Blood, sweat, and a charge to the right highly profitable and were in position to make concessions as long as they did not concede over the right to control overtime and over the new writin ice challenged on any of these questions. After all, for the last 12 months he had been negotiating them away!
The management finally offered, long win g o or ni Bit hous and the Leeds strikers acepted, along with up to one and a half hours extra unpaid rest time per week.
This was a demand which the management in an advertisement to IT'S difficult to describe the delegates to this year's NUPE Conterence without sounding like I'm exaggerating.
Just two years ago, the last time the resolution opposing the Witch-hunt was carried overwhelmingly by the Conference. This year a resolution supporting expulsions was carried by a majority of somewhere in the region
The shift to the right has to be seen significant than in any other section of the labour movement. Remember in the early eighties when NUPE was
"Bennite Union"? regarded as a left winger Labour Party NEC? Remember Alice in Wonderland?
The fact is that the bulk of those who voted against the witch-hunt in '84 were there again this year - baying for the blood of recommendation. What needs to be looked at by the left is why this has of the union's current position can be seen as going hand in head down and wait for a Kinnock government."
The union's refusal to lead a national battle against privatisation, or mobilise support for the Barking Hospital strikers in their 18-month fight, and the ridicule and a staff and in their letter given to all staff members had said they would never concede — but it has to be pal‹ for with the loss of up to £7 bonus
From June 23, however, the new speeded-up working practices start. The Leeds Postal workers may have won a partial victory; but they could everything. showed they had real power.
employment casuals in a very short space of time is a new feature oi this dispute. Posta. Workers are afraid this could mean a growing towards the casualisation of the Postal Service.
Union conferences '86
NUPE
By TERRY STRONG marginalisation of those activists who have fought against the leadership have now led to full-scale centralisation of the union bureaucracy.
It would appear that there is now a certain amount of paranoia amongst the union leaders, a paranoia fuelled by the momentum of the witch-hunt particular the witch-hunt against Liverpool District Labour which is virtually Sawyer's personal project.
I don't intend to go through the of NUPE's role in Liverpool union's position highlighted by an attempt by number of full-time officials from the Scottish division to disrupt and break up a broad left meeting featuring Derek Hatton on the platform.
Fortunately, Hatton is no mug and he's not afraid to mix it himself. David ex-Clay Cross councillor, really hit the nail on the head when he described the wreckers as
Those same people who rant and rave about alleged intimidation by Militant were intimidation of left-wingers at this year's NUPE conference. There were reports of two physical assaults by delegates, including one by a full-
Socialist Viewpoint No. 13 July 1986 pll
Many unemployed people refused to take up job offers because they saw it scabbing. However the recruitment of 700 so quickly makes it even mole urgent to establish a strong organisation among the unemployed, linked to the Trade Unions. The "welfare benefits" approach of the Trades Council Unemployed Claimants Centres and the the
Union must be superceded by a political struggle against the Tories and unemployment.
Tom Sawyer time officer on an NEC member, which apparently went unpunished by the leadership.
NUPE Conference has always been a bit of a rough house, but the level of intimidation and violence this year, and the quarters it originated from fit in with the political lurch to the right and the tightening up of the bureaucratic machinery.
For the left in the union these are tough times: and with the leadership hell bent on securing a Kinnock victory no matter what the cost to the membership things aren't going to improve this side of a general election.
For activists, efforts must now be concentrated on building support at District and Divisional level where structures aren't so authoritarian and where there's actually a good chance making things happen. It's important that a solid base is created which can be built on after the general election, and which will in the meantime increase the divisional influence of the left in the union. New
Build power of base energy also needs to be channelled into the broad left.
The current LCC-style policies of NUPE are built on fairly shaky foundations - resting very heavily on a layer of full-time officials. There is no doubt that through consistent work the left will eventually begin to claw back the lost ground. But this is not going to happen overnight.
Left wingers are advised to pack a crash helmet for next year's conference! Extracts from an underground satirical leaflet distributed clandestinely at NUPE conference and aimed at exposing the politics of NUPE's new witch-hunting leadership clique. "Welcome to NUPE conference, 1986! This is the first publication of EURO-REVISION and it is hoped that there will be many more to follow.
"EURO-REVISION hopes to span all political views inside and outside the Labour Party, from Communist to SDP in an effort to protect the Union's full-time machine from Militant/Trotskyist criticism and subversion." (...)
"Last year's NUPE conterence was a milestone for EURO-REVISION and its supporters in the Social over APEX!
THE crisis of the trade union movement is partially reflected in the current "merger mania". Union bureauciats are increasingly being forced by declining membership and other effects of the employers' offensive into abandoning or compromising their previously jealously-guarded "fiefdoms"
How far the results of the current phase of this process will meet the needs of union members - often frustrated by crippling inter-union divisions in particular industries — will be decided by major battles within certain unions over the next few months. The outcome could well be new clearer political divisions between the larger confederations that emerge, which in turn will potentially put new strains on the
'unity" of the TUC.
The rank and file pressure for merger was obvious at the Annual
Conference of the staff union APEX,
Union conferences '86
ANUPE
TRIKE
DOWN
RIVATISATION
Democratic, Labour and Communist Parties. NUPE placed itself to the fore of the campaign to rid the movement f Militant and its supporters. Since this time NUPE members were
VISIONists in Liverpool, the Labour
Party is intent on purging its
Liverpool proletariat. A tremendous step torward in the battle against class struggle'. " (...)
"We must live with the times, hold in Blackpool from May 3 to 6. by TASS, fresh from taking over the resolution,
Branch, urged that the union should seek amalgamation
"other trade unions Despite of a similar industrial opposition of the APEX Executive
Council - determined to manoeuvre cautiously behind the scenes rather than flount their wares in public - the motion was carried by 38,700 to
32,860 on a card vote.
Although the options for APEX weren't openly canvassed
Conference,
•merging with the right-dominated
General & Municipal (GMBATU), to revamp their weak clerical section esimilarly joining the rapidly rightmoving IGWU, whose white-collar section ACTSS is also currently a poor relation of its manual sections;
•forming a giant predominantly staff trade union with ÄSTMS and TASS.
Socialist Viewpoint No. 13 July 1986 p12 comrades. No longer need we rally around sexist, macho slogans like 'Organise, Educate, Agitate' - this must be buried alongside 'red' socialism and cloth cap images of the working class. The new slogan for progress must be 'Contemplate, Negotiate and Pontificate'. Leave the serious business to the professionals and the hard decisions to the members.
"We must hoist the new grey flag heralding the grey and sombre dawn of more years of Social Democracy, and proudly proclaim 'Communists of the CPGB, SDP and Labour Parties work together for a Caring Capitalism'." (...)
'More EURO-REVISIONISTS are needed to work inside the Labour Party to purge it of its red socialists and Militants. Don't worry about being a member of the CPGB - dual membership is now possible if you denounce the lefties loud enough
Blind eyes will be turned. Alternatel for euroCommunism (LCC) who have developed a superb disinformatior and propaganda machine to matc the Militant menace. They are als looked upon favourably by the Union let-wingry stil lok upon the ICCas
By RICHARD PAINE mechanics and ASTMS beset by a continuing financial crisis — are in merger talks which could well lead to a single centre/left-leaning union
•amalgamating with the and/or AEU (previously AUEW), A merger between these two themselves is now, with the election of the right's
General Secretary, a distinct probability.
It is more than likely that the new
2-year APEX Executive Council -still right-dominated despite the success of left candidates Graham Eastwood (Trafford M-F) and Lynette
Savings (Westminster TUPs) standin for the two national seats in this year's
- will want to become a semi-autonomous staff section within a merged EETPU/AEU. Such an amalgamation would of course strengthen the yellow "business-
Animals welcome, but...
unionism'
The role of socialists in APEX will option, pointing out the openly promaintained by its repressive internal merger and in favour of an agree?
Such a campaign is very winnable (any final decision membership ballot). But the question is once again that of organising the rank and file. The need to develop an open and accessible left organisation within APEX has been fudged time and time again over the past few years, not least due to the reluctance of the Communist Party to come out openly in favour. As a result the left's progress has been particularly so in unding for union ballots. The EC osition in favour was carried by a verwhelming majorit
GMBU
"THE unemployed are OK - as long as they stay out of our union."
That was the practical gist of the message from Conference at Scarborough, which the unemployed... with General Secretary Edmonds on the Tuesday that unions
"show they care about the
The argument against organising unemployed classical bureaucratic objection to organising the underprivileged and oppressed: they are not a good of contributions income and if they did join, they might take
The GMBU not only decided to keep unemployed workers out of the but to retain its existing reactionary rule that members made redundant could only hold or retain positions as union officers if they maintained full contribution
Fearing "a change in the balance of our branches", Edmonds warned that an influx of unemployed would cause severe strains and would call for rewriting of much of the rulebook.
But on occasions Conference bit back. A motion from GEC Coventry demanding that APEX withdraw from all co-operation with YTS was lost by just 37,840 to 32,910. The Executive was clearly taken aback by feeling from
The intimidating control exercised by previous President Dennis Howell
Conference debates replaced by the more subtle, but no een Smith. This was seen clearly i proposed GEC takeover of Plessey.
GEC Coventry integrated including renationalisation of Priority be remitted to the EC because of their about Given Kroble bating renationalising BT, that wasn't the motion dated of a jud od
Keep out the
unemployed!
The reality is that unions have stubbornly resisted all calls to recruit and organise the 4 million unemployed or to take up their problems and demands.
For similar reasons the GMBU, TGWU and other unions have fought shy of any serious attempt to unionise low-paid and highly-exploited hotel and catering workers, who now make lip 10% of the workforce but who are almost entirely without
In exchange for their membership subscriptions, such workers would up a host of gre ances and polencesinging management. This is hardly in line with the politics bureaucrats preferred not to recruit Socialist Viewpoint No. 13 July 1986 p13 visitors were of the opposite opinion.
The right wing's hold on APEX isn't as strong as it used to be, despite the unions generally. Having said that, there is still a lot of work to be done by militants in the union.
There is a basis for that work. Roy organised on the same and a fringe meeting name of Labour Party Black Sections and the Labour Committee on Ireland recently expelled from Hattersley's Sparkbrook constituency upwards of people despite a mysterious last-minute room
The merger issue is likely to come difficulties with that particular | to dominate APEX's internal debates over the next year or so (it has hung silently like a huge shadow over them for the past few). The issues at stake are key to the future development of this time cannot afford to fail. union| potentially troublesome youthful, female and black members.
GMBU's answer for the unemployed? Shunt them into the lemoralising and hidebound siding;
unemployed centres where they will be kept isolated from any real trade union or political campaigning. Edmonds also favours an extension of the GMBU's advice service for its unemployed members.
Meanwhile as an adept exponent of the trendy Kinnock style of raising in non-political Edmonds got to his feet the following day to argue for unions to broaden their horizons, to show their concern for the unemployed, and to move into territory monopolised by Bob Geldof, Greenpeace campaigners. "Bureau-Aid" is on its
Perhaps the new slogan for the low paid and unemployed should be "It's a dog's life in the GMBU"?
JENKINS SEES RED
WHILE many union leders have in a marked swing to the right conferences and postal ballot results, Clive Jenkins found this
Yeatores picnid Delegate
Conierence no picnic.
the National Executive was battered and rebuffed by conference delegates for policies which it had adopted under pressure himself suffered the humiliation of seeing Ian Gibson, a relatively unknown challenger, pick up 17,000 votes in the ballot for the union's place on the Jenkins has held for decades.
And to add insult to these injuries, despite his deliberate witch-hunting of the hard left as "Trotskyists" at last year's conference and again in his Council post, Jenkins saw one of the union's best known Trotskyists, Lister, win one of the two National Seats on the NEC, topping the poll in a postal ballot (see interview below).
For Jenkins, further to the right in the period since never going to be easy. His aburpt switch of line on the General Council on the issue of accepting government money for postal ballots — in with the AEU, the EETPU and Tory legislation, but in contradiction to baland towards a wholesale climb- influential in tipping the down before the aggressively right wing AUEW.
He sought to brazen this boasting of it in his General Council
"In 1985 I opposed the expulsion of unions claiming public money for secret postal balloting, 1 argued and successfully freedom to claim the money - and for universal secret postal balloting including ASTMS. (...) The tiny groupings of Irotskyists in ASTMS have destested all this."
So apparently did no less than individual members plumped for former SWP member lan Gibson, as against the 41,000 who voted to keep their General Secretary on the General Council!
Jenkins' other major policy switch, this time pushed through a compliant NEC, had been to reverse the union's stand on reinstatement and amnesty for victimised miners, throwing ASTMS's block vote behind Neil Kinnock's reactionary line at last year's Labour Party conference.
Union conferences '86
ASTMS
By JACK DOBERMAN
LONDON ARE
UNIVERSITY
ICHNICIA
Clive Jenkins
ASTMS Conference delegates retaliated against this by carrying not
NEC, but also alone gainst the
also a Rule Change t nsure that policy decisions at TU( and Labour conferences will from now on be in the hands of the elected
From there on in the conference became a bruising experience for a heavily discredited leadership and the NEC that had acquiesced to his policies. Despite radical call for nationalisation industry under control of workers and the government was strongly carried; and there were ody blows on representation at the
Socialist Viewpoint No. 13 July 1986 pl4
TUC and on
So far out of key was the NEC that even its minimal call for increased support might even have been a kiss of death for the surprisingly defeated resolution support of surcharged despite an excellent speech from Ted Knight. On the final day, no less than six paragraphs in the NEC report on the NHS were referred back.
It would be wrong to exaggerate the significance of these reverses. Many were a retrospective slap om the wrist rather than sweeping
The powerful ASTMS bureaucracy remains intact, no means on the ropes, let alone down for the count.
No doubt he will try to put the anxiety at the thought of "Trotskyists" wanting him off the TUC, a Trotskyist on the NEC to interefere with the rubber-stamping of his policies, and of direct control over the casting of block votes at this year's Labour and TUC conferences will not help him rest easy! ONE of the most forthright opponents of the postal ballot system for elections in ASTMS has just won the first postal ballot for a seat on the union's National
Radiographer SUE LISTER, who openly describes her politics as "Trotskyist", had argued in her election address that the Union should have implemented its policy decision to hold workplace ballots, with a postal vote only fo isolated individual members
But she topped the list of 12 candidates in the election for one of the two National Seats on the 24-person ASTMS Executive. becoming only its third woman nember. The other seats ar allocated by Division and Region
She speaks here to SOCIALIST VIEWPOINT. SV: Why do you thak you won this time round It was an advantage this time that the sitting NEC member was standing down, so the field was wide open. After several years on the Standing Orders Committee I was already quite well known, and I got a lot of
branch nominations, which people decide in a postal ballot.
When I have stood before under the old system ot voting by show of hands at Branch meetings, 1 basically got the activist vote and the left vote. This time I kept that support but collected more.
One thing nobody took account is the number service members of ASTMS. There are 32,000, and I was the only health worker standing. There is also some crossover of support to other public sector groups, such as universities.
And though there woman candidate I obviously got a large. percentage of the women's vote. But of course it was not just a sectional vote: everybody the election address along with their ballot paper, and I made no secret of my position as the farthest left of all 12 candidates. I think the surprised everyone. But it is the first time the election has been run like this. SV: What is your function on the NEC? SL: My constituency is the whole of ASTMS — England, Wales, Scotland and the whole of Ireland. National member I am entitled to attend eve Councils. It is a 2-year one of the union's 16 Divisional position: I'll have to try to get round as many as possible. SV: What were the issues that you think won you support? SL: What was obvious Conference was the issue democracy and accountability. Who do our representatives The main theme was the NEC carrying out Conference policy. As I point out, even my election lave been by workplace rather than postal ballot, but the NEC ignored
Many members were angry to see vote two different ways last the opport van de lour Pany policies? Who do they represent? ! leadership to represent the activists not a select few. That SV: The Conference raised these same questions? SL: Yes. It showed time and again how out of touch the NEC has become from the wishes of active members. This was reflected in the Rule Change giving IUC and Labour conterence delegations the right to decide policy when an issue raised has not been voted on at ASTMS conference. The NECR last year instructed the delegation on how to vote.
help into of health was another received result
SOUTH
As the policy.
at the woman activist on the NEC?
of represent?
not should as a whole.
representation on the NEC by 50% women's seats
Revision conference.
But seriously in the union as a whole.
I will been Ireland.
unanimously faced. She was later acquitted.
JOBS NOT JAIL
YORKS
People were generally angry at the NEC not implementing conference SV: What do you want to do as a SL: Obviously now I can take up issues of women at Divisional council meetings and schools throughout the union, though I will also raise many other issues affecting the membership
My election has increased women's there are now only 3 women out of 24 NEC members. There are no women's seats, though the NEC has on paper tried good stillon to meta list establish at the last Rules the problems of women immediate members have never been properly discussed except by women activists. This means they are still not taken see it as my job to give support to isolated women activists and to raise issues which up till now have been almost regarded as taboo. SV: One taboo topic up to now in ASTMS, like many other unions, has SL: Yes, we've had a bit of progress on that. Last year we had the motion passed at Conterence supporting ASTMS member Maire O'Shea against the frame-up trial she
Socialist Viewpoint No. 13 July 1986 p15
CAMPAIGN
This year a motion was passed open discussion on the situation in level. Of course this is not a policy on Ireland; we need to follow through to make sure that the discussion takes place, and that there is a motion to next year's conference spelling out a year there excellent fringe meeting organised by the ASTMS Irish campaign Bernadette McAliskey and Maire
This was a very big step forward on previous years. SV: What is your policy? SL: I am well known for calling for the withdrawal of British troops from Ireland. SV: How do you see the fight in defence of the NHS? SL: One advantage of a broad union like ASTMS is it gives its health service members an opportunity to link up with sections of workers in ndustry and elsewhere in the public ector. I will try to promote this t break down the isolation of health workers and strengthen the fight. SV: What do you think ASTMS should be doing about unemployment? SL: A strong resolution was passed at this year's conference, and the union
Rail: Spread the action!
already offer full rights to our unemployed members. They can play a full part in their branches without paying subs - though this applies only to those made redundant: we cannot recruit unemployed workers. We have a Special National Advisory Committee dealing with issues facing the unemployed.
But there has not been sufficient fight against unemployment and in defence of jobs. We must mobilise the union to prevent even more job losses. SV: What would you say are the tasks now of the left in ASTMS? SL: At the moment the left is fairly AT the end of June (after we go to press) the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions, and the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR), are balloting their members in British Rail workshops (BREL) over industrial action against closures and job losses.
already reduced workforce from 35,000 in 1981 to 22,000 today with the closures of Ashford, Shildon, nearly all of Swindon and Horwich works, BREL is aiming to axe another 6,000 jobs by 1989. The main places affected are Doncaster, Glasgow Springburn and Wolverton with the massive "rationalisation" programmes, maintenance depots are due to close with many others hit by cuts.
Around of cuts beyond what was proposed in worst of several options put forward in the Serpell report commissioned by the Tories to put the railways on a competitive' management, rather than implement Serpell directly as an overall plan, has chosen to introduce it piecemeal, sector, mainly to avoid across-the-board opposition by the
The cuts are a further step along the line to the privatisation of BREL.
Sealink and the hotels have already been sold off and the plan is to separate the maintenance important, but "unprofitable") from the rebuild and heavy repair section which can then be sold off. Next in line are catering and the lucrative
While calling for a "yes" vote in the ballot and urging districts to produce material and call rallies in support of action, the NUR from their failure to win support from guards for action over
Driver Only Operation last year.
and disorganised: we have seen some people building a "narrow" rather than a Broad Left.
It's quite easy to put down motions at Branches adopted at conference: the real fight is to get those policies implemented. The left in general has been very poor at following through on issues even where it has won.
Of course the number of industrial wingers build a base in one sector out fail to follow through the overall policies, but don't get them carried out to their own branches.
Up to now the Broad Left has only
By PETE FIRMIN While the guards were asked to vote in isolation from other sectors (with guards in some areas already sacked taking action and the Union leadership proposing nothing in their support) and no knowledge of what sort of industrial action was being proposed, other sectors were to ballot later and separately over action.
job losses rundown of maintenance continuing the engineering are Information from BR itself shows, for instance, that the loss of the contract for Post Office parcels will mean around 400 jobs lost on stations. strategy beyond a knee-jerk reaction demands are put forward which can unify the worktorce against job losses, such as a reduction in the working week with no loss of pay Tyneside shipbuilding industry are to throw another 2,500 workers on the dole, in an area where 20% of the workforce is already unemployed.
The latest to face the axe have been 1,000 workers at the Swan Hunter yard, who recently staged a militant defence of remains surprisingly high despite the devastation brought about by seven years of Thatcherism and the world shipping slump: in Barrow, shipbuilders have only three-week pay strike after securing a
Socialist Viewpoint No. 13 July 1986 p16 really organised to intervene in the annual conference. This makes it difficult to build as an organisation that can function all the year round.
The fight for new leadership in the must be followed through The new decision for workplace balloting to replace the old system of voting by show of hands could mean that some - even all of the existing NEC members could be vulnerable. Next year all but two of the NEC are up for re-election: we could see some major changes
The left needs to think carefully — and get organised! together with a serious campaign to fight the appallingly low basic pay on BR which result in long hours being worked.
While campaigning militants on the rail must argue for this action to be spread against all job losses and ensure that management are not again allowed to pick off one
The recent Guards and Shunters conference showed the way forward by voting unanimously to refuse to move rolling stock blacked by any workshop taking action.
there must immediate move to elect strike committees in each works or depot locally and nationally so that they can determine and co-ordinate the action to taken. These strike committees can then make it a priority to aproach other sections for supporting action and begin to roll back the massive job losses on the railways.
Save shipyard jobs!
MASSIVE job cuts in the deal worth an estimated 14 per cent
Yet unlike the job threats in British
Rail which have been met by strong condemnation from union leaders and a ballot on strike action, the latest shipyard sackings have drawn forth no serious response from the unions.
The fight to open up the books of
British Shipbuilders and of the privatised, profitable but still jobslashing warship yards, to expose their long-term plans to attack the workforce must be urgently taken up by shipyard stewards, and linked to the fight for occupations backed by supporting strikes across the industry to oppose the redundancies.