Committee makes call for mass lobby of TUC

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We reprint letter to the 1 from the Card wick Strike Committee, with our reply.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, The Grunwick dispute, as we are all well aware, is in grave danger of being lost, thanks mainly to the refusal of APEX and the TUC to mobilise the whole labour movement to win the dispute.

We have all been relying on the Strike Committee to call for further action, but, if they do so, then APEX have said they will suspend all the strikers without strike pay.

The Strike Committee is therefore understandably disheartened.

It is clear a further initiative must be taken for the dispute to be won.

We are confident a mass lobby of the TUC will be supported by many thousands of trade unionists who are disgusted by the TUC's attitude to the strike.

Our Support Group (with delegates from the local Trades Council, Labour Party wards and union branches) have written to Brent Trades Council suggesting that they are the body that goes ahead and calls for the lobby-we suggest that your paper also urges them to do this.

If Brent Trades Council are unable to initiate this call, there is an alternative-the Strike Committee have indicated that, if alternative funds are available, then they themselves will call the mass lobby.

A joint appeal from the left press for substantial funds (approx £10,000) is therefore essential. We urge you to investigate such an appeal as soon as possible to take the pressure off the Strike Committee.

We cannot allow the Grunwick disupte to be lostthousands of non-organised, non-unionised workers throughout the country will suffer if it is.

The Strike have enormous Healey axe. below a eft press ff Gruntogether Committee faith in the show justifie We reply movement-we must them that this faith is Yours fraternally, Keith Morgan Secretary, Cardiff Grunwick ipport Committee Socialist Press welcomes this initiative from the Cardiff committee, which is in line with the policies we have been advocating since the strike committee's abortive hunger strike outside the TUC last year.

We have stated our view that the call for a full scale mobilisation of trade unionists to lobby the TUC must be based not on protest but on demanding the immediate implementation of blacking on all essential services to Grunwick as the only way the strike can be won.

Since any struggle that might expose the treachery of the TUC will almost certainly provoke the expulsion of the strikers from APEX it is certainly essential to make adequate financial provision for such a step.

Assistance

We offer our assistance to such a campaign and urge trade union bodies to declare their willingness to provide financial aid to strikers should they be expelled by the APEX bureaucrats. ped them paying up. PIne CAVENDISH