Drain on Social Services

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mass turn out of over JOU NALGO members attend• ed a rally of the Union's Save Our Services Campaign in Birmingham Town Hall last week.

They heard NALGO leader Geoffrey Drain and local 'left' MP Audrey Wise avoid even a hint of a fight to prevent the government cuts in jobs and services.

Wise told the meeting that (like any "liberal" employer), "I do not disagree with the government's White Paper on the cuts because of its practicality or its actual words, but because of its philosophy which would mean a less healthy workforce"

SILENT

The upshot of this line of argument was Wise stating that she disagreed with the White Paper, while remaining silent on what steps she would take to fight its implementation.

Thus despite demagogic "left" statements, Wise, like all the 37 abstainers who brought the initial defeat of the White Paper only to vote confidence in Wilson's economic policies the next day, winds up simply accepting the "right" of the government to carry through He about anywi who r words with action, what is must happen.

Drain's statement was an even more open betrayal carrying with it an attack not only on his own members in local government but also on private sector workers. He argued that if the Labour leaders were going to transfer spending from the public sector to private industry, they would have to snow these private projects to be economically "efficient" '. If the did so, presumably Drain would agree to the slashing of NALGO jobs.

This open call to implement work-study and speed-up in private industry as a prelude to an onslaught on jobs in the social services plays right into the hands of the employers. And Drain's strategy for a fight to "Save Our Services" is designed to exclude the membership from struggle and prevent a conflict at the point of redundancy.

He simply asked NALGO members to allow him to use his "influence" within the job-cutting TUC leadership and amongst wage-cutting Labour cabinet ministers!

PROSPECT was obliged to keep quiet the slim prospects of finding ere either a Labour minister rould support a call to save Drain Wise the only way NALGO members act to defend jobs and fora defence of the social service national strike action.

NALGO Branches must rer nise the road to ruin and redunc cy being followed by their lea ship.

They must begin local prej ations for action to defend all j against attack, along with calls the Executive for national st action, if possible coordinated y other public sector unions, to s the cuts, and to force home