Unite T Break 10% Limit
Socialist Press1978 1978-02-01Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 1 →
Read from the scan by machine and not corrected: expect misread words, and now and then a caption or a line from a neighbouring story. For anything you quote, read the scan.
Scan page 1
the crisis of capitalism, whether such attempts take the form of calling for import controls-exporting unemployment-or involveine employer.
Redundancies must be combatted by occupation centred on the demand for the sharing of the work available among the whole work-! force in each trade-without loss of pay.
State-owned and national-l ised firms must be forced tol open their books to elected committees of trade unionists to expose their links with private industry and the banks, and to reveal the unused productive forces squandered by capitalism.
PHOTO: Chris Davies, Report Chalmers With this information workers can show the need and the basis for a planned programme of useful public works to utilise and expand the productive forces and create new jobs.
In order to carry through such a fight the whole trade union and labour movement must take up the fight to break the anti-socialist Lib-Lab coalition that is now the main vehicle for the employers' attacks, and remove its defenders from the Labour leadership.
Such a fight-whatever the difficulties-offers the only way forward for workers. threatened by these mass sackings.
2,000 tanker drivers employed by Shell are to impose an overtime ban as from Wednesday of this week.
This action, which will quickly hit petrol supplies to the private motorist, marks an important new development in the struggle of the working class against the wages policy of the coalition It comes at a time when claims on behalf of hundreds of thousands of workers are being submitted to the employers.
•Substantial claim On Tuesday the rail unions meet British Rail to submit a "substantial" claim and a meeting is due to take place with the Cas Board following the rejection of the bosses recent 8.9% offer by the 40,000 workers in the On Wednesday, leaders of the steel unions meet BSC following the rejection of the pathetic 6% rise which employers had. offered in return for 25,000 redundancies.
At the same time British Shipbuilders are to reply to a claim on behalf of 85,000 shipbuilding workers.
40% increase On Thursday EETPU officials meet the Electricity Board on behalf of electricity supply workers who are demanding a 40% increase.
'On Friday a further meeting takes place on the claim for a substanti increase in minimum rates f the three million workers the engineering industry employers have offered derisory 2½% increase!
A 10% offer to 30,0l water workers has also ber rejected by the unions co cerned.
Pressure
In each of these clair the leadership are determini to settle within the 10 pay limit.
But they are faced in mo cases with determini pressure from the rank ai file.
The tanker drive confront all the leadersh problems faced by sectors workers in struggle on wag over the past year.
Their 30% claim lacks tl necessary demand for cost-living clauses against infli ion, and their leaders ha restricted them to an ina equate form of action.
These same leaders w leave them isolated - ope ing up the danger of defea as happened with the firemi Break isolation After all, the tank drivers themselves were he back by union officials order to isolate the firemen.
The key issue in this stri Is again {o se chain, of Workers on oth own claims alongside ti tanker drivers in order break the isolation and wa a united fight to break ti 10% pay limit and destre the Lib-Lab coalition, t job of which is to enforce it
Scan page 2
the CP in a mid-January edition of his party magazine L'Unite, alleging that the CP had wanted to split the Union of the Left from as early as abrupt end years of parliamentary partnership between the Gaullists and kindred right wingers.
The dangers this involves candidates on the second round.
This seemingly strange decision by Chirac seems to have its roots in his fear that minority).
A poll by the bourgeois daily Le Figaro, last week showed a combined right wing vote of 44% and a
----- pull-quotes -----
ment in reactionary "worker pertisitinchemes, to