Journalists vote for strike action

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Provincial journalists have opened another chapter in their impressive record of militant struggle over wages.

A mass mecting of members on London Provincial papers last week overturned the seeptics in their leadership by voting 160-98 for an all-out strike over London 'weighting' (extra cost of living payment):

The strike vote brought in quick succession a shitt from the NGA leadership towards limited support for London members already locked out, and an offer of new talks from the employers' body, the Newspaper Society.

The NUJ's emergency committee promptly delayed the strike for a weck but authorised it to go ahead from next Monday, September 15.

Meanwhile members continue a series of disruptive sanctions-including in some offices, refusing to work with dirty phones or imperfect typewriters (virtually all of them).

The Newspaper Society was under a commitment to review rates for a London allowance. But in response to the union's claim for £1000 for all provincial newspapers within 12 miles of Charing Cross, the employers offered only an extra f4 a week -f2 of which would be absorbed into wage packets already over the basic minimum.

Members set up an elected action committee which does not have control over the dispute but which has succeeded in blocking conciliatory moves in the union' s structure.

It did not however stop officials from the NUJ hatching up a disgusting scabs' charter with the NGA.

Circulars prepared by both unions told NGA members to cross picket lines and NU. members not to try to stop them!

In return, the NGA offered a complex and meaningless set of guidelines on blacking copy.

In most offices these meant nothing at all. At best the flow of copy was slowed.

When journalists at Croydon were locked out NGA members stayed in and NUJ members wcre told not to try to stop them!

The strike vote changed that.

To attempt to head off the drive towards a strike the NGA Trial sub (U Six issues.

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Address Send to: WSL, 6XX. leadership immediately instructed members at Croydon and at Walthamstow (where a lock-out also took place) to stop work on the publications.

The NGA's determination to control the tap flow of support is clear, from the fact that printers at the Kilburn Times (where a journalists' strike has been in progress for two weeks) are crossing a picket daily, and even drove the vans out through a large picket in the carly hours of Friday morning If the employers do not make a very substantial shift this week NUJ members must go into battle and tear up the scabs' charter, agreed by their Icaders. NGA members must refuse to break this strike.

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