Audrey Wise retreats again on firemen's pay fight

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Firemen and their supporters demonstrated in Coventry town centre on 6 January as part of their campaign for a 30% rise. Coventry Trades Council helped organise the march and there were banners trom Rolls Royce and the LPYS.

Though small-perhaps 100-150 attended-the demonstration reflected the determination of the fireme to continue their strike.

The interviewers, looking for cracks in the strike came away disappointed.

"Indefinitely"

To the blunt question 'How long can you stay out?" they received a blunt reply "Indefinitely"

But the problems of political perspective and the highlighted by a speech at the end of the march by 'left' MP Audrey Wise.

While she praised the organisation of the strike, Wise refused to take a position on whether the firemen should accept the government's offer (although she did ask firemen to "look with considerable skepticism on promises for the future" and "take note of the public support they had").

In place of her denunciation of wage controls and rejection of the line that firemen are a "special case" she merely threw in the remark that she doesn't view government pay policy "with any particular sympathy"

Pernicious

But Wise sidestepped all the main questions. The whole emphasis was on the fact that the claim was "just", the firemen were "skilled" and the even more pernicious idea that:

"There's no way the government can defeat the firemen, whatever form the struggle takes"

But Wise did call on the trade union movement to continue financial support and castigate the TUC General Council for not reflecting the views of the labour movement.

She finished her speech by calling on the firemen to "keep united, keep determined and keep on fighting for fair wages because your job is important to us"

Wise Her speech, for all it:

weaknesses, was well receiver by the firemen but thr dilemma they are in wa summed up afterwards wher one of them said to a TI interviewer:

"Our problem is we've no way of getting at Audrey Wise could hav begun to solve that dilemm with a strident call for indu trial action on wages alon| side the firemen and a cle:

statement of her intent t fight to break the Lib-La coalition, drive out the coali ionists and fight for a ne leadership in the Labor She was not able to mal such a call because she clearly not prepared to lead struggle with such revolutio ary implications.

Labour's national organis ion committee has ruled th the successful attempt to 1 move Maureen Colquhoun Labour candidate for Nori hampton North at the ne election was unconstitution The Labour leaderst have learned much from I Tory infiltrators at lesba in the way of tactics To have paid particular attenti to the kind of technizt used by McCormick and Le is in the courts.

Having lost Ihe fizai o i constituency. the party bi eaucrats hare ruled that t ward meeting abere ibe to process began had beeg al with insufficien: 30027 The commitit: I commending be: be fa executive upholi: Com bounsappal as Jean:

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inadequacy of the firemen's self-styled 'supporters' was