Sacked for 1-day Strike Teachers Backed

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munity Health Councils.

The name chosen was the EGA. But NUPE stewards at the EGA were informed by their Divisional Officer that they would not be welcome at the meeting.

This was hardly surprising since Alan Fisher, General Secretary of NUPE was to be the main speaker.

While giving verbal support to the fight against the cuts in general Fisher refused to give any meaningful support to specific cuts fights like the EGA occupation.

As soon as the platform including 'left' MP Jo Richardson was called on to threaten all-London stike action if any attempt was made to close the EGA, the chairman, herself a full-time official, Ithen promptly closed the meeting. Fisher and Richardson remained ment.

The meeting which was given a glorious report in the Moring Ster. could only be regarded as an #tempt to avoid the real issues facing health workers. Albion Bottle Co. in Warley have been sacked as a result of strike action on April 20.

On their return they were told that a furnace had to be repaired and work was only available for a few labourers.

The remainder would not be paid until the repairs were complete. This was in breach of agreed practice whereby all workers were paid during furnace repairs.

The workforce responded by refusing to carry out the repairs until all workers were recalled. The District Secretaty, Bert Benson, then met mangagement and recommended an agreement for a phased return.

But on investigation it became clear that the seventeen shop stewards were not included in these agreement was overwhelmingly rejected by the AUEW members.

A new deal suspending the stewards until an investigation was completed into the so-called "neglect of safety procedures" on April 20 was also overwhelmingly defeated and the strike continued.

The latest move of the rightwing bureaucrats has been to order the workers back and threaten the removal of the stewards credentials.

Benson claims that workers from Albion Bottle "assaulted" him, and blames this on the shop stewards rather than his own actions. Management have now sacked all 300 AUEW members.

A 24-hout picket has been mounted and this is respected by all trade unionists except the foremen (TASS members), who have sided with management.

The Executive of the National Union of Teachers has placed the full resources of the Union behind their members in Oxfordshire.

This means that they will pay full salaries from the strike funds if strikes are called against the Tory Council's plan to make over 500 teachers redundant at the end of this term.

Amid much demagogic speechifying from officials and Executive members, teachers are urged to vote in favour of the Executive's ballot on class size action, school dinner action and strike action.

This ballot is of course designed to hold off and severely limit the action which would surely have begun to break out in the schools in the next few weeks following the resolutions for strike action passed by local Associations before Easter.

The Executive has now taken the reins in the situation and so forestalled any activity until 13, leaving only five weeks until end of term while the ballot is carried out and negotiations take place behind the scenes.

Kumours already abound that the Tories have "miscalculated" and there is after all more money in the coffer.

Oxfordshire NUT teachers must be extremely vigilant that their "militant" Executive does not announce a "victory" over redundancies which turns out to have allowed reductions in jobs through non-replacement and non-renewal of contracts.

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RIAL NEWSL