Cowley 9 charges
Socialist Press1978 1978-09-13Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 12 →
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TG WU leader Moss Evans being lobbied by Cowley In a dramatic aboutturn the Oxford TGWU District Committee last week decided to proceed with the disciplinary charges against the 'Cowlev 9' The charges-which relate to such "crimes" as disagreeing with the TGWU Executive over wage control, campaigning against unelected officers of the union, and revealing the size of the branch secretary's commission to his members -were first taken up nearly a year ago.
They have been the subject of repeated District and Regional level kangaroo court-style "hearings" and "inquiries" , and in July were referred •by the Regional Committee back to the District Committee in a move that seemed to suggest that they were being dropped.
But as the AUEW officials crack the whip at SU Carburettors and at Leyland's Bathgate plant, the witch-hunting rightwingers on the Oxford District Committee are determined to see their recommended sentences, including expulsion from the union and life bans on holding union office, imposed on the Cowley 9, among whom are the elected leadership of Leyland's Cowley Assembly Plant.
Senior steward Bob workers at the TUC Fryer faces charges, as do three elected deputy convenors, one of whomAlan Thornett-is recommended for expulsion from the union.
As the charges have become known widely within the TGWU an ad-hoc 'Cowley 9 Defence Campaign' has won the endorsement of hundreds of TGWU shop stewards and branch officers throughout the country.
The latest moves by the Oxford District Committee show that though the threat of action seemed to have receded, TGWU leaders were playing for time, hoping that this counter-offensive would lose momentum.
The fight must now be stepped up throughout the TGWU for resolutions to the October meeting of the Region 5 Committee in West Bromwich calling for the immediate dropping of these trumped up charges.
Copies of such resolutions should also be forwarded to General Secretary Moss Evans, who, despite his bland statements to Cowley lobbyists at the IUC last week, has clearly decided to mark his arrival in the TGWU top job by endorsing an almost unprecedented witch-hunt against militants within the union.