Stalinists take over witch-hunters role

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Demonstration during the low pay struggle "DEN NUPE DIVERSION The Langley, strike at Ford's • resolving them. where line workers walked out demanding remstatement of a sacked colleague, ended andad with return-to-work : on last Thursday's dayshift, one week after the dispute had begun.

The basis for a return to work was a guarantee by management that the Issue would be raised at a national ba tle resolving them.

The initial period of high morale among strikers and passive sapport from the convenors and officials, ended when management raised the stakes by manning the lines with non-unionised new-starters -which in cooperation with the scabs of the section, allowed some production to take place.

Strike breakers Militant stewards inside the plant, immediately pushed the The militanc The militancy of the mer scared both management the union bureaucracy.

The new starters were The new st the line within the hour, an‹ management-union 'parti tion' body-the JWCimmediately convened. At meeting management agree the national meeting and that basis alone, the J' without consulting the strik sent out unsigned teleg reading: 'Dispute ended-r to work' eting and : off d the cipa- was : the id to 1 on WCiers¡rams eturn NUPE says:

CAIN -insults NUPE theLow says:

NOW against low pay Paid John Power, ex-Trotskyist and for the past three years chief witch-hunter of the left in Oxford, last: Friday handed his position as president of the Oxford Trades Council over to the Stalinists of the Communist He announced his intention to withdraw from nomination only minutes before the vote was taken at the Trades Council AGM last Friday.

This left two contendersUPW delegate Gerry Casey and long-time Stalinist AUEW delegate Mick Soanes.

• The entire CP/right wing alliance which has existed on the Oxford Trades Council since it was reorganised by the TUC in 1976, then swung behind the ::220 Disputed This gave Soanes an identical vote to that of right wing secretary Pat Ward of NUPE-who was challenged by NUJ delegate Peter Mclntyre.

The vote however which was counted by the Stalinists and the right wing was hotly disputed.' It was first announced to be 51 to 52, then twice recounted and changed eventually to 52 to: 54.

Many delegates protested that 'the vote had been mis- . 41 counted, and others claimed that right wingers had been brought into the meeting at the last minute, and had never been elected as delegates by their branch.

Scab

After the vote for officers the Stalinists, supported a motion from the right wing that the doors of the Trades Council be opened to Peter Sturges, the scurrilous anti-union Industrial Reporter from the local Oxford Mail-a leading member of the scab Institute of Journalists.

Leading Stalinist Tony Gallagher, who had just been voted in as treasurer explained that this was necessary in order to "moderate" the left wing in future meetings of the Trades This move-vigorousiy opposed by NUJ delegates-was narrowly defeated.

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