Workers Socialist League

Socialist Press, Trotskyism Today and the Trotskyist International Liaison Committee, 1975–1984

After Jan. 22: All Out for Fuli Claim!

Socialist Press no. 134, 24 January 1979 · scan p. 12 · about 550 words

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at years of poverty wages.

60,000 joined a huge column of protestors in a march to the House of Commons. Thousands more manned picket lines outside hospitals, ambulance stations, schools, colleges and other workplaces.

Driven on by Callaghan's admission in Parliament last week that those receiving less than £70 per week can The Shah of Iran has gone on holiday, leaving his house in some disorder.

The political vacuum and call an all-out strike.

Frustration at an appalling lack of leadership in this pay fight has reached a high point in the ambulance service.

Rather than adopt a clear policy of indefinite strike action, with emergency cover provided under the control of strike committees, convenors in the London area at first coupled the ultra-lett call tor a comUPE plete stoppage of all services on January 22, followed by only a programme of halfDemonstrators on January 22 hearted work-to-rule action -including a ban on paperwork and answering emerThe oppressed masses of Iran now face dangers on three fronts.

If they are to defeat the threat of reaction from the army or from Bakhtiar's gency phones.

Under pressure from the press, the convenors backed down on Sunday from their "total stoppage" call, and substituted a plan for emergency cover to be provided on a voluntary basis, without pay-in other words without charge to the management.

Frustrated beyond endurance at this collapse ambulance branches one after another voted for a complete walk-out, leaving only two stations in London providing any cover at all.

Dangers

Management have attempted to capitalise on this situation by threatening to lock out any section of ambulancemen that implement the work-to-rule policy of not directly answering emergency phones-thus effectively threatening to close down the whole ambulance service.

"Selective" and partial action of this type always carries such dangers-and has been proved time and again to be ineffective in pay struggles in the public sector.

Meanwhile, even while holding back from the necessary action, NUPE leader Fisher has happily admitted his belief that the public sector workers will not win their £60/35 hour week claim "all at once"

Nor has he outlined any call for a cost-of-living clause in the new agreement to protect wage levels against inflation.

And none of the public sector union leaders has spelled out the necessity for a sliding scale of government spending on the social services (rising in pace with inflation) if these essential services are not to be pruned back and thousands of jobs lost as a result of the government conceding wage increases while maintaining cash limits on local authorities.

PHOTO: Laurence Sparham, IFL Fisher Workers in both the public and private sector, including those who have recently fought wages battles and those about to take on the employers will reject the press and TV campaign to dub Monday's action 'Black Monday' and recognise it as a limited, but nevertheless important development in the struggle against low pay.

The urgent need now is for public sector workers to link up with other sections of the trade union movement, particularly with other workers in struggle, to form councils of action in which the mobilisation of ---1.: - 1. 11. - - 1. 41: - - 1: -the working class against the reactionary Callaghan-Healey government can be taken to a higher level.

← Contents of Socialist Press no. 134, 24 January 1979