CK WORKERS FIGHT BACK
arqued that it should be the national Women's Conference which should decide upon any changes, upon the existing Conference policy.
LWAC's aim has been to gain more power women by Increased representation for women in the Party. For a number of years now the LWAC demands Women's Conference to women's seats on the NEC; the right to send five resolutions direct to National Conference; and others have been overwhelmingly passed by Women's Conference overwhelmingly defeated at National Conference.
They had come up against a dead end in the fight for constitutional change, with the trade union block vote ranged against them. Faced with this, some women in LWAC argued that the time had come to turn the campaign outwards, to build links with other women in struggle, and particularly rank and file women in the trade unions and to learn from other experiences.
By DAN CARTER AT A time when a number of anti-deportation campaigns are suffering serious and sinister attacks, the people of Deptford are celebrating the return of Ayse Halil after a three-year long campaign.
In Leeds, Rose Alaso was found quilty of assaulting a police despite the fact that she was clearly defending herself against people she thought were immigration officials trying to kidnap her. Dave Roberts, Leeds NALGO branch secretary (of which Rose is a member), spoke to NALGO News of the harassment, say. ing "It is typical of the kind of thing people face who are threatened by deportation."
In Manchester, Viraj Mendis has sought sanctuary in avoid deportation. With
isolated and based Women's who women labour movmenet. gaining women turned campaigning, in favour the elect the These change. strongly in favour of the review: they saw the consultation discussions and and themselves and the trade union and party among women. some positive opportunities. union women have long felt (often with justification) that Labour Party women have little time or respect for their struggles and they are under- represented in organisation and particularly Women's Conference. between women in the unions and As Thatcher plays racist card press the deportation. officer birthday. tion grew from the school her sons at- Church to tend, involving large sections of the massive local community, the Labour Party, Socialist Viewpoint No. 16 April 1987 p19
Instead LWAC became ever more inward looking, dominated by a small group of claim all women. be to representative of all women in the Some of these their backs on of doing deals with bureacrats — always a risk for an organisation whose sole reason We for being is to achieve constitutional argued women Women being as deals between bosses, not as a campaign The review does provide us with the Party, Trade Yet organisation. the women's at class affiliate. We have the chance to build links publicity over his MPs case, specially following outrageous com ments by Home Office Minster David Waddington, racist attacks against his supporters have been stepped up, with one woman having a swastika scratched on her hand. Mendis has now been appointed Manchester City Council's Immigration and Nationali- of other ly Oiticer, but this appears to have cut little ice with the Home Office, who are determined to go ahead with Hackney-based campaign. In Deptford, though, there is proof that sustained campaigning can br- aspect ing victory in the end. Ayse Halil was deported to Turkey in 1985, being forced to leave two of her children Farm, behind. Her case has arisen simply because she hadn't been registered correctly when she reached her 18th The campaign to stop her deporta-
women in the Labour Party on the base of a common cause - greater power and greater representation for
We need to campaign in the unions amongst rank and file activist women (and men!) in order to win them over to our ideas. But there is no evidence that LWAC is doing this.
could also demand that women's organisations should have the right to affiliate to the Party. If
Against Pit Closures, or Women Against Murdoch were to affiliate, the amount of knowledge and experience of fighting capital and vested interests would make a positive step towards transforming
EWAC oppose giving the organisations already affiliated (e.g. the Co-op Women) any influence or votes in the Labour Party women's
They're certainly not Interested in fighting for working
women's organisations to and MEPs, issuing regular newsletters and constantly keeping Home Office backed down at the final Eventually, appeal stage and she has now been reunited with her family.
The Deptford case is proving a much-needed boost to the hundreds
campaigns being waged around the country, several of which are being co-ordinated from the
Anti-Deportation
Deportation campaigns are one
Cof the growing self-organisation of Black people in Britain. The campaigns over Broadwater
Othe Trevor Monnerville Defence Campaign in Hackney, the fight of Black Sections in the Labour Party and the formation of black caucuses in the unions, have all combined to make the labour movement take anti-racist work more seriously.
But despite the fact that many black organisations have been rooted
by our example that some sections of as well as anti-fascist work, and prove We should increase our anti-racist
Aby Mar