Garners Turn Promises into Action

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. £1.10 .£2.20 .£5.50 £10.00 1 aS he Dartmo 1HR As the strike at the Garners Steak Houses enters its seventeenth week, support and sympathy for the strike has built up to a new level, and the strikers are as resolute and determined as ever.

In a week which ended in the 500 strong demonstration of support through Central London on Saturday May 20th, many new groups of workers were seen on the picket line including delegations from the Southall Trades Council and Fords Chloride which included , one member of the TGWU Regional Executive. The regular delegation from the Wandsworth Trades Council was also there last week, alongwith a new one from Brent Trades Council.

Earlier in the week there were a number of interesting meetings. On Monday the blacking committee (including Jack Dromey), announced the dispatching of a large number of letters to suppliers.

Sceptical

Strikers were sceptical of much coming out of this in the light of past experience. This was especially because Pyke's the butchers, who were allegedly blacking, were said to have been seen delivering that very morning. The strikers will watch with interest to see if Pyke' shops in West London and elsewhere are now picketed, as promised by Dromey.

A strike committee meeting on Tuesday organised for the Saturday mobilisation and discussed a recall support conference to follow it.

A third meeting was the press conference on Thursday run by full-time official Abrahams, and Rachman for the strike committee, and attended by most of the capitalist press 81: 0: together with ers' papers.

At the press conference the continuing strength of the strike was portrayed and the extended blacking was described. The reporters present were naturally sceptical about the fact that if had taken almost four months to get moving on these matters, but dutifully took down the rather dated figures of profit and loss which had been obtained by the TGWU about the Garners operations.

More sensitive questions concerned the parallel with Grunwicks, whose funeral rites had been announced a few days earlier. Abrahams said this was nothing like Grunwwicks, and with picketing would be much easier to win.

When asked about financial aid to the strikersthey are still only getting £6 a week from the union - Abrahams repeated the usual excuses how pickets difficult it all was, despite the £30 which had been obtained at Grunwicks.

On that very same day, the Regional Finance and General Purposes Committee met to consider the matter and agreed on the princely sum of £10 per striker as a once for all payment. Some strikers are inclined to throw this back in their faces; they should press for more than this derisory sum.

Regional Secretary, Ron Todd's call for 'effective picketing' is no answer to the increasing police harassment which has resulted in at least 11 arrests. Police refuse to allow union banners outside some of the restaurants, and have reduced numbers of pickets, as and when they choose.

Pressure will continue for the strikers for real mass picketing with trade union delegations, for properly organised blacking and for adequate strike pay.

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The Workers Socialist

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