Sheffield Fight on Pay Rule
Socialist Press1977 1977-09-28Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 10 →
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Mounting anger against the AUEW leadership showed itself at the special shop stewards meeting last Monday recalled by the Sheffield District Committee to discuss the TUC report back.
Richard Caborn, a leading 'left' Labourite and member of the AUEW delegation at Congress vividly described Scanlon's blatant disregard for the union rulebook (which states that the AUEW delegation decides how to cast the union's block vote).
He was followed by his father, veteran Stalinist District Secretary George Caborn who put the position of the Sheffield District Committee.
Fearful of the pressure of the so? floor. Caborn pledged support for all local engineers with claims either over the 10% or against the 13 month rile.
In the discussion that followed most stewards showed that they understood clearly that this policy sculu bring them into sharp conflict with the union executivewho have already instructed all fulltime officials not even to apply for strike for those sections Passionate appeals were made for collections and levies throughout engineering locally for workers already in dispute.
These include 500 at River Don Stampings, locked out for working to rule over a bonus claim in breach of the 12 month rule, and another 600 likely to join them any day now at Ambrose Shardlows.
A resolution was carried overwhelmingly calling for AUE branches to fight for a recall national committee and for the District Committee to organise a lobby of it to reverse the union's position on the 12 month rule.
Also adopted was a call for branches to lodge complaints to the AEU final appeal court to overturn Scanlon's TUC vote.
A TASS shop steward and supporter of Socialist Press then spoke on&the need for an alternative policy to both the right wing and the Stalinist dominated He argued for big claims to regain and defend living standards coupled with a cost of living clause based on a union price index.
In making this point he went on to expose the Broad Left's scabbing in relation to the fight against Phase 3 and their talk of tailoring claims