Tories slam women's right

Scan page 10

SUBSCRIBE THE FIGHT BLINDFOLD!

to Socialist Press Pil struggre against wage control, cuts and redundancies This week has seen further signs of the Tory government's determination to cut back on workers' basic rights.

Employment Secretary James Prior has announced a package, to be legislated by the end of the year, designed to seriously undermine the Employment Protection Act.

The effects will be felt by workers in small firms which must, according to Mrs Thatcher, be given a chance to grow and thrive -at the expense, of course, of their employees.

Exempt

Firms employing less than 20 workers are to be exempted from unfair dismissal legislation, -effectively sanctioning summary UR trior win I sackings and victimisations-. maternity leave provisions and unionisation legislation.

These proposals will inevitably mean a further attack on women's rights to employment, decent wages and conditions, since it is very often women who work for such small firms.

Right

The right to maternity leave-albeit in many cases far too limited in time and often unpaid-is an important gain of the past decade and must be defended.

TUC chief Murray has correctly pointed out that the proposals are:

"A charter for backward employers, restoring to them the right to treat workers unfairly without infringing the law:"

But Murray forgets that this is the bosses' government that the TUC continues to discuss and collaborSEVe ¡ET SOCIALIST ory Lora nancenur nuusnum ate with and against which he and his fellow bureaucrats refuse to call any action.

Maternity rights

It is of course no accident that the Tories choose to attack maternity rights.

It is a direct result of their determination to insist that a woman's primary role is that of home-maker and child rearer, and the questions of jobs and other interests outside the home must be of only secondary interest to women.

The attacks on maternity rights link up completely with the Corrie anti-abortion Bill and the threatened closure of nursery facilities throughout the country.

In this aim the Tories are supported to the hilt by the Liberals who this week in their Party conference in Margate overwhelmingly passed a motion calling for that current social problems are caused by "the breakup of the family" and poor educational standards are fuelled by a "bad' home environment.

The conference called for greater financial inducements for one parent to stay at home, and rejected an alternative proposal for higher child benefits, index linked to protect against inflation.

Labour Party leaders, themselves committed to similar reactionary attempts to force women back into the isolation and dependence of the home will of course mount no challenge to this offensive.

In the fight to defend and extend women's rights a principled, socialist leadership must be built within the labour movement.

Murray RATI Trial sub (UK):

10 issues, only Six months One year Europe:

Six months Rest of the World:

Six months Please send me tria of Socialist Press. I Name..

Address Send to Socialist Press, Hill, London NW5 IHR.

----- pull-quotes -----

S CATAN For clear lead