Laurence Scott: make Scargill give support!

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Summer 19-26 Seven days of lectures and discussions on basic questions of Marxism and the fight to reconstruct the Trotskyist Please send me more details about the Workers Socialist League. Fourth International, ending with the Fusion Conference of A series of more basic lectures and discussions will be held There will also be films, fringe meetings on various topics, an Irish evening and other more informal activities as well as Send to: WSL. BM Box 5277, London WEIN 3XX £22 for the week. Further details can be obtained from the Socisist League, BM Box 5277, London WCTN The gulf between Arthur Scargill's left words and his willingness to deliver in practice is starkly illustrated by the struggle against redundancies at Laurence Scott Electronics in Manchester.

Workers there have been months in occupation against plans by the parent company -Mining Supplics to close the factory, with i loss of 650 jobs.

They have maintained a solid action with nearly the whole workforce actively involved in picket rotas.

Arthur Scargill spoke out strongly at the People's March rally calling for precisely such action to defend jobs.

Yet so far no action has been taken by Yorkshire NUM to implement blacking of Mining Supplies equipment. 60% of the firm's output is sold to the NCB!

SIX Al a meeting last week, Scargill and Yorkshire secretary Owen Briscoe eventually promised that they would black all new machines from Mining_Supplies-but only when all six factories in the group become involved in the dispute!

While workers at Laurence Scott plants in Norwich are already blacking work originally destined for the threatened Manchester plant, the workforce at Mining Supplies' three Doncaster plants have yet to be persuaded to lend any support to the jobs struggle.

The Yorkshire NUM stance would allow the reluctance of the Doncaster workforce-rather than the courageous struggle of the Manchester occupation-to set the pace of the action.

It must be challengedand Scargill forced to fight to put his militant words into practice.

Meanwhile the occupation was used last Friday by MP John Silkin to boost his credibility in the contest for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party.

He was shown round by Openshaw's MP, Charles Morris:

Deadline •Tony Benn has sent a message of support and promised to visit in September when he is fully recovered from his illness.

The dispute has sharpened this week as the July 10 deadline for closure approaches. Each worker has received notice and redundancy pay.

This in itself represents a certamn: climbdown by Arthur Snipe the owner of Mining Supplies, the parent 9w06-098 firm. from his position that by occupying the plant the. workers had forteited their right to redundancy pay.

Snipe is clearly getting worried by the determination of the 650 workers in Manchester.

He asked for a meeting with AUEW officials last week in Ayr (where the Confed was meeting). But the afficials were met not by Snipe, but a negotiating team who were under orders to concede no more than 10 jobs in Manchester-if the occupation was terminated immediately.

Needless to say this was rejected.

Stewards have recommended that no worker touches the redundancy money-since that would be tantamount to accepting Snipe's terms.

A mass meeting has accepted that recommendation and decided to step up the action.

Manchester City Council is supporting the dispute and Name Address Address Sturgill has instructed its committees to consider further action to save jobs at the lactory.

Charles Morris, the local MP. has promised to mitrate a debate in the House of Commons.

However last time he asked the question about the legality of Snipe's appropriation (or rather misappropriation) of government subsidies for a factory threatened with closure, he was told that it was legal but that from then on the law would changed to prevent further misuse of government money in that way!

This dispute is at a crucial stage in the fight for jobs. After July IN, snipe will step up his offensive; and the workers are preparing to meet him with all the strength they can muster.

Funds and messages of support should be sent to the JSSC, c/o George Fryer, 20 Round Crost, Komilly, Cheshire SK6 4LL.

Vote loser

Having repeatedly attacked those currently "squabbling" within the Labour Party, suggesting that they will be to blame if Labour loses the next election, Weighell himself is doing his best to encumber the Party with the very policies that lost it millions of working class votes and paved Thatcher's road to office.

He successfully steered through the 77-strong conference a resolution calling the British WSL and ICL.

simultaneously with the main lectures.

a crand social on Saturday evening.

Workers 3x* 4 tr JULY "The Crisis of Imperialism and Stalinism"

by Roy Stoves. Barry Turner Bradlord Labour Movement Campaign for Palestinian Solidar» Available from Bradford Labour Movement Campaign for Palestinian Solidarity. Flat 3, 40 St Paul's Road, Bradford, price 85p including postage.

rice 45p including postage from WSL, BM Box 5277, London WCIN 3XX

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vo lead from Civi Service union chiefs

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