Fight Stepped up for Desoutter Blacking Oxford Auew Shows the Way

Scan page 11

strike for union recognition there is like driving a car uphill with the brakes on.

The car represented the 80 or so workers who have been living on a measly £9 a week strike pay for the past 17 weeks; the brakes are the London North District Committee of the AUEW who have hitherto done virtually nothing to win this strike.

But after a series of events last week the car is beginning to gather speed and the top of the hill is now in sight.

On Monday Sth, a delegation of workers lobbied AUEW delegates at the TUC demanding that they fight now within the AUEW for national blacking of Desoutter products.

BLACKING

The following Wednesday a 40strong delegation of strikers lobbied the Communist Party-dominated London North D.C. demanding all out blacking in North London and nationally, as well as the immediate raising of a district levy to offset financial hardship.

Over 8 weeks ago the D.C. said that a resolution on blacking had been sent to the AUEW's Executive Council. But clearly they never bothered to pursue this motion any further.

On the question of the district levy, Stalinist President George Anthony previously said that there would be no need for one as donations from other workers would flow in.

Firemen at four Merseyside, these Bank Hall, Crosby, Avenue, have pas calling for a £25 a a call for strike November 1st if achieved. fire stations in being Bootle, and Storington ied resolutions week rise, with action from this not And, he added, he wouldn't raise a levy anyway as this invariably resulted in some members "being in arrears".

At the start of the meeting there were no signs that attitudes would change.

Anthony arrogantly talked down to lobbying strikers-even saying at one point that if the strike were lost it would be the strikers' fault, not his.

In this respect he was only outdone by Broad Left District Secretary Vic Swift.

To a worker's question "How can I keep myself, my wife and family on £9sa week? Swift replied, work, you could always go back to work"

This from a man claiming to But despite this display of contempt for the Desoutter workers, it soon emerged that both Anthony and Swift-along with the other CP cronies on the D.C.-were quaking in their boots.

ED DOOR Fearful lest workers' anger spill over into the meeting itself, they locked the committee room door.

And when a delegation from the lobby was allowed in at the end of the meeting to address the committee, Anthony was very conciliatory and allowed the strike representatives to argue their case for a levy and blacking.

There and then the D.C. agreed to a mass picket on October 13th, At a quarterly op Stewards ursday night leaflet criticising withdrawn.

This leaflet-which mentions Anthony by name, but which is mild compared to • some of the things that could be said about the D.C.-is clearly seen as an embarassment at a time when Anthony is currently standing for office in the forthcoming AUEW elections.

But the Stalinists of the London North D.C. are not alone in wishing to forget about Desoutters.

NO MENTION meeting of AUEW Shop in Southall on the Broad Left candidate for the Presidency of the union-Bob Wright-spoke for almost an hour without once mentioning Desoutters.

This was despite the fact that strike leader Jim Black was sitting a few feet away on the platform, and despite the fact that Jim had fifteen minutes previously made a speech calling on the Executive Council to adopt a policy of national blacking.

When asked by a steward from the floor what his position on blacking was, wright droned on about how the right wing in the E.C. had blocked it because of their fear of lawsuits.

Wright claimed that he thought Also attending the Southall Shop Stewards Meeting was lan Morris, SWP candidate in the AUEW presidential elections.

Morris spoke only once during the course of the meeting-to propose that a collection be taken up for the Desoutter workers.

But he failed to make any intervention against Bob Wright-who is, alter all, one of his rivals in the elections for president.

Why did Morris make no intervention on the question of national blacking of Desoutters?

This abject failure is all the more astonishing as Morris's candidature has actually been endorsed by some of the Desoutter workers!

Every Desoutter striker has the right to know why Morris failed to fight Bob Wright on this vital this position was wrong but gave no indication of what he was gours to do to fight it.

We say to Wright and his CP backers-if you are for blacking as you suggest, why have you done nothing about it?

The events of the past week show that only a shatp orientation against the bureaucracy can win this strike.

Anthony, Swift and co. are veterans in the art of selling ou: struggles, and can only be beaten down if their every move is systematically followed and brought to the attention of the workers throughout North London.

Money alone will not win this strike. It is of course absolutely essential in order to keep the workers out on strike, but it is inadequate to win all the demands.

National blacking is the key to victory. Last week the Oxford AUEW District Committee were pushed into blacking in their area which has already led to refusal by toolroom stewards in British Leyland Body Plant at Cowley to repair Desoutter tools.

Pressure must now be kept up on the London North and Southall districts to ensure they area-wide blacking.

And using these areas as levers. the strikers must organise lobbies to force the E.C. to adopt national blacking.

Donations to the Strike Fund to: Jim Black, 27 Springfield Mount. Colindale N.W.9.

STILL AVAILABLE

THE TOOLROOM STRIKE AND THE FIGHT TO END WAGE CONTROL Articles reprinted from the Special Edition of Socialist Press analysing the political onsequences of the toolmake strike and the Lib-Lab pact.

Price 25p plus 10p p&p from WSL, 31, Dartmouth Park Hil London NW5 1HR

----- pull-quotes -----

firemen's Clai