Nursery Fight: the Way to Stop the Cuts

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Jack Stedman, famous for sabotaging last year's fight over teachers jobs, witch-hunted delegates who attempted to raise the occupation of South Oxford Nursery Class and to seek Apologising in the name of Oxford' Stedman called the occupation "this disgraceful invasion of Congress time"

"As one of those members who has been responsible over the years for building the Union's strength, I resent the action of a small minority of activists whose primary allegiance is to an external organisation"

Later on a Radio phone-in Stedman soft peddled claiming to be against the closure of the 30 places.

Stedman's treachery, in the haven of his Blackpool conference contrasts sharply with the response of local parents and trade unionists.

About 200 parents, teachers and children-many of them in carnival-style fancy dress-marched through Oxford on Saturday afternoon to demonstrate their support for the occupation.

That so many supporters turned out -especially on a rainy, Grand National afternoon-is an indication of the extent of local support that the occupation has gathered.

The speakers at the end of the march included the leaders of the occupation, and trade union and Labour Party representatives.

The President of the Oxfordshire Association of Trades Councils Ted Cooper, attacked the Tory Council's policies of cutting nursery and other educational services but did not mention that the Council is carrying out the policies of the Lib-Lab coalition government.

Political realities

Some of the speakers were more aware of the political realities of the situation and pointed out the way forward for the campaign.

Sue Lister, a health service worker and member of ASIMS, pointed out that this occupation has to be seen as the beginning of a fight against the cuts. The way parents and supporters fought back against the threatened closure, serves as an example of how the cuts can be challenged by the action of workers.

Ted Eames the press officer for the campaign, rejected suggestions made in the local press that the Council should allow the nursery to be reopened as a play-group, run on a voluntary basis.

Pressure

He stressed the importance of constantly pressurising the Council into re-opening the class as a nursery and restoring the jobs.

The local NUPE official, George Anderson, and the President of Oxford Trades Council, John Power, both pledged support for the occupation. But the pressure will be kept up within their unions and on the Trades Council by supporters of the nursery campaign so that they are forced to put their demagogic words into action.