[Soldiers scab on firemen's dispute as leaders leave…]
Socialist Press1977 1977-11-23Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 1 →
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Soldiers scab on firemen's dispute as leaders leave strike isolated. spoken in support of the firemen, his support has been "It's hard to see which way Parry and the FBU leadership will move to head off this strike" - Bucks Brigade FBU Chairman Mick Rowlinson told 'Socialist Press' this week.
"Right now EC members are visiting picket lines trying to find a pull back in support.
"But there's still no chink in the membership. And with Rees determined not to budge, there's no real room for Parry to manoeuvre."
Rowlinson warned of the restricted to a verbal gesture.
With the miners own 135% pay claim due for payment three weeks ago Scargill has made no move to press for strike action, As TUC leaders conspire to isolate the firemen, sheltering behind the reactionary 12-month rule or meaningless talks in order to stave off action alongside the FBU, firemen face an added danger from their own leadership.
General Secretary Terry Parry has done nothing but scuttle to and fro from Merlyn Rees, where he has been offered nothing now but a form of words on possible pay increases in a year's time.
Parry was opposed to the strike in the first place: now he is doing nothing to strengthen it, biding his time for a fresh sell-out attempt.
No answer The efforts of union leaders to mislead and confuse the working class on the firemen's strike were aided last week by 40 'left" Labour MPs, who demanded not an end to the 10% policy but for the firemen to be made a "special case"
Among those who latched on to this line were a few Tory MPs and Tony Benn, the Energy Secretary who worked so hard to smash the power workers' pay struggle.
To argue that the firemen are a "special case" does not answer the problem faced by every section of workers now pursuing wage claims-that the 10% limit must be broken if they are to regain and defend living standards slashed under wage controls.
The reason every union bureaucrat and "left' talker avoids this fight is because the 10% limit is crucial to the survival of the Lib-Lab coalition deal that keeps Callaghan in office.
Pact threatened
Liberal spokesman Emlyn Hooson stated in Parliament last week that the pact would be at an end if the firemen break through the 10%.
Rather than welcoming