Blind alley protests

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Sham drink warehouse faced the sack this week after a month long strike in defence of two sacked workers.

They responded to the sacking threat by stringing up an effigy of the manager of the Castle Vale wine and spirits depot they have shut or the past five weeks.

One of the dismissed men- Keith Bradley-is the son of 'Fox and Goose' pub with no beer TGWU official Ken Bradley.

IGWU officials have cooperated in the dismissal of Keith Bradley and a second worker. 37 of their fellow workers have refused to accept this collaboration.

Nearly 150 people attended meeting last Thursday in Bethnal Green, East London, called on defence of the local hospital which faces closure.

Conspicuously abser from the speakers on the platform were any leaders of health service unions.

Alan Fisher, leader of NUPE, did not even bother to answer an invitation.

Unfortunately he would have had little to fear from the majority of contributions.

No mention Whilst decisions have been taken to campaign in the unions for a pledge of areawide strike action in the event of any attempt to close Bethnal Green, no mention of this was made.

Speaker after speaker turned the issue away from the fight to mobilise the working class in struggle through the unions, and replaced it with a festival of protest politics.

Dangerous Not a single new proposal for action was put forward that was in any way different from the petitions, protest lobbies and letter-writing mooted at the last (much larger) public meeting.

A representative from Hounslow Hospital described the vicious scab violence used by Area Health Authorities to destroy medical facilities.

But still there was talk of sufficient protest being able to 'embarrass' the AHA.

This dangerous illusion was strengthened by the presentation of the Elizabeth : 30,000 LABOUR BUREACRATS HAVE REI COMMUNIST PARTY'S "OPEN LETTER WHAT GOOD IS THAT TO ME?!

LETTER APPEAL COOPS... WHERE DID I PUT THAT OPEN LETTER? Garrett Anderson Hospital in In fact the EGA's fate is still in doubt-and if it is saved it could be at the expense of other cutbacks.

The struggle to defend the NHS as a whole requires socialist policies and the mobilisation of the labour movement behind them.

As a speaker from the Workers Socialist League pointed out this fight must begin with a battle against the present union leaders for occupations and strike action to defend hospitals, and impose a system of health service spending linked to inflation as assessed by trade union committees.

Conscious fight Th requires WHAT! MORE RUDDY PROBLEMS? LOOK, WHY DON'T YOU...

HELLO? IS THAT THE MORNING STALIN? I THOUGHT I'D WRITE A GUEST ARTICLE... "LEFT UNITY, THE ONLY WAY". conscious fight against the capitalist class and its Lib-Lab coalition government, not the sugary illusions of protest politics which lead so many hospital workers into a blind alley.

The meeting heard Mr Beasley, leader of the local Labour council announce that after months of silence his group had finally come out in favour of Bethnal Green hospital.

He hastened to point out, however, that in his esteemed opinion, the matter would be settled only by reasoned argument' with the authorities.

That the chairman-leading SWP member David Widgery-called this scandalous rubbish "an important step forward", puts in a nutshell the huge crisis of leadership that confronts health workers.

Oh! Ofishall... I've the Industrial Chair dinner hope you can coma....

Coy the way....

YES SIR THANK YoU VERY MUCH SIR! hour.

Despite panicked appeals from management for them to extend their deadline until the arrival of senior management, when no assurance had been received, the women walked out.

Once in dispute a second approach was made to the union office. Though they had been told earlier in the morning that everyone was "too busy" until the full-time official appeared within half an hour!

Faced with a solid and effective picket line and an increasingly determined membership, the USDAW bureaucrat's desire to add their scalps to his collection of sellout mementoes was considerably reduced and in subsequent negotiations the company agreed in full to the strikers' demands.

As in catering and elsewhere, the unionisation of shop workers brings into the organised ranks of the working class important new The immediate task they face is the struggle to challenge the arch-class collaborators in Lord Allen's super-bureaucratic fortress and begin the fight for revolutionary leadership in the shopworkers' union.

YES SIR... FOR THE L SAKE OF NATIONAL PROSPERITY! SO BROTHERS, IN NEGOTIATIONS I TOLD STRAIGHT NOT A MAN MORE MORAN на ж STALIN O'FISHALL MASS MEETING LEADS FIGHT

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SOCIALIST PRESS

----- pull-quotes -----

STRIKERS HANG' MANAGER Workers in a Birming-

§fishalls Diary YOUR MAN AT THE TOP'S IGHT TO STAY ON YOUR BACK

North London as having been "saved' by a dogged work-in and 'embarrassing' protest.

following week, this time, on hearing of the strike, the area

We're having to Seclare 2,000 redundancies rest week.