[The scandalous last Friday by TUC leaders for…]

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The scandalous last Friday by TUC leaders for firemen to retun to work and accept the 10% pay limit is part of a major turning point in government and TUC policy on wages.

The decision makes it quite clear that no section workers will be supported fighting the pay limit.

Floating plans

Even while the FBU is locked in the fourth week of determined strike action for a 30% pay increase, union officials and government Ministers are floating plans for the next phase of wage control, when the 10% policy and the 12-month rule expires next July.

Last week brought a positive rush of speeches and statements along these lines. * Denis Healey, speaking last Wednesday to the Labour's Group, outlined proposan for a permanent Pay Board to monitor settlements, and a state mechanism to cope with "anomalies and differentials" There should not, he said, be any automatic return to free collective bargaining next year.

Healey followed this by the next day launching a series of talks with CBI and TUC leaders on a policy for Long-term pay controls, which he hopes to write into the next election manifesto.

According to the Financial Times CBI leaders left the talks "encouraged by the fact that Mr Healey has started to move down the same road" as adopted at the CBI conference. * That same day in Parliament Prime Minister Callaghan defended Healey's statements.

As for free collective bargaining, said Callaghan, ceased to worship that 10 years ago". DUE Inem бол annual pay bargaining and turn to US-style three-year contracts. Left talking Arthur Scargill again failed to fight for a strike ballot. * On Friday the TUC Finance and General Purposes Committee unanimously voted to call on the firemen to return to work, and decided that no support whatever would be given to the FBU-effectively backing the 10% limit. * Chairing the meeting, GMWU General Secretary Basnett had already completed a major article for the Sunday Times.

6 million workers This proposes the imposition of common review dates and a permanent review body to fix pay scales for 6 million public sector workers.

This move would create ideal conditions for the THESE ARE .. pantrals shet Boilermakers' leader John Lib-Lab Chalmers joined in with a ment. similar proposal to fix wages in British shipyards.

Determined The real meaning of the TUC decision was summed up by Len Murray:

*We cannot envisage action that could be taken which would deflect the government" he said.

If the government can't be "deflected" from its policy, then it must be defeated.

But since the TUC is determined to protect the governwell.

This latest turn of events is dramatic confirmation of the position argued by Socialist Press since the firemen's strike began.

We have stressed from

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ment, these leaders must end up accepting the 10% limit as