Ass Motions

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As part of the continuing fight of the WSL in the labour movement for the adoption of the programme which will provide the basis for the transition to socialism, WSL members have successfully fought in their branches for the following amended motions to be presented to the 1976 AUEW-TASS national Representative Council:

GENERAL MOTION NO 6 amended by Coventry NO 6 branch to read:

"This Representative Couci, recognising the difficulties that members now face at plant level in pursuit of wage increases, instructs the Executive Committee to pursue a national wage claim lor a substantial across-the-board LETTERS welcome readers' comments and criticisms on Socialist Press articles. Letters should be addressed to the Editorial Board, c/o 31. Dartmouth Park Hill, increase together with a sliding scale of wages which would automatically increase the basic wage of all members at weekly or monthly intervals to keep pace with inflation. The rate of inflation should be determined by elected committees of trade unionists and working wives in each division and the membership should be prepared for this campaign with propaganda and meetings of members at all levels. This campaign to be organised with the closest possible co-operation with the Engineering Section at all stages."

GENERAL MOTION NO 84, amended by Coventry No 6 branch:

«This Representative Council gives full support to the immediate implementation of industrial democracy, in both the public and private sectors of industry by the annual election by trade union membership within each company and industry of committees and production plans etc.) of the companes and industries in which the members work. Such information would allow the members to know the state of their company and industry, and should be used by the members to expose any plans by the management which would adversely affect the members' interests, and enable the members to prepare alternative alone whinh dofond their inhe them full protection from any further enquiry.

The maneouvre was simple. The Regional Committee after receiving the Branch complaints opened "preliminary, investigation". • This 'investigation' took the form of summoning the two scrutineers from the 5/60 Branch to Regional Office. None of those who had lodged complaints was interviewed or given any opportunity to present further evidence. As a result of their "investigation" the Regional Committee decided that a "minor technical infringement" had taken place, declared the results null and void, and called for a re-run of the entire election.

Having declared the results null and void they cleared the way to destroying any remaining evidence of the Body Plant voting figures!

What was the "minor technical infringement"? It was destruction of the evidence! It turned out that the ballot papers needed for the enquiry had been destroyed after one month instead of the three months asked for in the Regional Committee circular.

Yet even this "minor infringement" means it would appear that the ballot papers were destroyed after the first complaint and demand for an enquiry was lodged by the 5/55 Branch!

Along with the "technical infringement" story from Region 5 came the allegation that the votes in this election "did not seem unusually high" . Regional Secretary Brian Mathers made great play of the previous Regional Committee election in which Alan Thornett had won the position with over 7,000 votes, while Addams had won this time with "anlv" k 134 leadership refuse to declare the results.

For this reason the results from the re-run ballot in the Plant will carry little conviction. But the experience of fighting these issues means more and more militant workers are beginning to wonder what action they can take within the union to assert their democratic rights in elections.

Parsons - 5,000 in every way for the election of rank and file branch members as scrutineers, and for voting figures and procedures to be open for inspection at any time to members of the branch.

New rules providing for the automatic removal from all office of a scrutineer or branch officer who is party to a dishonest election must be brought forward along with demands that all full time officials of the union be subject to regular election and recall by the membership.

PRESS In fighting for such changes workers will confront. not simply the bureaucracy but the concerted action of the Tory press which, in defence of the bureaucracy, will continue to suppress the truth of this ballot and support the existing corrupt electoral system.

For this reason Socialist Press called on Friday February 6th a labour movement news conference, inviting participation of Workers Action, Red Weekly, Socialist Worker, Workers Press, Militant and the Morning Star as a start of launching a workers offensive on these questions. Despite the enthusiasm of Workers Press to attend recent news conferences given by anti-communist witch hunter Reg Parsons, they together with the Stalinists of the Morning Star, the fake lefts of Militant and the "rank and file" specialists of Socialist Worker failed to attend the news conference.

We challenge these groups to state where they stand on these questions, and demand that they take up with us these basic issues of workers democracy in the unions. Demand a full union enquiry into these elections; and

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