Bucks Firemen Censure Un on

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The settlement of the firemen's claim on August 13th was complete sell-out by the leadership of the union. The joint statement with the employers said:

'We will enter into agreement for a settlement payable in November 1975 within the maximum allowable in the terms of the Government's White Paper."

ENQUIRY ON CLAIM

This means that the Union's claim for £6 a week rise would be met but the claim for a forty hour week, which would have taken the settlement over the maximum allowable, is going to be the subject of a Government enquiry and the "retained firemen" syster is going to be discussed further.

The union leadership prepared the sell-out by first watering down the money claim and then expelling as an example to the others, the Strathclyde District Committee who were balloting their members about this.

The leaders then backed down Firemen's leaders leaving Glasgow police doing firemen's work and the threat of troops.

with the calling off of the work-to-rule it is clear that the employers will now try to press their advantage by attempting to introduce speed-up.

Firemen must oppose the settlement and demand the re instatement of the Strathclyde Committee as part of the struggle to build a new leadership in the F.B.U.

The Buckinghamshire Fire meeting August 13th:

The Brigade committee censures the Executive Council's action aimed at Strathclyde Union officials and demands the threat or act of withdrawing union members' credentials or membership shall not be used by the Executive Council against members exercising their functions. This Brigade Committee remind the Executive Council that it is not their job to police F.B.U.members 41 1Lthe economy without compensation under workers' control" and got the Plessey Interconnect workers precisely nowhere.

However, the expulsion of several Swindon WRP members at the end of 1974, began their fight (now as WSL members) for a correct programme of transitional demands.

The demands for a fight to open the books of firms pleading bankruptcy, to expose the real state of affairs; for work-sharing on full pay to defend jobs, and nationalisation with state contracts of threatened factories, were passed at a local branch which urged the AUEW district committee to accept them as the only programme for defending working conditions in the town. But although the policies were passed. the district committee would take no action.

As there were delegates at the town meeting who were WSL members, conditions at last seemed extremely favourable to change the position. When Confederation Secretary Danny Lee, told the long-awaited meeting that what Swindon needed to combat redundancies was "a programme to fight on."

However, conditions quickly changed when the platform refused to accept any resolution from the floor, yet did not offer a shred of programme itself. The chairman of meeting, Bert Harbour, considered it necessary to have "anather meetino where more

PROTECT JOBS

We maintain that the only way to fight unemployment is to protect jobs by dividing the work available amongst the whole work force without of course any loss of pay. To counter inflationary erosion of wages sliding scale clauses must be negotiated where regular adjustments can be made to wages automatically under the control of elected committees of trade unionists and workers' wives capable of assessing the real drop in value of wages.

Any employers who cannot guarantee decent working conditions and rates of pay but hide instead behind a blanket of figures must be forced to open the books to an elected committee of trade unionists whereupon the real position can be assessed If the firm is going broke then the case for nationalisation must be drawn up and fought for through factory occupation. Nationalisation of course, must be under the control of an elected workers' management with no compensation to the old owners.

The struggle must be centred around the demand for a programmer polio work genuine planned economy.

Central to the fight for this programme in Swindon is the ins istence that resolutions be accepted for a programme against unemployment these to be discussed fully hu the workers of Swindon at the

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labour force in Britain is now 160,000 and is to be reduced to 120,000 by this time next year. Another Commons committee -on expenditure - recently said that 'realistic' manning levels would require a labout force of 120,000.

Manning reductions of this scale Already irade union officials ar declaring their position by readil: agreeing to manning reductions and speed-up as soon as they become involved, quoting Ryder and arguing that the company must be made viable.

Whilst the trade union leaders SOCIALIS " PRESS, Wednesda • Augus