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Please send Socialist League. Name. -Address me more information about the W Motions calling for strike action if the Tory-led Oxfordshire Council refuses to renew 'temporary' contraets (covering some 200 teachers) have been passed by two of the five NUT Associations in the Oxfordshire Division.

Teachers in the Witney and Burford Association went further and laid down a Whitsun deadline by which the Council must renew the contracts or face strike action.

Support for this hard line has obviously come from the clear evidence of the toothlessness of the sanctions proposed by the NUT Executive, which have had virtually no effect after six weeks in operation.

The temporary contracts have been devised by the Council as a means of achieving their planned 10% reduction of teachers in July.

Among those affected are many long-serving part-time teachers who had their permanent contracts withdrawn two years ago and replaced with annual contracts-being told it was a 'formality' TEMPORARY The other group affected are new teachers taken on since last June-all of whom received only temporaty contracts.

Other moves against the cuts initiated in Witney have brought important clarification from the NUT's "Action Committee" on the use of the "refusal to cover for unfilled vacancies" sanctions.

Secondary school head teachers in the area are already drawing up statting igures and u1 members could see that the cuts were being hidden in larger sets, fewer options, a shorter working week and a welter of other confusion.

Dick Boland, secretary of the National Action Committee has now written to Oxfordshire teachers pledging union support to teachers refusing to accept any worsening of conditions, saying:

"Firstly, Headteachers may timetable for September to broadly retain the existing school structure range of subject options, etc., but make up the deficiency in staff by cutting down on the number of marking and preparation periods available to staff or the time allowed for pastoral or administrative responsibilities. In this event, we will fully support members in refusing to take on the extra teaching load which will thereby accrue.

Secondly, and as an alternative to the first point, Headteachers may broadly retain the teaching load in terms of class contact time but may cut out the number of sets or may, for example, seek to condense a 7 form entry into a 6 form entry. Clearly, the result here would be a marked increase in the size of classes taught. Again we would fully support our members in refusing to take on this extra burden arising directly from staffing cuts, although this may be more difficult to identify and monitor than would be the case with class contact time. In this respect the figure of 35 or any other standard figure is irrelevant in so far as an increase in class size arises directly from cuts in the "Strike action is needed. I'm an active trade unionist and I don't even know what the Ports Council is or who sits on it"

5% REJECTED The Preston issue is only one aspect of the militancy building up.

An all-London meeting has already voted to reject the 5% wage increase offered under Phase II of the Social Contract.

The demand of the National Ports Shop Stewards Committee (an unofficial body on which the Communist Party has a strong vote) for a 20% claim under Phase III has been upstaged by a resolution from the 1/37 TGWU branch.

This has been put forward as an alternative and calls for a £100 a week basic wage (an increase of nearly 50% for some dockers).

GROUNDSWELL

This demand, which has already received the support of Division 2 and now goes forward for all London approval, calls for a claim to be lodged the day Phase Il runs out, and to be settled by December 1, or a national docks strike called.

While not posing an immediate challenge to Phase Il this resolution nevertheless indicates the groundswell of feeling against the Social Contract.

A £100 basic rate is unthinkable under any incomes policy. The with a fight for support for all workers putting wages claims and the development of a leadership ready to lead a struggle against the Social Contract.

This involves, of course, a bitter fight against the coalition government and the union bureaucracy that is determined to enforce wage

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national demo NO VOTE ON call on hotels A new call for blacking of Trust House Forte Hotels has come from workers in The Talk of the Town, the London nightclub.

Workers there collected £60 for Cryer, crossed the picket line the Randolph Hotel to attend conference.

His excuse? He only knew about the dispute just before he left London!

Support for the disputes has ¡DUS RIAL NEWSI eading 'participation' advocate, C rember Derek Robinson.

The attempt by workers to have a say as to whether so-called "worker participation" in British Leyland continues for a further year has been scotched by the Trade Union officials.

At a meeting last week conveners from all the Leyland Page 7. plants voted to continue "participation, which had previo ly only been accepted on the ba of a one year trial.

The decision was no surpr since it is they who sit management on the joint com tees planning speed-up and reorg isation at the expense of the wo force.

It was also no surprise that tt refused to consult Leyland worke since "participation' would hi

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cainpaign for this claim would be strengthened if it goes hand in hand