COHSE conference: no call -Vospers to break from RCN College workers fight St Mary's gets

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únion's members Oxford's Pembroke College were organising strike action for improvements in pay and conditions.

And when, last Friday, the college authorities failed to respond to their ultimatum, all 47 NUPE staff walked out.

Since they joined the union at the end of last year, though some minor improvements were made, deplorably low wages and shocking working conditions havé remained unchanged.

Promises were made and broken and the workers' frustration increased.

Then last month contact was made with the local Student Trade Union Liaison Committee and the stewards and members decided to force the issue as repeated delays were causing demoralisation.

Six months of union subscriptions paid for nothing was not due to the college authorities alone, since responsibility for the union's affairs has rested throughout with full-time NUPE official Alf Collier, whose endless patience with the employers' delays and double dealing was clearly more to the liking of management than the union members.

The demand for recognition is now central to the workers' terms for a return to work, along with a minimum rate of union on and break the strike.

Behind their decision lies the cartel-like relationship between the dozens of different colleges which make up Oxford University's bastion of bourgeois learning.

An indication of the College's determination to fight came at Monday's abortive management-union negotiations where present at the meeting were Tepresentatives' of the non-union staff still working.

The fact that Collier allowed the meeting to proceed under those conditions and his withholding so far of official support, means that the necessary campaign into NUPE will need to tackle the únion leadership to prove successful.

Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster Area Health Authority continues to run into difficulties in its attempts to live within cash limits by cutting back the local health service.

Having modified their proposals and extended the time scale several times to defuse opposition to their plans, they have found that the opposition has grown.

At first they planned to close six wards and the casualty department at St. Mary's, Harrow Road, by April 1980.

Then they agreed to a consultative period with closure by October 1980.

Then they decided that the casualty department could be kept open five days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Their latest_scheme, only made public on June 18, would mean casualty staying open 24 hours every day, but for much of the time only "walking wounded"-not ambulance cases -would be accepted and arrangements would be made for ambulance cases to be diverted to another local hospital.

The cuts at St. Mary's outlined in the consultative document drew many dozens of letters of opposition from all parts of the community and hospital staff.

Two lobbies and pavement meetings were held on May 14 and June 18. Such was the opposition that at the AHA meeting on June 18 a motion to refer back the whole document to the officers was only narrowly defeated.

Instead the decision was to refer it to the CHC. It now seems likely that further lengthy delays will result.

Inside St Mary's on Friday June the stewards and hospital workers successfully prevented medical equipment being moved from St. Mary's in Harrow Road to the other St. Mary's in Praed Street. return to work but it was to be at Friday's máss meeting where the crucial decisions will be taken.

Meanwhile production of warships for NATO is virtually halted.

The dispute at Woolston, which erupted last week, reflects workers' deep hostility to the 1980 wage deal imposed throughout British Shipbuilders in collaboration with Confed. union officials.

Speed-up

As in other nationalised industries, the drive for speedup and productivity are the central features of this far-reaching sellout which leaves workers facing even greater attacks: on jobs (new technology), in job demarcation (flexibility of labour) and wage cuts (Confed's 13%).

In addition, by transferring twelve EETPU members from Vickers BS (Harrow) and paying them £10 over the local weekly rate the employer has sought to confront the workforce and ram through its rationalisation' programme.

Significant elements of this programme can be found in a document titled Vospers National Agreement' part C, clause 8.

Here we see that flexibility' is the order of the day:

*Steelworkers (ASB): Total interchange between all sections of ASB.

*Electricians (EETPU): Flexibility on installation work with ASB members.

*Engineering (AUEW): Flexibility in fitting work with EETPU and CSMWU members.

*General repair (TGWU): Flexibility in repair with ASB and CSMWU members.

Transfer of labour to be effected between any section of British Shipbuilders. Contracted labour to be brought in where and when necessary. Union officers to confine their activities to 'essential' tasks.

Stone age

As one picket quickly pointed out the 'essential' task of union bureaucrats " .... is to help the bosses reduce our living standards back to the stone age In voting with their feet, however, workers at Vospers have rejected the Confedinspired betrayal. Now they should seek to extend their unofficial strike into every section of British Shipbuilders.

*Reject the Confed National Agreement!

*For wage levels including automatic 'cost-of-living' index to be assessed by elected workers' committees!

*For work sharing throughout British Shipbuilders to defend all jobs without loss of pay!

*For an alternative to armaments production workers' control!