could be excused any confusion on this point.
Callaghan government.
*Anti-Concordat Why did you think it important produce Anti-Concordat?
We were ( way the of. organisation nas . taken up in the last fe The in issu Concordat with the menl, BES turned Con policy on free collectivbargaining completely on its head.
This endorsement hysterical media Cal Dalk against the unions includes taking on boara some or tne most restrictive measures that were In force Relations They've endorsed the sort of TC aLIOls SLI dECEY which the Tories are proposing should they get elected.
In this situation the need to build some form of resistance is very great.
How do you explain that there was no opposition at all on the General Council Concordat?
Well, it fits in with the role of the General Council in recent years. The General Council has not reflected the drive and the general demands of the rank and file.
For instance, over the FBU strike, the General Council made it quite clear, when it came to the crunch, that they were in favour of the social contract rather than supporting the absolutely legitimate demands - which had a great measure of popular support — of the tiremen.
But there was a minority then...
There was a minority, that's right.
But there was no minority at all opposed to Was Concordat...
That's right. Which indicates that the General Council - all of them — are becoming more distant from the rank and file of the movement. Concordat aimed increasing their authority.
This question of authority ane COntO S Ver HOOI LanL LU them. The General Council are, I think, absolutely conscious that they have lacked control over the past few months.
Incy vo DCCI forced assume roles which they really don't like assuming.
Trade union leaders assumed a militant posture - - they had to because they knew couldn't get away anything else.
Socialist Challenge 15 March 1979 page 4 IT WASN'T exactly a St Valentine's Day massacre. But when the TUC General Council put its seal to the new 'concordat' on 14 February, trade union militants So-called "left' trade union leaders completely caved in and offered no resistance. They had no answer to the offensive launched by the infamous 'Gang of 12' trade union leaders for a new alliance with the It was this which prompted the production of the — a rank and file reply', written by was this further 100 trade unionists.
campaign around it. four trade unionists — Bryan Macey, Secretary of the POEU. North London Internal Branch; Des Bailey, Executive Council, Inland Revenue Staffs Federation; Ross Pritchard, NGA National Council; and Aidan White, NUJ National Executive.
The Anti-Concordat has since been produced as a Rank and File pamphlet with the sponsorship of a Jonathan Silberman talked to one of the authors, AIDAN WHITE, about the Anti-Concordat and the Aidan White, member of the National Union of Journalists National Executive and signatory of the Anti-Concordat.
that the party that is supposed to be representing the working class is really misrepresenting them in the most dramatic way.
That has to be the purpose of an attack on the Concordat attack on Callaghan's policies and so on.
plan How is the campaign around the Anti-Concordat going to be The first task in building HOYCHICHL LU the Concordat involves challenging it in whatever way you can at forthcoming union conA high priority is to challenge the specific clauses like secret ballots, picketing and the like We want to organise lobbies of the union conferences to back this up.
In addition, will obviously be calling a meeting of sponsors of the document to other parts -OT the campaign, in particular the organising of a rank and file conterence We will be calling on the LCDTU to back our campaign - we want it to be as broad as possible. This means we have to go all-out TEO geL sponsors, especially from leading rank and file trade unionists but also from Labour MPs and so on.