Bringing Camden to a halt

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An interview with John Seymour, the dustmen's shop steward at Camden's Cressy Road depot.

He is also on the Camden General Strike Committee. He carries on his report on the developing action against the 5% in that Borough.

Underneath the arches... the rubbish piles up in London Last week you reported on how your section had given a lead in pulling over half the Borough out on indefinite strike. How has the struggle developed since then?

In answer to your final question in Jast week's Socialist Press 1 outlined two immediate tasks in developing the struggle The first was to get the whole of Camden out on indefinite strike action.

Last Tuesday we succeeded in this. Over1200 members of the branch attended a special mass meeting in the town hall on Tuesday afternoon.

It was a stormy meeting as you can imagine. All my section was there, plus all the other sections already on strike.

With speaker after speaker calling for indefinite strike action it seemed a foregone conclusion that we would win it.

In the event the vote was close-just under a hundred majority for indefinite strike 1990283.S08 John Seymour action.

The point was, that all those voting for all out strike action were the most organised and powerful sections so qualitatively it was a much stronger vote than it appeared.

The situation has been transformed within a week from 4 men on strike to the whole of Camden out on indefinite strike. action!

You also mentioned the need to link up with other dustmen last week as an important next step.

Yes, the point I was trying to get across was that if there is to be a leadership independent from Fisher (who has never wanted to fight on this claim and who has now openly dropped the £60 demand for what he calls the "going rate" of 15%), then strike committees and joint strike committees with other sections in struggle have to be built.

To this end we have fought to consolidate the strike in Camden and my section have been fighting to spread the strike to other boroughs. Have you achieved these ends?

Well last Tuesday's vote was a great victory. But since then there hs been a setback around keeping the Home Helps out.

Rather than argue for a policy of emergency cover linked to all out štrike action, our Branch secretary has successfully carried a resolution on the strike committees allowing the Home Helps & exemption from the strike.

I was completely opposed to this as it could be used by the right wing to argue exemption for everyone who wanted to scab.

It's essential that the strike committee for the whole of Camden get a grip on the situation and do not grant any more exceptions.

We took a democratic vote at a 'mass meeting for all. out strike action.

Lo say that the only way to provide emergency cover is to let a whole section scab on the strike is say they sacrifice the right to strike!

What about linking up with other dustmen?

Well I think we have been very successful in this. Last week when my depot came out on strike we threw a picket across the Transfer Depot at Brent [Socialist Press: a Transfer station is where refuse is transferred from domestic collections by rail or road to a central incineration point. There are two transfer terminals at Brent and a huge complex of private breakers' yards where "cowboy" contractors are dumping rubbish for other private contractors to transfer]. This depot is also one of the refuse yards for Barnet. We got a really good response from the Barnet dustmen who helped us picket over last weekend.

On Monday I was allowed to speak at a mass meeting in the depot and they finally took the decision to walk out … on indefinite strike with us.

Since last Monday we have been supporting the Barnet dustmen wheny they request it.

On Friday they mounted a mass picket on dustmen at the Barnet Mays Lane depot. This succeeded in pulling that depot out.

We'll end up with the same question as last week-what will you be fighting for in the next few days of the strike?

Well we have gone some way towards what we were aiming for last week. I will be fighting to extend those gains.

The first thing is to consolidate the Camden General Strike Committee on a more disciplined basis.

I shall fight tions sent to other NUPE branches in the borough, like health workers and ambulance men to organise a joint strike committee and discuss ways of developing all out strikes in these sections.

As you can see, we have already established good links with the Barnet dustmen.

Our Cressy Road strike committee has taken the initiative and called a meeting of all strike committees in the dust in London at Friends Meeting House, Euston, next Friday.

During the next week we will be building support for this meeting.

I think it's vital that these organisations are built if Fisher's betrayals are to be beaten.

In these joint. strike committees I will be fighting for WSL policy of spreading indefinite strike action, spreading the organisation of joint strike committees, organising workers' control of emergency cover and, fighting to set up councils of action to co-ordinate and defend the strikes.