District Committee to discuss Cowley 9

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This Thursday the Oxford TGWU District Committee meets and will have on its agenda the question of the Cowley 9.

These nine membersincluding the senior steward, three deputy convenors and other stewards in the Cowley Assembly Plant are threatened with various disciplinary sentences from expulsion from the union to banning from all offices for life.

The reason the District Committee will be discussSANDERSON'S PICKET Support the 16-month strike for union recognition.

Week of Action

1-15 September Skegness Reaistered as a newspaper at the Post Office. ing this case is because the Regional Committee, after carrying out an enquiry, decided at their last meeting to ask the Oxford. District Committee, whose Finance and General Purposes Committee first raised charges against the nine, if they would like to drop them.

Weak case

This showed yet again how weak the case is. The case is so weak that it is reported that David Buckle, TGWU District Secretary and the main witch-hunter in the town even resorted to talking the issue out at his own branch meeting in order to stop a vote being taken which could have mandated the District Committee delegates from that branch to vote to drop the charges.

Troublemakers'

Buckle's real position came out in reply to an Oxford Mail question about the Edwardes speech that there were a mere 1% of troublemakers in Leyland.

His reply was paraphrased as saying that the union are: aware of the Alan Thornett troublemakers among. the workforce and taking steps to deal with them."

As we point out in our front page article, the victimisation of the SU toolmakers and the Cowley 9 case are completely linked.

Both are witch-hunts against those who fight the company and the social contract. campaign cared the the- It is lished on the Cowley 9 be greatly strengthened if the District Committee decides to proceed with the charges. year's TUC call for the dropping of the charges against Aubrey, Berry and Campbell.

The attack is not simply one on the three defendants but part of an offensive against the whole labour movement, which must be fought by mobilising support throughout the unions and the Labour These points were stressed last week at a successful 60-strong public meeting including a broad layer of trade unionists called by Oxford NUJ branch and Oxford Trades Council a few days before the ABC trial itself opened.

Strike action

Appeals were made by floor speakers and from the platform by NUJ Branch Secretary John Lister for serious preparations to be made by the NUJ for strike action in support of the three victims, and for the NUJ jointly with the ABC Defence Campaign to call at once for a national labour movement conference to win support for this fight.

In the meantime, the strongest possible delegations from labour movement bodies should attend the regular pickets of the trial each Tuesday at 12.30pm, while bombarding union leaderships and the Labour Party with resolutions demanding the dropping of the charges and the repeal of the Official Secrets Act.