Workers Socialist League

Socialist Press, Trotskyism Today, Woman Worker, Class Fighter and the Trotskyist International Liaison Committee, 1975–1984

Drivers confront scabs, the press

Socialist Press no. 135, 31 January 1979 · scan pp. 4–5 · about 520 words

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union men. But, suadenly: are now doing a lot of work But now we're getting they've all got union caras. that the RHA used to do. coming in, in anything they (TGWU London Regional Green Lane just now, asking can find, often with no Office) for you! licences. And we've had several because they are NUR and Mind you, the boys requests for dispensation not involved in the dispute. inside won't deal with non- from the freightliners, who 22%. But we're not interested in percentages-we wantthe flat £65.

Some firms are going back and waiting to see what we get. Tate and Lyle have gone back-but they asked us to maintain a picket on their gates! We see the £65 as a safeguard against the future. There is likely to be a decision on the tachograph next month.

That will cut our overtime by 34 hours a day, so our £65 would merely be a guarantee of 5 hours' overtime. We do much more than that now.

The conditions of the tanker drivers are much better than us. They are paid for nights out, whereas we have to stay in digs-and you should see them! They are horrible conditions The tanker drivers also get bonuses for all sorts of things, even though most of their work is local.

Those Colchester scabs who were quoting £140 a week must have been running through the night and breaking the law throughout.

Those screaming to go back to work are nothing but scabs-many of them real cowboys.

SP: What about coverage of your dispute in the press?

The only coverage to get near the truth was Nossiter from the Washington Post on World in Action.

He demanded the figures on all these stories of animal cannibalism and starvation. Of course there weren't any.

He interviewed the CBI, and then went to the supermarkets to see, and found great crates of what they said they were short of! SP: What effect has the TGWU Code of Picketing had?

At first we didn't think it would be any different. We had been doing it anyway, allowing through medicines, post and firms carrying their own goods.

too soft. You get all sorts Sparharn, IFL That's Green • Lane Moina ia the Strike Committe • But, even so, more and r .ore is That was a telex from coming through.

SP: How does the Strike would we let them through Committee work?

There's just one Committee for the whole of We said they had to go to London-with about 200 representatives altogether.

We have 2-3 stewards, but we never see them all week. As for Headquarters, they just sit up there in their offices-we haven't seen them since the dispute began.

No meetings We don't have report back meetings with the stewards-we just hear things on the picket line.

The trouble is we're not organised. We haven't been on strike since 1926, and we don't know about these things.

And the lorry driver is very individualistic-because he works alone.

Picket line at Tilbury docks

Scan page 5

strikes and build DEFEND DAVE a new lea dership 3e 3

← Contents of Socialist Press no. 135, 31 January 1979

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