Warwick Fight

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Tory dominated Warwickshire County Council has voted cuts of £3.7 million. The vast bulk of the cuts, £2.2 million's worth, are to fall on education and in practical terms it means the axe for 1,500 part-time and 250 fulltime posts and a lowering of standards all round. Most heavily hit will be the part-time school meals supervisors, over 1,000 of whom face the sack.

Attempts to implement the cuts will not go unchalienged. The meeting which voted the cuts was picketed by several hundred teachers, school meals staff, administrators and students.

But the most militant action had come the week before the meeting when hundreds of school children took to the streets in Nuneaton and Bedworth in spontaneous demonstrations against the education cuts.

Teenage pupils walked out of George Eliot School and marched over a mile to protest outside the council chambers.

At nearby. Bedworth, police were called to disperse hundreds of young demonstrators who were blocking the road demanding the retention of their dining room supervisors.

The local NUT leadership should take a lead from their militant pupils. NUT action has so far been limited to refusal to cover for absent colleagues and not supervising pupis at dinner time.

And the lobby of Warwickshire County Council was called on the ridiculous demand for an increase in the rates to prevent cuts!

Instead of pointing out that the council's cuts are the sign of things to come nationally, the NUT leadership prefers to attack the local authority for its "meanness"

Furthur more, the demand for a rise in rates does nothing to put local Labour councillors on the spot in the cuts fight, The Labour members on Warwickshire County Council voted against the cuts and argued for a rate increase.

A meeting of NALGO office representatives in Rugby has shown an alternative way forward by voting to set up a committee to investigate local authority finances.

This committee will be able to establish what profits are being made by the supply companies at a time when services are being slashed.

The NALGO representatives will arguing for other unions affected be involved in the committee.

Socialist Press believes that an investigation of local authority financies will show clearly the need for nationalisation of the supply companies as part of a trade union plan for the defence of public services.

In an attempt to split school meal supervisors and teachers the council has stated that if supervisors' sackings are successfully resisted more teachers will have to go.

In the G&MWU (the union representing most of the school meals supervisors) the local bureaucracy, in an attempt to head off calls for an all out strike by the full education section, put forward a call for a two day protest by supervisors.

A meeting of about 70 supervisors unanimously decided to continue the action for two weeks before meeting again to decide on escalating the action.

A G&MWU shop steward told Socialist Press.

"We're going to win this one in spite of the officials. We've been trying to contact our regional officer now for a fortnight but he appears to be unobtainable, while his members are threatened with sackings.

In my opinion we need all out strike action to stop the cuts."

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