Next step: action

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Wing strict cash limits in the Health Service, and they are not particularly concerned who is affected by the cuts-the old, the very young. (they have already begun closing Paddington-Green Childrens Hospital) or even the dying.

A passage from the AHA financial bulletin shows what little concern there is for the sick and dying when balanced against the requirements of maintaining capitalism:

'St. Columba's hospital provides a service for the dying. Only 20% of the patients come from within Kensington and Westminster and Chelsea. It was considered, therefore, high on the list for temporary closure."

Workers at St. Columba's and in the local District JSSC must spread the fight to save this hospital and force the trade union bureaucracy to lead a national campaign against the vicious policies of the Callaghan PHOTO: Andrew Wiard, Report A North London ambulance driver talks to Can you describe the background to the one-day strike on 20 February?

The strike was originally planned from a national meeting of stewards in Birmingham, held at the beginning of February.

Following this, the NUPE full-timers and convenors did nothing to plan for the action, or even to inform the members of what was happening.

Following pressure from the press, a meeting of convenors in London voted against the action and the NUPE leaders said it would be unofficial.

Nevertheless, the individual stations voted against this recommendation and decided to come out.

We discovered by our own efforts that there was action in other areas, notably from the beginning of the week in Aberdeen as well as Manchester and Somerset.

What happened then on 20 February?

In London over 50 of the 72 stations voted to come out.

The numbers were built up Socialist Press by the press to excuse the use of troops, but the reason why not everybody came out was because ot the confusion sown by the convenors and NUPE full-timers.

In general, this strike was more militant than the 22 January Day of Action, because we knew we were against the officials and all the rumours of a settlement at 10%, as well as just as the claim itself.

What happened at your station?

Despite the views of our convenor, picketing started at midnight • and continued throughout most of the twenty four hours.

What do you think step?

Obviously it is necessary now to do everything to build up action for the claim and against the sell-out.

•It seems to me now that there must be mass meetings to organise this, even though the officials have been trying up to now to prevent them taking place.

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GEC R NE £30m Abadan: Bandar: AREA • Mashur: Mirjareh ARAE DAVYPOWER GAS Sin barrels day \ Bandar Abbas £17.5m IOP (BP led consortive 200 & NOC through MILES WKER SIDDE Diesel electricity generators for domestic & industrial use f21m + 15% interest in plant building generators to UK designs in Tabriz BRITISH RAIL Consultancy contract for electrification of Teheran-Tabriz section of railway £7m IRAQ Istahan Power station • Ahwaz Petroleum equipment Various UK suppliers £100m SAU nermally exported by Khare Island Scarcely an aspect of the economics and politics of the imperialist world has been untouched by the Iranian In the economic sphere its reverberations have already reached the international oil trade, the currency markets, the price of gold, some of the world's biggest banks and the arms The ultimate economic effects of Iran's revolution will be determined by the political outcome of today's revolutionary struggle.

Effects Some of the Serious effects of what has already occurred, however, will not be quickly reversed.

First and foremost, Iran's economic importance to imperialism has been as a supplier of oil, most of which was marketed internationally through a consortium of the American, 4 Tabriz Qazvin TEHERAN Qum - MAIN OILKerman d Shiraz Persian full information about oil, announced last week that in the last few weeks it had to pay 80% more than the official OPEC. price for 'spot' purchases of oil.

Some high-ranking officials of the Carter administration have been publicly stating that the new oil crisis is worse than the four-fold increase in prices which OPEC imposed in 1973/4.

Shortfall

Saudi Arabia, as well as some other gulf states have raised their output to compensate for some of the lost Iranian supplies.

But this still leaves a large shortfall-and most of the producers would rather keep an appreciating asset under the ground than swap it for a fistful of US dollars which look unlikely to do anything but fall.

The new tight supply situation means that the OPEC countries are beginning to see the opportunity CEMENTATION Two 30-sterey apartment blocks £16m Projected phase • includes 5 more Shur-Gaz Car assembly £100m annually BRITISH STEEL Meshed CORP Consultancy contract for steel complex at Isfahan £32.7m AFGMANSTAN . MARPLES RIDGEWAY New highway 310 km £125m Fertilizer complex That the government seems so far to have failed in this aim is shown by the fact that last week the oil workers refused to resume production until they were directly represented on the Revolutionary Council.

The Khomeini/Bazargan government's oil policies might be deduced from the statements of some prominent Khomeini followers.

They have said that the policy will be to stabilise production at about half the previous level (2.5 to 3 million barrels a day).

Cancellation

This, they say, is all that would be necessary to pay for imports after the cancellation of the expensive arms contracts.

Many of these were cancelled or put into abeyance by the Bakhtiar bonanza after the price in 1 Iran's revenue salesmen the imp Tehran bribes officials. regime. And it now seems impossible that they will be renewed.

The full value of these contracts-for Britain, the USA and West Germanyamounted to many billions of dollars.

The arms trade with Iran became billion-dollar business for imperialism in the 1960s when the Shah's regime was first built up as a military agent of imperialism in the Middle East. But the real arms didn't come until 1 su 24 J 44д increase in the oil 973. huge increase in enticed arms from all parts of erialist world to bearing immense for the Shah's yeen One of these has admittea takıng a oride oro million to "facilitate" deal with the Labour government for the purchase of Chieftain tanks. In fact British exports to Iran rose by 1,100% from 1970 to 1978 (see chart).

Tens of thousands of jobs in the • imperialist economies (perhaps as many as 80,000 in Britain alone) are the result of these arms deals.

Their end will precipitate major new struggles on jobs, especially in the government ordanance factories and various sections of the engineering and vehicles industries.

In Britain the firms and plants most affected will be unieftain tank courtesy o, the Royal Ordnance fac tory, Leeds (which produces Chieftain tanks and where most workers belong to the T&GWU), the Jarrow naval shipyards, British Aerospace ($ 800 million of anti air. craft missiles), SwanHunters and Vosper Thorneycroft (both building ships for the Shah).

The end of the arms deals will also imply e significant worsening of the balance of payments.

The cancellation 01 contracts for arms so fai amounts to so billion along with a further $4. billion of other goods.

Among these are Avenger kits sold by Chrysier for assembly in Iran. This deal was worth i$200 million to British Chrysler and was an essential part of its rescue