Ust Black Hotel Chain

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The national executive of the Transport and General Workers Union is faced once Trust House Forte hotels and subsidiaries.

The union leaders who have stalled off action in support of hotel strikes in Sheffield and Oxford àre fast running out of places to hide after the breakdown of the latest talks with Trust House Forte.

UNREST

The decision will be taken against a background of growing unrest throughout Forte hotels and an extremely sharp call for action from Oxford where strikes at the Randolph Hotel and the privately owned Linton Lodge have lasted more than 13 weeks.

A strike has started in Birmingham at the Night Out night club - owned by THF - after the shop steward there was sacked. More than 40 workers are demanding that she be reinstated.

BOUGHT

In London the Strand Hotels have been bought by THF and workers belonging to the General and Municipal Workers Union have discovered that recognition' means little to their new bosses.

A worker there has been sacked; the management has refused to discuss the matter with the union and members are actively considering strike action.

Many THF workers are now contacting the strikers in Sheffield and Oxford to discuss moves for recognition.

Against this background the national executive has so far argued that national blacking would be "illegal" . This fatuous argument explains why blacking has been confined to certain regions.

The most notable effect is on the M6 motorway where one service station has run out of petrol and the AA are warning that motorway travel could become a chancy dash from one petrol oasis to another. The IGWU, of course, has the strength to bring lHr to a virtual standstill.

A 300-strong demonstration in Oxford in support of hotel workers showed the pressure that union officials are under.

CONDEMNATION

Speakers from the Linton Lodge, the Randolph and the Grosvenor House in Sheffield were unanimous in condemnation of the TGWU for inaction, particularly over the question of blacking.

Pat Lally, speaking on behalf of the Oxford Student Trade Union Liaison Committee, recalled the first demonstration called by the Oxford and District Trades Union Council in December.

"The issues now are the same as in December. We will not be content with another Trades Council demonstration on May Day"

Bro. Lally called on the full time District Official, Geoff Hulett to explain why national blacking had not been put into effect - a demand that received acclaim by the meeting.

Earlier the whole demonstration had taken up the slogan "national blacking now"

In his reply Bro. Hulett, visibly discomforted by the reception said union policy was not of his choosing.

"I don't necessarily support it but I have to back it. I am instructed by the National Executive that to institute a national blacking would result in the union being sued in the High Court for damages for breach of contract."

Hulett attacked national officers for inaction - sensing the mood of the meeting - and thereby diverting criticism away from his own role in the abandonment of the workers involved.

But his promise to discuss sympathy strike action with Gardner Merchant Canteen workers at BLMC Cowley was foiled by the Rev. Tony Williamson OBE, right wing chairman of the giant 5/60 TGWU Branch, who said that strike action was out of the question while talks were arranged.

Those talks, like the earlier ones, broke up with no progress.

The national executive meeting against the background of its "war" against the hotel industry must now give a lead The strikers and demonstrators clearly demand National Blacking Now.

WORNERS SOAR

The Oxford demonstration KERS

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again this week with a demand for national blacking of all

SOA BRANCH TONI EPS BANBUR