Miners Press Forward Pay Demand

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Talbot's UK chairman and managing into a similar campaignboth plants should take steps to seal the docks to all Talbot and Peugeot/ submitted substantial wage demands to the employers.

NUM leaders voted unanimously to put forward a claim for increases of up to 65%-including a minimum surface rate of £80 per week and a top coal face rate of £140.

Differentials Other demands include a widening of differentials, a protection of earnings arrangement for miners forced out of coal-face jobs by ill-health, and an examination of a four-day week.

Significantly, the executive also agreed to press for the settlement of the claim by Novemberwhich would restore the bargaining position of the union by creating the possibility of strike action hitting coal supplies in the vital winter period.

Right wing

Such a change will not take place without a fight against both the National Coal Board and the Tory government, which is no doubt uncomfortably aware of the ability of the NUM to force its demands through. No doubt both NCB and Tory leaders are relying heavily on the ability of the NUM's right wing once more to sabotage united action on wages and to force home a wretched compromise on basic pay rates.

Lobby But a powerful and militant lobby of the NUM executive meeting-sporting cartoon placards urging Daly and Gormley not to "rat" on the members this year-provided an indication that a sell-out now under £6.00 11.00 £6.50 £8.00 31, Dartmouth Park the Tories will not be as easy as the betrayal in March, when Gormley and co. forced through a 9% Meanwhile the National Union of Seamen, who also settled for a miserably inadequate increase on the last pay round, has submitted what the Financial Times describes as "an extremely large" pay claim for settlement by January With inflation now well over 15% and rising it is certain that pay demands less than this figure must bring a drop in the living standards of union members.

But since inflation continues out of the control of workers or of the capitalist class, it is essential that wages are protected against it.

This means fighting in every union for claims to include the demand for cost-of-living clauses, providing automatic increases to keep pace with inflation, as assessed by elected trade union prices committees.

The weakness of both the NUM and the NUS claims is that no such protection is included.