Jackson scorns UPW pay claim

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FIRST ANNUAI CONFERENCE The arrogance and contempt with which Tom Jaçkson treats his union membership were fully - displayed last week when he called together the UPW district organisers to feed them the official line on the Post Office wage offer.

Jackson, who negotiated an 8% deal in exchange for 'efficiency' clauses and the replacement of full time workers by part time, had thrown out of the window not only large parts of the UPW claim, but also conference policy decisions.

The meeting of district and assistant district organisers was called in a plush' Bournemouth hotel at a cost of £14,000.

Jackson, top of the bill for the stage managed meeting, said he was proud, pleased and delighted to have negotiated the deal and that it was as good as or better than any deal won by any other union this year apart from the waterworkers!

Lay members executive (who are elected) had voted 12-7 ag: inst the deal, but non elec ted full timers had swayed the outDartmouth Hill, London NW5 come by giving it the unanimous backing of their 12 votes.

Jackson made no apology for breaking conference policy on part time staff and works studies and said that as far as he was concerned that issue would be decided by the membership in the vote now taking place.

Large sections of postal workers have already shown their hostility to the sellout by staging unofficial action.

Opposition within the telecommunications sections of the union been much more muted.

Jackson said that 'if postal workers voted aga nst the deal they WC uld threaten the 'unity' of the union.

He was supported by Stalinist Maurice Styles, who was called on to answer criticisms on the proposed agreement on part time staff.

Styles said that no section should take action if part time staff were introduced by management against their will. Full time officials would sort out the Pret problem.

Jackson claimed that all the productivity promises were really, only a sham, to cover up increased paybut that he was prevented from saying so in public!

The vote is not a foregone conclusion. Despite the best efforts of the officials to sell it to their members, the East London district has already voted to reject it by more than 2,000 votes to five!

If the vote nationally does go in favour of the deal PHOTO: Chris Davies Report Jackson through acceptance by telecommunications sections, then postal workers must be prepared to take action against it, unofficial it necessary.

But all UPW members should recognise that the deal means declining living standards, fewer jobs and harsher working conditions. It should be rejected.

Strike action should be prepared and plans laid for the removal of Jackson's right wing leading clique of full timers and time servers. they should recognise that it is the inevitable consequence of Labour's policy in Ireland-which differs in no way from that of the Tories.

The Diplock Courts, the ending of political status for republican prisoners, -and the repression and torture practiced by the army and the RUG are all the inevitable consequences of British rule of the north of Ireland.

A SECOND civilian member of the RUC Police Authority has resigned, in protest at the refusal of Labour's Torturo Minister Roy Mason to take any action against the abuses revealed in the Bennett Report.

Announcing his resignation Belfast solicitor Donal Murphy revealed that Mason had cancelled a meeting with the Police Authority (the. complaints body for the RUC), saying that his successor as Secre. tary of State for Northern Ireland could look into the issue of systematic RUC torture of republican suspects.

• Murphy had represented the Law Society on the toothless "watchdog" body. Another member, Dungannon councillor Jack Hassard, also resigned recently in protest at the cover-up of RUC brutality.

But while these consciencestricken petty bourgeois make their gestures of protest, the root cause of the torture and violence-British imperialist oppression-can only be ended by mass mobilisation to force the troops out of Ireland.

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SOCIALIST PRESS, l'ednesday 18 Aprii, 1979 Mathers Wise PHOTO: Laurence Sparham. IFI. S4: :

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Whittington Rupert St.,

Youth Centre, London N19 19 2pm to 11

ew torture protest