[The Governing Council of the print union, NATSOPA…]

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The Governing Council of the print union, NATSOPA, is taking legal advice on whether to sue the former General Secretary, Lord Briginshaw for the return of money owed to the union from property deals conducted while he was in office.

This step follows two investigations by auditors into the financial affairs of the union which show that property deals lost money for the union while making apparent handsome profits for former officers.

Other cash was placed in two Swiss bank accounts and the union also appears to have been dealing in platinum ingots, Krugerands and gold sovereigns.

Some of these deals were made without the knowledge of the executive Expensive wines Investigations by union members also showed ni on cash spent on foreign travel, expensive wines and dining out at the Savoy.

So far attempts to raise the matter openly in the union have been blocked by the present General Secretary Owen O 'Brien.

Last year O Brien labelled those who were demanding to know the truth about the financial state of the union as 'wreckers' whose objective was to destroy NATSOPA.

His attitude echoed that of Lord Briginshaw himself who, five years earlier, warded off inquiries by characterising them as «vindictive and anti-socialist attacks" launched by "Trotskyists"

Two articles have now appeared-one in the Observer, the other by Christopher Hird and Patrick Wintour in the New Statesman-based on one of the accountants' reports which has been circulated to the top echelons of the union.

Meanwhile NATSOPA chapel officers at the Observer, who successfully opened some of the union books to their scrutiny, have been barred from further investigations, threatened with disciplinary action by the union, and banned from talking to the press without executive authority.

O 'Brien walked out of a London machine branch meeting after it refused to accept his ruling that the matter could not be discussed.

According to the New Statesman and Observer the auditors' report from Baker Sutton includes the following deals.

Property In 1972 Brigi authorised to se union properties friars Road and Street.

During 1972 three properties to a Ms Christin Dawes for ishaw was I London in BlackMeymott and 1973 were sold e Dolores total of Tres Nows PUBLISH HUSSET C DAMNED!

PHOTO: Andrew Wiard. Report Wiard NOT A ANy NATSOPA Pension Fund.

In 1977 the Pension Fund showed a deficit of £781,000. One quarter of its assets were used to supply officials with cut-price mortgages.

It's speciality seemed to be lending • money to officials to buy houses which they then sold back to the pension fund.

On more than one Owen O 'Brien But the wrongness o that step should now be clear to them. In place of : broad campaign throughou the union to expose the corruption in NATSOPA there will be a court actior conducted by the unior leadership against individuals.

The independent mobilis ation of the membership i essential in this struggle tr clean up the unions and : turn to the courts is i breach of principle whick could have : disastrou results.

Corruption and class collaboration go hand in hand.

Collaborators accept the politics of the capitalist corrupt dealers accept their methods of making money A campaign is therefore urgent inside NATSOPA linking the financial wheel. ing and dealing to the sup pression of democracy ir the union and the policies of job cutting accepted by the leaders (not least at the Observer itself where one fifth of the members lost their jobs).

This broad political campaign to drive out. the leadership cannot allow any place for Tory. courts.

At present the press is relatively silent and witch-hunts have not begun (no doubt because the employers have always found Briginshaw and O 'Brien reasonable to deal with).

But that will change. At some point the press will