Builders in Job Fight

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AT BL BODY PLANT, COWLEY, OXFORD. shops in England which had in fact helped to ensure that Phase 3 came about.

"The reason we are still discussing it is because of those who said that the answer to the Social Contract could be left in the hands of union conferences.

CONTRIBUTION

Alan Thornett, chairman of the CDLM organising committee, reported on the two national conferences held in Birmingham. "I think the CDLM has made a qualitative contribution into the struggles of the working class."

Outlining the events leading up to final negotiations on Phase 3 he pointed to the Lib/Lab coalition as the end of any possibility of making demands on the Labour "The policy decisions of the Government are now placed in the hands, not of any section of the Victory came to Merseyside firemen after only two hours last Wednesday. The firemen came out in the morning in response to the start of sackings the previous day by senior fire officer Sidney Rankin.

The sackings, being carried out on a station-by-station basis, were the result of the senior officer's ultimatum to end the 10-week long work-to-rule or be sacked.

16 men were sacked on Tuesday but by Wednesday morning so many firemen were defying the Since the Tories won control of the District Council in Birmingham they have intimated that they intend to close down the Construction Department.

A few weeks ago the men were summoned to a meeting with the leader of the Council, and informed that the Department was to be disbanded and the men made redundant.

There had been no warning at all of this decision, and the unions concerned had not even been consulted. The immediate response from both manual and workers was overwhelming.

Days later at a Council meeting a mass demonstration of UCATT workers had to be forcibly evicted from the Council House.

A meeting was called by the UCATT stewards' action committee which was held on June 1 in Digbeth Hall, and attended by 100 stewards from local UCATT, NUPE and NALGO branches, with deputations from other branches involved in Direct Labour Departments nationally.

Full support was given action necessary to save the Department. A stress was put on no redundancies, and no redeployment.

Since then, however, at least one trade union official has been negotiating with management completely behind the backs of the membership, on a redeployment agreement.

The demands must be:

*No Redundancy; no redeployment!

*Open the Books of the Construction Department and Private Contractors!

*No cuts in public spending!

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'iremen Win