Branches for Inquiry into 'impossible' Votes

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There is growing suspicion rong Oxford trade unionconcerning the recent ŁGWU ballot to elect deleles. to General Executive, ¡tomative National Comittee and Regional Comittee - positions far more portant than the Deputy invenors elections splashed lover the press.

ar, administers the day to day icy and administration of the 50,000 strong union and is a *sively more powerful position • plant convenor.

The results show a hefty vicly for two of the three-man te of extreme rght-wing canates put forward by the Oxid District Committee.

TOP Bill Roche, convenor of British rand's Body Plant at Cowley, ped the poll in the contest for peral Executive, 3,500 votes I of his nearest ríval, with iy 11,500 votes. back Adams, a completely unown right-winger with ony a adred members at MG Abing1, topped the poll for Regional immittee with well over 6,000 And Assembly Plant convenor, • Parsons, who only polled 280 Its in his own plant, came a se second to nationally known jamph convenor Eddy McGarry.

polling again over 6,000 What is unusual about these results is not so much the overall size of the votes, but the fact that in the local area, where the support tor these candidates should have been highest, there was an extremely low turn-out - much lower than in the last such elections two years ago.

REFUSAL

This, combined with the adamant refusal of the 5/60 T&GWU branch to declare the figures from the plant ballot even to branch members (in breach of T&GWU rules), has prompted the growing call for a union enquiry into the This call was taken up first in a resolution passed by the 1,500strong 5/55 branch at its meeting a week ago. The branch has demanded a complete breakdown of the votes cast for Parsons in the Branch Secretary Tony Bradley nas deschibed as "practically impossible".

Commenting on the 11,442 votes attributed to Bill Roche for National Executive, Bradley told the Oxford Journal:

"Harold Wilson wouldn't get that sort of vote. We want to know what branch returned these votes in favour of these people"

SUPPRESSED

But up to now, the branch resolution • and Bradley's statements have been heavily suppressed by the capitalist media, intent on witch-hunting Alan Thornett.

The demand for a full enquiry was backed yesterday by a unanimous vote of a well-attended meeting of the 5/293 branch, who also. voted to send the whole branch committee to Birmingham this week to lobby the Regional Committee in support of an enquiry.

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WSL EDUCATION CLASS LIVERPOOL Wednesday 21st January AUEW Hail 7.30 Mount Pleasant Trade union elections are not the

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ADMINISTRATION The General Executive, in part-