Tuct Must Act

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floor trade unionists. lapdogs.

In the wake of the TUC's 20-17 vote against the firemen's fight to break the 10% pay limit, the call must ring out loud and clear to the 17 General Council members who voted to support the FBU: Make your action match your words!

By publicly declaring that the firemen are right to fight the 10% rule they echo the overwhelming view of shop Huge response Were these union leaders to call on neur members to take action now alongside the firemen in pursuit of their own pay claims there would be a huge response. - But the TUC has set out to isolate the firemen. If their claim is to be won, then it is crucial the firemen themselves act now to break that isolation.

Firemen must drive home this point at every meeting they attend. Resolutions should be moved at brigade meetings, area and regional committees demanding that these 17 union leaders call action on wages. - The FBU leadership; which has consistently pulled back from exposing the role of the TUC leaders, must be forced to put demands on the 17 General Council members who claim to support them.

Frank Chapple, EETPU General Secretary, for example, is on the point of confrontation with the Electricity Council in pay negotiations for 100.000 power workers.

Their claim, like that the firemen, is for 30%.

"Bloody war"

A few months ago Chapple not conceded. Now he has to put up or shut up.

He knows there is no prospect of the employers agreeing to the 30% figure, but has made no preparation for action.

Power workers demand Chapple obtain an immediate reply from the employers on the claim, and call strike action alongside the firemen to win it in full.

Split three ways

Similar moves must be made by workers in ASTMS, TASS, SOGAT, CISA and ASLEF, whose General Secretaries voted to back the firemen's action against the 10% limit while doing nothing to regain or defend their own members' living standards.

The TGWU delegation was split three ways-with women's officer Marie Patterson defying conference policy to vote against the firemen, deputy general secretary Harry Urwin abstaining and Moss Evans and Harry Pem berton voting to back the firemen.

Stalling

Evans himself is currently stalling long-running pay negotiations involving thousands of oil and petrol tanker drivers, - who are demanding 30% rises.

ACAS is attempting to head off this claim until after the firemen's strike.

But the government means to hold the 10% against these Chapple Already they are preparing to build on the precedent set in the tiremen's strike by shipping | in thousands of troops from Germany to scab on the tanker drivers should they take strike action, TGWU branches and stewards' committees must demand Evans mobilises the enormous industrial power of this section of workers to win their claim and help the firemen destroy the 10% policy in the interests of all, And the whole trade union movement must be alerted to the dangers of the military strike breaking that has already prolonged the firemen's strike to 9 weeks duration, and which now clearly stands as a threat to all sections of workers.

Meanwhile the 17 bureaucrats who voted to back the firemen have no intention of translating their votes into action. Among the, for instance, was Joe Gormley, fresh from his ettorts to destroy the miners' pay claim, and Alan Fisher, who only a week before had sold out 1 million local authority workers by accepting a 10% pay offer, despite a clear mandate for rejection.

TE wage-cutting coalition.

Joint action

That pressure must be stepped up in every union. In this way wider layers of workers will come to see that joint action on their own claims alongside the firemen is the only way to break the 10%, and "left' talkers like TASS leader Ken Gill and ASLEF leader Ray Buckton can be put to the test by their membership, Those that opposed the firemen on the TUC must be challenged by their own members taking action on their pay claims.

We support the call of the FBU executive for a recall of the full Trade Union Congress to discuss the 10% policyBut this must not become a substitute for immediate calls for action.

The fight be must Throughout the New Year holiday the bell of permanent wage controls was rung loud and clear by Chancellor Healey and coalition Prime Minister callagnan.

Healey began this latest series of informal announcements and speculation last Thursday when, interviewed by the right wing Labourite magazine Socialist Commenthat, he blandly announced.

*More and more people are coming to realise that no Government can avoid having an incomes policy so far as its own employees are Firemen on the December 21 louby Fisher-sold out 1 million but voted for firemen cut fuel and other supplies to scab army firefighting depots. -In this crucial fight to break the 10% policy the wage-cutting Lib-Lab coalition can be broken and those who openly or tacitly defend' it can be driven from office. concerned".

In the name of "fairness" Healey said this would mean a pay policy for the private sector too.

By Sunday these comments had been amplified, and the Sunday Express revealed that top ministers are now intent upon restricting pay rises to 5% after the current 10% limit expires in August.

Fraudulent connection When questioned in a New Year's Day interview Callaghan confirmed that this is the figure the government has in mind, Drawing a completely fraudulent connection between wage settlements and inflation figures, he announced that the government were looking towards a 5% inflation rate in 1979which would, he said, mean only 5% pay increases.

The arrogance of Healey and Callaghan in brazenly floating proposals for permanent, rigid wage control at a time when millions of workers have yet to be forced to settle under the 10% policy may seem surprising. It is certainly an embarassment to their TUC But, as Socialist Press has consistently pointed out, only the breaking of wage umits by workers in struggle can prevent Healey's arbitrary Phase 3 from being extended into an even more vicious Phase 4, 5 and 6.

The TUC, who postured and manoeuvred to avoid a clash with the government over Phase 3 have now become the policemen enforcing the 10% limit.

Avoids fight

And already they.are beginning to line up for a repeat performance on Phase 4. Moss Evans, • TGWU General Secretary elect announced emptily:

*There is no question so: far as the TGWU is concerned of there being a Stage Four pay policy"

But such talk avoids a fight to break the 10% Phase 3 limit-and in doing so prepares the ground for the next round of attacks.

These long term moves against the unions must meet a united response. Workers in every muusuy must cougmse that until pay limits are broken free collective bargaining will remain a pipedream.

They must act now, submit catching up claims linked to cost of living clauses and take action alongside the firemen.

The wage-cutting Lib-Lab coalition must be brokenand the architects of wage control within the Labour leadership removed from office.

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was threatening "an awful bloody war" if the claim was

PHOTO: Andrew Wiard, Report 45-11