Officials hold back pay strikes

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roundly rejected any Phase 3 the sole remaining vestige was the TUC's stage-managed support for the 12-month rule.

Every union official now recognises that this rule is a key plank in supporting the Callaghan-Steel coalition, and is determined it should remain intact.

As a result they are now fighting might and main to prevent a unified movement of the working class.

Instead they are allowing isolated struggles to come under the hammer of government resistance one by one.

*Lift workers are on strike. But their EETPU leaders, (just as Socialist Press predicted last week) only made the dispute official in order to sabotage it.

Within days the claim had been reduced from 130% to 13%. The employers offer of 9 to 11 percent was suddenly within the officials' reach.

*Journalists on the Daily Mirror are fighting for a massive increase of £3,000 a year-but again refusing to confront the question of the *Raleigh workers in Nottingham are demanding £27. There are 5,000 workers on strike over the claim.

*Rolls Royce workers at Willesden have been on strike for eleven weeks over a 17% claim.

All these strikes are important. But vital groups of workers, in NUPE, the NUM and other public sectors are being held back by their officials.

But even after 17 out of the union's 18 regions have voted to reject a 10% pay offer to local authority workers, NUPE leaders have made no moves towards strike action on their 30% claim.

Instead they have donated €10,000 "conscience money' to the isolated firemen.

To build support and mobilise other sections on must call in each area STON councils of action, comprising local union branches, stewards committees, tenants associations and labour movement political organisations.

Moves towards such a council of action have already begun in Aylesbury where the Trades Council passed a motion from the local FBU calling for support.

Councils of action can both provide the practical support that is necessary and enable the political problems of the action to be fought out.

Cease talks

If firemen are to win their claim they must demand that Parry ceases any talks with the government until the full claim is met.

Hints are being dropped that the government may offer certain gimmicks to get around the embarassment of breaking the 10% limit.

Ideas include extras for travelling to work, payment for issuing certificates of inspection or even an immediate cut in the working week to 42 hours, with payment of 6 hours overtime.

All such phoney 'fringe" deals must be rejected.

Power workers who based their claims on such deals were manoeuvred into defeat.

The firemen's claim limited though it is by the lack of a cost of living clause -must be stuck to in full.