Maxwell ca off talks

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Kobert Maxwell last week cancelled talks on the 16-week old strike at his Oxford-based publishing house Pergamon Press.

Fulminating against the supposed "irrespohsibility" and "political motivation" of the strikers for holding a mass demonstration on the gates of Pergamon Press the day before the talks, a management letter bleats that NUJ General Secretary Ken Ashton should have kept the meeting "confidential"

Ashton, of course, has no right to engage in "confidential" meetings without the strikers' involvement: and the mass demonstration successfully confirmed the solid trade union and Labour Party support for the struggle against this anti-union millionaire "socialist"

Maxwell in fact obviously never intended to conduct serious talks.

Print union leaders and local Labour Party representatives are now being called upon to resume their efforts to pressurise Maxwell into negotiations with strikers.

Labour movement support is still vital. Messages and donations should be forwarded to the Strike Committee, 5 Union Street, Oxiord. monde of the kor sections • the membership remams lugh. a lad horns out by carefully picking her moment to go for major punitive action, such as canthe Des Warren Shrewsbury building pickets trial since 1919) to attempt to convict within the labour movement and fight this blatant victimisation.

Staff at St Mary's hospital, Harrow Rd in London are now il the second week of occupation against an expected decision by Health Minister Vaughan to axe 120 beds.

The struggle, the first of its kind in a major acute and general hospital, is an important focus for the fight against