Kangaroo speaks out

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The Darlington picket line in the early days of the strike with the then General Secretary Provincial journalists have had the final insult of the government's pay limits shoved down their throats-a 10% offer has been withdrawn because it went 0.36% over the limit.

The NUJ had already voted by almost two to one to accept the offer when the employers-the Newspaper Society-whipped it away from under their noses.

Union negotiators went back to see the management on Monday (December 19) in one of the most humiliating positions a team of union negoțiators can have faced The Newspaper Society offered £7.35 for seniors with a scaled down offer for junior journalists.

This represented a 12% rise for many of the lower paid journalists, but was calculated as being 10% of the wage bill for the industry.

It was accepted by the journalists with less than demoralisation that set in during the negotiations.

The vote clearly reflected that the journalists-who had put in a claim for £23 a week -have been given no lead in how to win the claim.

Although the negotiators PHOTO: John Sturock, Report ten Morgan. recommended rejection, they offered no direction to the industrial action that had to follow.

Hopeless attempts to devise a way round the 10% were correctly rejected by the membership after the failure of Daily Mirror journalists to outtlank the government.

But the direction for action-taking up . fight inside the TUC, linking up with the firemen and other unions-was not even mentioned by the Provincial Journalists Industrial Council, which negotiated on their behalf.

Instead the prospect of an isolated action divorced from other sections of the working class was held up to the membership-who could clearly see that they were not negotiating in isolation.

The Newspaper Society otfer has not only stuck to the 10%, it has also refused to allow further claims to be made locally, and has thrown out all the fringe benefits claimed by the union.

The Darlington strike, which continues despite the relaunch of the North of England Newspapers, has lost momentum in the Christmas period but journalists from other papers in the Westminster Press group are to meet again on January 6 to discuss action in support.

THERE ARE SOME MALCONIENTS NotJ ATC ISd BUT THEN FIRMEST ACTION....

While the findings of the • special kangaroo court set up by the TGWU bureaucracy to witch-hunt militants at Cowley await the rubberstamp of Regional Committee approval, one Regional bureaucrat has already nailed his colours to the mast.

Jack Adams, "senior steward" of a tiny number of TGWU members at the MG Abingdon plant has gone into print with a ridiculous witch-hunting attack against two of those charged by the frame-up court, Bob Fryer and Alan Thornett.

Democratic Their offence according to Adams? They had the nerve to be elected to senior steward and deputy senior steward positions by a democratic ballot of members in the plant!

SCOTTISH workers need not fear. The US Government has no intention of bringing in a school of killer dolphins to protect the Holy Loch nuclear submarine base, according to Foreign Office Minister Frank Judd.

THEY CAST DOUBTS ON JUR ABILITY TO NEGOTIATE.

AKE THE TO DESTROY EXTREMIST WRECKERS AND SAVE DEMOCRACY And vicious right wing convenor Reg Parsons was ousted by a margin of votes.

«This is nothing short of criminal, and reflects very badly on those 2,000 plus TGWU members who did not vote despite the facilities provided , thundered Adams in a letter to the local Oxford Mail.

No right wing cries Adams was silent on the fact that Parsons was previously elected on similar turn-out. There • were no right wing cries of "apathy" then.

It is purely the fact that left wing candidates, who have fought the right wing's subservience to management, have been elected that brings Adams to brand the election as a "parody" , and the workforce as "damned thoughtless"

The response on the shop floor to Adams' tirade was a Bakery workers who voted overwhelmingly for a strike in support of their pay claim have been he hell is Adams! aside by officials. kangaroo court.

Outside of The outside by the mittee dear unanimous cry of 'Who Socialist Press readers had to remind workers that in two far more mysterious ballots a year ago the unknown Jack Adams was credited with thousands of votes from Cowley, and on this basis gained a seat on the TGWU Regional Committee.

Repeated requests at that time from two Cowley TGWU branches-representing 5,000 members-for an inquiry into the running of these ballots were brushed Now Adams, as a member of the Regional Committee, is to be one of the bureaucrats responsible for implementing the decisions of the real parody-the Cowley rule court itself was set up of any TGWU rules Oxford District Comin order to victimise ten leading left-wingers Cowley Assembly including Bob Fryer an‹ Thornett.

Its structure ensure: the same tight-knit clic right wing bureaucrats act as prosecution, juds jury-raising "charges" ducting "hearings" recommending sentenc the Regional Committer In charge of the affair were two magist District Secretary Buckle JP and Leyland Plant convenor, D Chairman Bill Roche JP Adams' outburst an whole sordid affair in not strength but desperate straits of a b cracy that is isolated popular support.

In the fight to d their elected represent and carry forward struggle against the emp Cowley workers have chance to deal a further at the kangaroo keepers.

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4,000 voting out of a total of 9,300-a sign of the

HOH THEN! YOU CHO cant VIN