Jobs Cel
Socialist Press1975 1975-10-01Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 8 →
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BENN, continued from page 1 Government's offensive against the working class is endorsed by the Labour Party Conference.
All this takes place without a word of protest from any of the lefts'. Along with the trade union leaders they have accepted rigid state control of wages and the creation of 1¼ million unemployed without a murmur.
It is therefore doubly clear that action must be taken in thi trade union movement and in the Labour Party to force these cringing 'lefts' to begin to act in the interests of the working class and for the removal of Wilson.
At the present time the working class face these frontal attacks leaderless. But the working class have not accepted the pay luws. or the unemployment. They are confused and held back by the treachery of their leaders.
The fight for a programme co meet the crisis is the preparation by the WSL for the struggles against the Labour government that must undoubtedly emerge.
The WSL is carrying a campaign nto the labour movement against e Ryder "participation" proposals. We will be holding public meetings a all the main areas containing 3LMC plants, and mass distributing our policy statement: "Leyland: Stewards movement thretened"
Two members of the T&GWU Executive Committee, Brian Nicholson and Bill Powell, have been reprimanded and censured by a union enquiry initiated by Jones following a five weeks strike in defence of jobs last February and March. They were accused of failing to carry out the instructions of the Executive Committee, which were to recommend a return to work.
During the strike the London dockers stood firm despite a treacherous instruction from Jones to return to work, given over the heads of their o wi. democratic decisions and strike leaders, under conditions in which the run dowi of dock labour and the very existence of the Dock Labour Scheme was threatened.
The dispute was a test case of the dockers ability to resist employers attempts to undermine the scheme - which forces employers to employ men made redundanı A consequence of the strength Terry Duffy, the extreme right-winger who is running in the election for the AUEW National Executive position in Division Four, has proved his credentials as a repres entative of the employers by taking the union to court.
In the High Court he was successful last week in obtaining an interim injunction preventing the union from postponing the election. For the right wing it is of course only natural that the capitalist state and not the labour movement should should have the final say in the running of the union.
But the weakness already shown by the AUEW left in allowing the courts to decide delegates to National Conference has encouraged creatures such as Duffy to go to law.
The ruling must be fought, and the independence of the unions defender SURED of this agreement was the continuo move by employers to areas outside the Dock Labour Scheme; to non-registered ports and inland container depots.
Previously dockers have fought this by picketing container depots and by strike action. As a result of the major struggles of 1972 the Jones/ Aldington proposals gained an extra 500 jobs for dockers. But this was uselesss as long as the employers were free to move geographically outside the Scheme.
The failure of the Jones/ Aldingtc scheme was the basis of the strike which from Jones' point of view had to be stamped out because his personal invovlement and reputation as one who can deliver the goods to the employer was at stake.
The strike was broken under direct pressure from Jones who made public statements instructin the men back to work and spoke of a "very bleak future indeed for the ports" if the strike cont inued. There was a close vote at a mass meeting as a result of this and Nicholson was witch hunted by the press for "manipulation"
The disciplinary measures now taken by the Executive are part of the crackdown throughout the T&GWU against any group of shop stewards who set out to fight agair the attacks of the employers.
Nicholson in the past has protect Jones and the strong resolution forwarded from the London docks branch to last July's Biennial Conference condemning Jones' role in the Jones/ Aldington enquiry and instructing him not to become involved in similar enquiries in the future was withdrawn.
Jones; however, was not impresse by these concessions and has forced through disciplinary measures which he knows will seriously damage Powell and Nicholson's chances of re-election to the Executive. Their only "crime" was to lead a completely principled strike in defence of one of the best agreements which has been achieved by the trade union movement.
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