THE WEEK which saw the Employment Secretary James Prior introduce his long-threatened antiunien legislation ended with promises of the type of action which can send the Prior Bill to a shredding machine.
*The steel uniors called an all-out. indefinite strike due to January. And requests are being made for help from dockers, miners and transport workers. One aim is: stop the import of any scab steel into ine coully *South Yorkshire Labour leaders and union delegates, week-end put out the call for a general strike in South Yorkshire against the for February resolution urged the national 24 hour strike.
Neither has Prior's Bill escaped attention. Even Len Murray, general secretary of the TUC has said: 'We shall do everything in our power to stop the legislation getting on the statute book and to obviate its effectrs if it does."
Background The background to the rising tide of anger against the Tory government and its class allies in understandable.
As far steel workers concerned not only are the planning to cut another 32,000 jobs, but the nationalised steel industry has offered their workers an astonishingly low two per cent pay increase. And this at a time when inflation is running at 20 per cent. Unice upon a time workers were told accept either wage cuts or job cuts. Now they are being told to accept both.
Just where those cuts could lead to was outlined meeting by John Methven, director Methven forecasting an unemployment total of tory start on'?
second TUC to call a mausery three and a half million. are It is SUMI Tories forced the Confederation into would be dramatic.
imports were stopped at the DIVOLC reported in for the last few years.
warnings that have right wing leadership of Iron and Steel Trade putting out strike call. The impact of such a strike If no steel was produced and if British industry topped grind to apart. While there is no denying the crisis which the steel industry throughout the world faces a successful strike in this country would immediately offer a way out of the defensive position steel workers have found themselves The prevention of scab imports would also be a direct challenge to the Government's proposals on 'secondary picketing. Pickets at the docks would be violation of Prior's union-curbing laws. But they would also show why those need to fought; a strike which permitted the import of steel into the country would be no more than a paper tiger. As far as the steel workers are concerned 'secondary picketing' is the only effective weapon they have.
So the message to take into the new year is one of worker fighting back - against Prior's laws, against wage-cuts and against the destruction of the welfare state.
LOCTOBER 1980 S M T W 12 13 26 27 28 29 30 Lamuelle. 01-359 8371.
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INTERNATONAL
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