Organise the Unemployed

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The Workers Socialist League is a Trotskyist organisation fighting to construct a principled revolutionary leadership in the working class in Britain and internationally, and for the reconstruction of the Trotskyist Fourth International on the basis of the Transitional Programme.

The WSL fights at every step against the existing leaders of the trade unions and the Labour Party - now firmly harnessed to the bourgeois politicians of the Liberal Party in an Against their policies of class collaboration we put forward instead a programme which points to the independent class interests of the working class, its need to organise independently to overthrow capitalism, destroy its repressive state machinery and establish a Only in this way can workers resolve today's Students march through Birmingham last weekend to protest against the low level of grants which have been greatly problems of tumbling living standards, mass cút in real terms over recent years by massive inflation. A unemployment, slashed social services, racial, national demonstration on this issue, expected to attract over 10,000 students has had to be postponed because of the police ban on public demonstrations for two months. FURTHER EDUCATION WHY SHOULD WE CONTINUE TO BE THE SECOND CLASS CITIZENS Of THE EDUCATiONAL SYSTEMS Some 40 unemployed workers, trade union delegates and trade unionists in an individual capacity attended a conference in Coventry to discuss the setting-up of a "Trades Council Action Committee against Unemployment and Redundancy"

With unemployment in the city now above the nationa! average and the trend continuing upwards the initiative by the Trades Council is timely.

Investigation

The conference, which was chaired by Trades Council President Colin Lindsay, heard speeches from John Penington, who outlined the findings of a Coventry Workshop investigation into the unemployment in the area, NUPE full-time official Roger Poole and Lil Smith, TGWU Convenot at GEC's Stoke plant Coventry.

A Socialist Press supporter argued against those who wanted to separate out "political questions" from immediate issues, ana went on to outline briefly a programme to fight unemployment which included demands for work-sharing on full pay, the opening of the books of companies shedding labour, a system of public works and a campaign to break the Lib-Lab coalition, oust Callaghan and Hea ley and fight for a new leaders hip in the Labour Party.

The proposal from the Trades Council is that half of the places on this Action Committee should be for unemployed workers, and the other half for delegates from factory shop stewards committees and union branches.

3-point programme has been put forward for discussion.

1. To combat the isolation of unemployed workers, and to build their links with the organised trade union movement by calling for full union facilities to be made available at reduced rates, to unemployed members, and to organise union recruitment campaigns and legal and welfare rights advice at the labour exchanges.

2. To prevent the further loss of jobs in Coventry in both the private and public sector (eg. through opposition to redundancies and cuts in public expenditure; the banning of overtime; moves towards a 35-hour week with no loss of pay; the call for systematic re-training programmes).

3. To create permanent new jobs in Coventry (eg. through expansion of apprenticeships, training and further education schemes; the recruitment of unemployed youth; the restoration and expansion public jobs).

The call for the organisation of the unemployed is a very important one and must form a central part of the Action Committee's campaign.

Circulate Following the discussion the conference went on to agree that the Trades Council unspoken coalition arrangement.

socialist planned economy.

national and sexual oppression. would circulate the Coventry labour movement asking for affiliations from trade union branches, shop stewards committees, etc.

Socialist Press will continue to follow the progress of this important initiative which could help to start a real fight against unemployment in the Coventry area.