? uts for The Some of the major planned redundancies announced within the last ten weeks are AREA Renfrew, Scotland; London Skelmersdale; Belfast; N. Wales; S. Wales; Derbyshire; Hertfordshire East Kilbride; North London Winsford, Cheshire Barrow-in-Furness Prestwick, Ayrshire Norwich Neath Aberdeen soutn vale!
West Wales Hayes, Middlesex forecasts last Saturday's 700-strong called by the Right to Work Campaign.
NUT; there were also 91 Services expects Committees represented.
resistance to Labour's Tory Last crisis' and to Labour's attacks?
Admirable
on Unemployment WOIK But admirable sentiments are enough.
NUMBER 26,000 4,350 1,000 1,400 3,000 2200 ornerwise sack.
38U just a further subsidy to the bosses. "A conference for action', "fighting militant policies, fight and fight in every way you can'. This was the message from conference The Conference organisers were wellpleased with the turn out: more than 300 trade union bodies sent over 600 delegates, including 42 shop stewards committees, 38 from the AUEW, 48 from the unemployed delegates from the 41 Right to Work Resistance The scene was set for a real debate on the tasks facing the Campaign. How could it contribute to the building of mass policies?
How could the Campaign build on the publicity won in the two Right to Work marches in order to reach out to wider forces? What sort of programme was necessary to map out what Ernie Roberts referred to as 'a workers' solution to the But here the Conference was sadly lacking. On the one hand many admirable resolution from the sentiments were expressed. John Deason, confirmed by Conference as Campaign Secretary, made an appeal for the maximum unity in action in the fight against and called on the organisers of the LCDTU and the Assembly to unite with Campaign in the fight for the right to not It is necessary to map out an orientation and programme which can give flesh and blood to an effective ongoing campaign. The declaration submitted to delegates in advance announced that local Right to Work Committees would be the centres for coordinating the fight-back. The call for unity addressed to the LCDTU and the Assembly was very much in the form of an ultimatum: unite with us or be damned!
The simple fact is that an effective fight-back can be organised only by action'. mobilising in action the mass of workers through their own organisations, especially the trade unions. The Right to Work Campaign can play a part in building such mass resistance by organising the minority of activists fighting the attacks of the Labour Government to campaign for socialist policies based on class struggle rather than the class collaboration of the Labour and trade union leaders. On such as basis a genuine attempt can be made to mobilise those workers who at present see no alternative to such collaboration.
This was the purpose of an unsuccessful Central Federation of Trades Councils, which, along with an amendment from the ACTS Branch 833, Oxford, talked of the need to open the books as a first step to paving the way for nationalisation without com pensation of all firms declaring redundancies, and a struggle against unemployment based on workers control such as work-sharing with no loss of pay.
But Willie Lee summed up the position of the platform when he opposed such policies: The argument is not about opening the books and a sliding scale of wages and hours. We've got to have answers. This means building a militant rank and file movement."
The Conference organisers did strengthen their declaration by incorporating an amendment from the AEU 185 branch, Sheffield. This called upon Right to Work Committees in every locality to fight for the leadership of the public sector unions to lead in initiating industrial action against the cuts and to form an alliance of public sector unions in order to most effectively organise such *The Right to Work went on: committees should unite with the broadest possible forces at every level of the labour movement to fight for such a policy. But although it was accepted, the fact that this amendment addressed itself to a very different perspective from the declaration itself meant that most speakers simply ignored its reference to the need to build a public sector alliance.