The Workers Socialist League

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The Workers Socialist League is a Trotskyist organisation wing Labour and trade union leaders and the Communist In the daily struggle to take the demands and principles of Trotsky's Transitional Programme into the trade unions, the WSL has been at the forefront of the fight for the sliding scaie of wages, and work sharing on full pay - demands which at the 1975 T&GWU Conference were the only alternative to Jones' £6 pay plan and the wholesale acceptance of redundancies by the bureaucracy. In today's fight against the TUC's 4%% pay cutting deal with Healey this demand for a sliding scale of wages (rising according to the rising cost of living as assessed by trade union committees) is the essential basis of consistent opposition.

In the Health Service WL comrades have led the struggle for a sliding scale of NHS spending, for the start of workers' control of the service (beginning with opening the books of the Health Authorities), along with the fight to end all private practice. Perhaps more important we have led the growing call for strike action to defend the NHS against the cuts and to implement these policies, fighting those like the ASTMS and NUPE leadership who substitute the words for the action.

In London this policy has already won a big response with the one-day action against the closure of the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital - when 2,000 hospital workers in the area struck and 400 marched to In local disputes also, WSL comrades have tested and developed the demands of the Transitional Programme, putting forward in every case the only real opposition to the Stalinists and the right-wing. Our struggle for the "open the books" demand in the motor industry and against all forms of "workers' participation" have won mass responses.

At the same time we have put forward a policy to fight unemployment, calling for unity of employed and unemployed throug The WSL is the only movement that fights consistently for transitional demands, going beyond mere trade union militancy to pose In doing this our comrades have been forced also to lead struggles for trade union democracy against the bureaucratic manipulation of the But our struggle for the continuity of the principles of Trotskyism is in no way a task confined to Britain. It requires an attention and involvement in the international struggles of the working class and moves to : So while many interventions in Britain have developed the League's grasp of Trotsky's Transitional Programme, there has been a consistent drive to deepen and enrich the movement's understanding of the history and the present crisis . of the Trotskyist Fourth International, as an essential part of any serious initiative towards its reconstruction.

We urge all readers who agree on the need for revolutionary leadership and the demands we put forward to find out more about the WL and lobby MPs against the cuts. the fight to mobilise the trade union movement.

the political issues to workers.

Stalinists and right-wing.

rebuild the Trotskyist Fourth International. join our fight in the labour movement.

NUT President Wiltshire rising - forcing the NALGO leadership to take the major step of recalling its June conference to a special December conference on the cuts, the NUT and NAS/UWT to implement sanctions against teacher unemployment, and the Civil Service union CPSA to call a one-day strike and lobby of Parliament on November 17th.

Since the Fire Brigades Union Annual Conference at Bridlington in May, an organisation known as the Federation of Firefighters has been advertising and canvassing members of FBU, through various firefighters publications, to join them as an "alternative" to the FBU.

The Federation, which has reared up a number of times over recent years, now comes forward suggesting that firemen can maintain living standards and increase their earnings by engaging scab forms of work which are being condemned by the FBU.

ARCHAIC

The Federation approves of the archaic Day Manning duty system under which men are provided with low rent accommodation adjacent to the fire station and provide round the clock cover for the fire authority.

The men work a normal five-day week on the fire station but can be called from their homes to But to achieve the maximum unity in action the central demands must be:

*Not one job lost, not one penny off the social services.

*Protect the social services from inflation through a sliding scale of spending linked to rising costs as assessed by trade union committees.

*To implement these demands, pen the books, plans, ana supliers lists of the local authorities and Area Health Authorities to trade union committees.

*Nationalise social service -đns pliers, private health facilities and education. system removed from the duty systems.

The Federation also approves of men providing retained cover, answering fire calls by pocket alerter, when they are oil duty trom their own fire station.

This form of duty system is enabling fire authorities to man fire stations with a minimum of manpowel.

DANGEROUS

In addition the Federation approves men in the Fire Service staying on a 48 hour week. By staying on a 48 hour week, the Federation suggests that the men can earn more by the emphasis of overtime being paid for the extra eight hours.

The FBU, however, are determined to press for an actual 40-hour week without loss of pay and the creation of extra jobs.

There is no doubt that the Federation is an extremely dangerous group which is cashing in on the frustrations of the country's firemen following the FBU Annual Conference decision to accept the TUC 42% pay guidelines and avoid man James, BR$ Cartransport and Distribution Deliveries.

Recently, however, this trend towards concentration has been reversed due to a growing practic by the big firms to hand out work to sub-contractors.

This is aimed at cutting over heads and obviously makes it mor difficult to defend the interests o the drivers.

A key demand therefore must br to ensure the companies involve do not deal with sub-contractors.

This must go alongside demand for work-sharing on full pay an the opening of the delivery firm' books to enable drivers' control o manning levels to be established.

FBU leader Pari caravan sites.

No doubt the Federation ha very different views on thes positions as will no doubt be show if they should begin to gain i numbers.

The position of the Federatio was made abundantly clear at meeting held at High Wycomb Fire Station, Buckinghamshire, a Saturday 25th September.

The Federation spokesman tol members that he approved cutbac in education and the consequer

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fighting to build a revolutionary leadership in the working class in opposition to the betrayals of both "left" and right

the cuts, NUPE to declare a (verbal) policy of 'guerilla strikes' against