[One The following report is written by a…]

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One The following report is written by a WSL member who works in the London Ambulance Service and belongs to NUPE.

Last Monday's strike was the strongest and most united açtion ever taken by ambulance drivers in London, especially as we had a complete strike with no. emergency cover, acting against the instructions of the Executive of NUPE, the Lóndon convenors committee and mass stewards committee.

The convenors were involved in many conferences, with frequent press interviews, in the week leading up to the 22nd.

We all knew that it was only a matter of time before they backed down, and the capitulaFisher-smiles but no action tion actually happened on the Sunday-the day before the strike.

trike acti At a meeting on Sunday morning between the convenors the NUPE full-time officer Bob Jonos, and David Ennais, the convenors decided to recommend that the strike should not be total-as previously agreed-but that emergency cover should be maintained on a voluntary basis.

What happened next showed the anger of the rank and file ambulancemen and women at being sold out at the last minute by their leaders.

Emergency meetings were held at some stations on the Sunday evening, where the plea to maintain emergency cover was strongly rejected.

At Camden station in North London the vote was unanimous and they almost pledged to begin striking from midnight inat nignt:

The following morning this militancy grew with station after station voting for all out strike.

By about 10.30 am half of the stations in London had eome out, and by the afternoon the stoppage was complete with the exception of two or three small stations out of 70 where crews continued to work.

It was touch and go whether the strike would continue on the next day.

Although it was only planned to have a one-day stoppage, management almost provoked a continuation of the strike by threatening a lock-out if we were to continue with the second phase of the action-the non answering of emergency telephones.

Although this was an obvious management bluff, the convenors again backed down David Stevens, treasurer of the Wolverhampton AntiRacist Committee and a local Labour Party member. is being tried in early February at Stafford Crown Court on a number of charges, including four enunte nf ascaultina Dolice.

Stevens was arrested in Wolverhampton on March 11 last year when a march organised by the Anti-Racist Committee was attacked by one man near the town library.

The police took advantage of this incident to wade in and arrest Stevens, who is well known to them as an organiser of the anti-racist movement in the town, and was the AntiRacist Committee official responsible for liaison with the police on the route taken by the march.

Wolverhampton police are notorious for their harassment of the immigrant population.

In two recent cases involving Asian youth defending themselves from attacks • by white racist youth in the town centre, only the Asians were charged and all received heavy fines or borstal sentences.

Stevens' trial is likely to start on February 7, though the date is not yet certain.

The Wolverhampton Anti•Doriet Pommittee is nraanisina a picket of the first day of the trial.

The picket's effectiveness will be limited, however, by the fact that in the ten months which have elapsed since the arrest, the local labour movement-with the exception of a few individuals and the Birmingham and Wolverhampton Trades Councils-is only now being approached for support.

The only way David Stevens can be defended is by mobilising the labour movement onto the picket during his trial.

Details can be obtained from Wolverhampton Polytechnic Students Union, telephone Wolverhampton 20327.

COPLE E TO GERY PHOTO: Andrew Wiard, Report TED :700

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BLACK PE ARE HER NEVE S76Y WILL Ni FIGHT RACISM BE TOLE TOLERATED

acist march in Wolverhampton PRESS