Broad Left challenge to Jackson's rule

Scan page 7

Thanks to Tom Jackson, the UCW Broad Left was given national publicity last week at its first major intervention in the annual conferencé of the Union of Communication Workers.

On the Friday before the conference the UCW Executive discussed the Broad Left for two hours before Jackson wrote to Michael Foot complaining of Tony Benn's intention to speak at the Broad Left rally on Sunday night.

The meeting itself was attended by over 400 delegates-far beyond the expectations of the Broad Left Steering Committee.

The meeting opened with an explanation of what the aims of the Broad Left were-to respond to the attacks on jobs, pay and conditions and the burning need to build a fighting democratic union to defend the interests of the members against these attacks.

Hotch-potch

However the following Monday evening on the news Jackson described those that attended the meeting as a rag bag hotch-potch of Trotskyists.

Some delegates were annoyed at this-while others were proud to be described as Trotskyists.

On Tuesday afternoon the deputy leadership issue was debated-the EC putting in a motion to support the election of Michael Foot and Dennis Healey.

An amendment had been tabled by the WDO Amalgamated branch-to delete Healey and insert Benn.

In moving the motion Alan Tuffin, Deputy General Secretary, stated that the EC was not in favour of change. He argued the need to win the next general election and to stop the personality wrangling.

Committed

We were beginning to see the consequences of this, he claimed. There would campaigning fringe meetings every year for the candidates.

Frank Osi moving Tutu, the amendment, insisted that elections are not fights amongst ourselves: if so, why does this union have elections? Benn was committed to the programme, while Healey was not right for the movement and did not reflect the voice of the grass roots-the elections for the Labour NEC bore this out.

Another amendment moved by NWDO branch called for the union not to support Healey but leave who they should support blank-hoping that another candidate would be nominated.

Gerry Casey, opposing the EC's motion and the Callaghan/Healey leadership that brought about the downfall of the last Labour government.

Tuffin had been offered a leaflet about Benn the other day and Casey heard him say "who is he?" Tuffin should have come to the Broad Left Tally and found out!

•One supporter of the EC motion was booed when he Jackson suggested that those leafleting outside the conference were being paid by some foreign power!

Tuffin, in summing up, said that the union didn't need fringe meetings to determine policy. Dennis had pleaded four times to the EC to be allowed to speak. The EC didn't want annual conference turned into fringe meetings "like the POEU and CPSA have to contend with"

The amendmen: .S were eventually defeated, and the motion to support was carried 3-1.

The voting on support for the decisions of the Special Labour Party Conference seemed closer and a card vote showed that 5,201 were in favour and 10,069 against with 4,731 abstentions.

Another highlight of conference was the debate on new technolory in the light of the report commissioned after the 1979 annual conference.

The EC disagreed with the report's estimate of 40,000 job losses, and branches received only one copy of the full report, while being given many copies of management's response to it and the union's response -in the same publication (spot the difference).

A composite amendment that instructed the EC to produce a special report on new technology to be discussed at a conference no later than May 1982 in order that a fully comprehensive new technology agreement can be adopted was carried overwhelmingly.

Supporters of the amendment said that we must learn the lessons of the past where new technology like micro-fiche had come in piecemeal, and agreements not in the interests of the membership had come in after.

At the sectional conferences there were other major defeats for the EC.

At the telephonists an emergency motion threw out the agreement signed before conference by the UCW on micro-fiche breaks.

In the postal officer conference a productivity deal was overwhelmingly rejected.

UCW Broad Left supporters led the fight for rejection at a special conference On "improved working methods" (sic) which is a "voluntary" local productivity deal for post workers.

Despite the fact that the IWM report itself was unanimously recommended for acceptance by every EC member, it was carried by a very slim majority.

A pamphlet written by members of the Liverpool Amalgamated UCW Branch and the Merseyside Socialist Research Group called "Selling. our Security: Productivity. Deals and the Post Office-the Lessons of Merseyside" states that in the London postal region two to three million 'manhours'-the equivalent of 1,200 jobs a year-have been lost under IM and the post office are demandine a further seven million hours reduction.

The Broad Left can take no credit for intervening in the election of the EC this year-Gerry Casey, a Broad Left supporter and longstanding militant was elected because over a period of time he has gained respect for his stand on many issues.

But when Gerry takes up his seat next year he may find himself isolated on the EC. The Broad Left will have much work to do in the following year to bring about a transformation in the leadership of the UCW.

Next year is also the tri-annual rules revision conference and much needs to be started on democratising the UCW, in particular demanding elections officers every five years.

No wonder Jackson and his cronies are frightened at what a Broad Left could do in the UCW.

Copies of the Journal Communique' are available from M. Wheeler, 9 Birkdale Road, Penketh, Warrington, Price 35p including postage. to preserve services, or imposing supplementary rate increases which in some cases will be as big as the rate bills already received for 1981-2.

London councils, which lost £400 million in the Tory revision of the rate support grant-which siphoned grants out of the cities and into the The cuts that are threatened are huge. So too are the possible rate increases. Labour councillors and union leaders must be forced to give a lead in preparing all-out industrial action in defence of services and living standards, and for the defeat of the Tory government.

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

supporting WDO's amend- ment, said it was the dictates