What Next After Nov 17?

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An earlier one-off display by the bureaucracy: 4,000 joined a lobby and one-day strike against the cuts called by the NUT in Oxford.

No matter how many thousand workers turn out today on the demonstration and lobby of Parliament against the cuts in public spending (and it looks as if the demonstration will be by far the biggest since those against the Tory Industrial Relations Act) the question remains: how can the struggle be taken from this one-off show of strength into the fight to prevent the cuts themselves?

13 UNIONS Today's demonstration has been supported by thirteen major unions nearly all of which are in the public services - though the march has won the support of the NUM, ASTMS and AUEW (TASS), as well as London and Home Counties Region of the T&GWU.

Yet none of these unions have organised full scale stoppages, even for this one day. The CPSA leaders who originally called for a one-day strike backed away in horror Overwhelming support was won for a motion criticising the leadership of the National Union of Students for sabotaging the struggle of students against education cuts at a meeting of the Enfield branch of Middlesex Polytechnic last week.

The motion also called for a two-day occupation of the Polytechnic's administration centre to indicate the willingness of students to fight all cuts, and in particular the recent attacks on overseas students.

The government's plans are to make colleges police and spy on the 53,000 overseas students in Britain. This is simply a back door plan to introduce further immigration controls, as well as a part of a major attack on educational facilities for all students.

JOINT CIRCULAR

A joint circular issued by the Home Office and the Department of Education and Science spells out . the policy that overseas immigration officials are to be given sweeping powers to conduct academic "tests" of college applicants, and inquire into their personal, family and financial back• me from the prospect ot such widescale action against the cuts.

And in NUPE, where "left' talking General Secretary Alan Fisher has announced a national policy of 'guerilla strikes' against the cuts there has been a conscious refusal to call a stoppage today. ground.

Colleges in Britain would be asked to collaborate with this snooping by providing the Home Office with details of the students' attendance and informing on any students who overstay.

£20 MILLION Coupled with these moves is the warning that the DES must raise another £20 million from fees in 1978, and that overseas students" fees as a result could rise to over £1,000 per year.

Such policies obviously jeopardise students from poor families who are studying at Further Education Colleges because there is no adequate education in their own country.

It is against this background that the real treachery of the Broad Left NUS leadership can be seen. They have mounted no serious fight against these attacks.

As a spokesman for the overseas student group who initiated the occupation campaign told Socialist Press:

"General discussion doesn't resolve anything. We want some action. They all want to brush things under the carpet, hoping it will all be forgotten.

But we are not going to be brushed aside. In fact quite the Instead of action these = "leaders" seek to substitute printed placards, special trains and 'left' r] hetoric -Knowing this will not sto •p further cuts, but hoping against he ope it will at least let off steam am ong their membership and allow thi e officials a few more months pea iceful coexistence with the Tory P policies of opposite - the occupation shows that the students are going to fight independent of their leadership."

On the planned occupation he said:

"The struggle in defence of overseas students and against racism is part and parcel of the struggle against the cuts and anti-working class policies of the Labour government.

It is for this reason we have got enormous support from the British students in this occupation and delegations and telegrams of support from colleges all over Britain."

In the occupation meeting on this Labour government.

The huge response • to today's demonstration within the working class shows clearly that it is possible to mount an all-out fight against the cuts with the full support of the membership. The major block to this is the union officials, with their craven support for the 'social contract' which couples wage cuts with spending cuts and sackings.

Every blow against the socia contract is a blow against the cuts. Every struggle against the 42% pay deal, against sackings and speed-up, is part of the struggle against the cuts.

But the question within the public sector unions like other unions is the development of a new leadership prepared to fight the social contract, and prepared to mobilise the membership in strike action in defence of jobs and the social services.

ACTION

Trade unionists in every Local Education Authority, every Area Health Authority and every sector of the public services must therefore unite around a programme of action to force their national leaders either to fight the cuts or to stand aside for those who will.

This means wherever jobs, conditions or services are threatened - whether by 'natural wastage' or outright sackings - there must be indefinite strike action, with a call to the local labour movement for action in support.

The demand must be for the rejection of all cuts, the full restoration of the level of spending in every sector, together with a sliding scale of spending - rising to keep pace with inflation as assessed by. trade union committees.

NALGO Gen. Sec. Drain Such committees must be foug for through the unions in eve area. Their task is to vet the expe diture, the plans and the manni leveis within the public services ‹ a local level. To do this they mu fight for access to the concealed i to date accounts and future pla of local administrators.

PROFITS

This will reveal which suppli are profiting from the public secti and the need for them to nationalised, under the mana ment of elected workers comm tees, without compensation.

At the same time such inver gations will provide the basic kno ledge for drawing up of a worki plan for the expansion improvement of the public servil in line with the needs in each area Local strike action is vital the fore not only to challenge and b the cuts at local level, but to fo the national union officials and 1 Labour government™ to take these policies for the defence of 1 public services as a whole.

The task of public sector jo shop stewards committees, worki closely with trades councils and 1 major industrial unions in each al must therefore be to coordini and lead such actions.

CUTS COMMITTEES Those local Cuts . Committi and other rank and file bodies up around defence of the sor services must therefore be direcl towards this struggle.

Without strike action by workers directly involved in 1 public sector, the cuts will never halted, no matter how ma marches and protest meetings : staged.

NUPE Gen. Sec. Fiel

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