, pay and conditions should these figures, and demand a full trade union inquiry into the finances
of NBC and the implications
privatisation as part of a campaign to
halt the asset-stripping.
elected be By KEVIN LEE Executive THINLY veiled as a way to avoid Constituency major Parties (CLPs) being taken to court, the NEC has issued a Organisation, calling on CLPs not to start any new disciplinary action. A victory? was until the as country is to receive these details and this start expulsion proceedings. leadership had other things to do with naull meetings, Party at Labour better spent? for Socialist As we've been Stevenage, where expulsion. Of using Party. court-ordered more socialist to in uniform" line a little too far! challenge defiance of the such as there were swings to Labour.