With 170,000 jobs in the services threatened by form of opposition to the cuts.
itself -merely allowed 'strike if they want to' accepted the social contract, upholding of the public GUTS. TUC. leaders of the public service unions are falling over each other to declare their support for the 17 November day of action. Even the most rightwing "professional' unions, like the Royal College of Nurses and the Association of University Teachers. have been forced to mouth some But the union leaders cannot be a vain hope indeed. relied upon to lead an ongoing fight after 17 November. This has already been shown by their refusal to call for national strike action on the day even NALGO, the local government officers' union, has not called for a national strike but its branches cuts last March, The reason is very simple. Having official leadership wish to avoid any real action against the cuts lest it bring them into a direct confrontation with the guardians of the social BULLY, bluster and bluff. Judging by the antics of Leyland car boss Derek Whittaker, these are the ingredients of successful management. Last week he tried out his formula on 18,000 at Leyland's Longbridge plant. He gave them just 24 hours to commit themselves to the new £120 million Mini pro For find themselves on the dole queue with anothe But the answer he got fell far short of the 'total commitment' he was seeking. Four thousand workers didn't even bother to vote, and of those who did nearly a quarter rejected Whittaker's This included outright rejection in some sections. Whittaker could lamely comment was that majority decisions contract - the Government and the Instead of strike action which could start a determined resistance to cuts, the leaders of the public service unions want to limit the action on 17 November to protests in the vain hope that the Government can be persuaded to lessetthe cuts. with the Government now going cap in hand to the IMF for a loan, that is Despite the faint-hearted attitude of these union leaders, the workers in the public services are beginning to fight back against the contract in a way which workers in other industries have yet to do. The Dundee general strike against the 1 STTKe. workers in the GLC Direct Works de-