Ine biNEs are now being drawn inside the Amalgamated Union of Engineering workers tor a batte over the election of a new President es next year. Like the elections for and General Workers Union, these elections will focus on the fate of the The tone of the right-wing campaign was set by tneir national meet ine in Leeds two weeks ago. John rules to detend nis current position as General Secretary - leaving it open to the left and a Communist takeover"
Instead Terry Duffy, who last year defeated Bob Wright-in the Executive Committee elections, will be running for the right wing on a platform of supporting the Government's Tory policies and a good deal of red-baiting.
The campaien. which will with its past practice of dodging the central issue in the union - that of organising a fight-back against the In this respect the national Broad Left meeting held in Birmingham on 6 February was not a hopeful sign.
Around 300 people attended the conference, the first national conference of the Broad Left in several years. w nist the wole tone or the meeting opened by a speech from - was OIC 0103003tion to the Social Contract and a Tnire Drase or comes Doncy, Lu loudness of the attacks on the Social only matched contrac was silence on how to organise against it.
Some delegates tried to move a resolution from Birmingham Broad calling for a lobby of the forthcoming National Committee of the union in opposition to the Social Contract. The chairperson denied 'liberty' of putting resolutions on the grounds it would sow 'divisions'.
What these divisions were had been revealed more clearly by Hugh Scanlon's speech. HILCI fought might and main to force the Social Contract down his members' throats for two years, he was not surprisingly opposed to even a be lobby of the National Committee.