radical america - vol 8 no 5 - 1973 - september october

8/8/2019 Radical America - Vol 8 No 5 - 1973 - September October

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RDICAL

AMECvol. 8, no. 5 $125-50 p

Class Strugge in Britin


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RDICALAMECSeptember-October 1974 Voume 8, Number 5

EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION 1

CLASS STRUGGLE IN BRITAIN:Workers Against the Tory Government 1970-1974Ian Bchall 9

WOMEN WORKERS AND THE CLASS STRUGGLEBeatrix Campbel and Sheila Rowbotham 55

IMMIGRANT WORKERS ON STRIKEMala Dhondy 77

THE MINERS ON STRIKEDavid Doulass 97

SHOP STEWRDS AT FORDBig Flame 119

Cover: Miners obbying the Executive etingat the National Union o iners HeadquartersJanuary 24, 1974. Photo by Peter Harrap (Report)

Editors Fran Brodhead rr Davies Linda Gordon imGreen icha Hirsch An ntr Jim Kapan DonnaKl Jim O'Brin sy roft Paddy Quick BckyTippens

Associate Editors Pa Bhe n DuBois Mtin Glaberman ark Lvitan ro ontano ark Nason BrianPeNsn, Sheila Rowboham St Wr

RADICAL AMERICA Pubishd bi-monthy at P. O. Bo 82Cambridge Massachustts 02140 Subscription rates $5 peryear $9 or two yars $12 or thee yers; with pamphets$10 pr year Doube rats or institutions Fre t prisoners Bk rates 40% rduction rom cover price or ive ormore copies Bookstores may order on a consinment basis

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ofces.


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Itroductio

Ths su of RADICAL AMERICA s concrnd wth th

crss of ctlst soct n Brtn. Ths crss s nrltotl rdng lmost ll rs of socl l Th rootsof ths crss r ound n th wrckg of Brtns con-om Or th lst dcd no gornmnt thr Lbour orConsrt hs bn bl to solt Brtn from thgrowng crss of world ctlsm Nthr sttrgu-ltd ncoms olc nor currnc dluton xortbooms mort surchrgs ntr nto th Common Mrkt

or sg ttck on trd unons hs bn bl to hlt thsld o Brtsh ctl An ndx o th loss of ctlstslfcondnc s found n th colls o Brtsh stockrcs whr lus h flln mor thn 50% n th lstr Most obsrrs moror, s no nd to ths colls nflton s xctd to ss 20% n th comng r,nd doublng of unmlomnt sms lkl


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The earollapse of Brtas eoomy s at the heartof a muh broader rss Brta Captal ee whe as-ssted by the trade uo bureauray ad the state, hasbee uable to preet the effets of the eoom ollapsefrom spreadg far beyod the shop floor ad perod o-trat egotatos Oer the last deade a powerful rak-adfle moemet has grow up wth the trade uosad the "Left (e the C P has aptured the leadershp ofa umber of mportat dustral uos Ths rakadfle moemet has bee the motor fore behd the most

tese strke wae se World War II breakg out of thetatal ofes of tradtoal trade uo bargag adesperate attempt to hae wages keep pae wth flatoThe rss of Brtsh aptalsm has also meat a sharpdele the leel ad qualty of statesupported soalseres suh as health are housg welfare ad eduato The ear ollapse of may soal seres has meata sharp dele the stadard of lg of Brta s work-

g lass ad mltat moemets hae emerged amogboth workglass osumers of soal seres ad se-tos of goermet workers as a result The housgshortage for eample has led to a broad struggle aroudrets espeally publ housg ad has see the emer-gee of a mltat teat moemet ad wdespread llegaloupatos of publ housg (squattg

Brta s also faed wth a seemgly edless l war Norther Irelad ad a rapdly growg raal ofltbetwee whte ad owhte mmgrat workers. Both oflts are amog the remats of Brtsh mperalsmbrgg home to Brta the hausm ad raal oleewhh was formerly ofed to more dstat reahes of theEmpre The rapd polarato f Brtsh soety fallyhas bee aompaed by the emergee of o Parlame

tary moemets o the Left ad Rght. Se the late 1 960 sthe beggs of a revolutoary Left most mortatlythe Iteratoal Soalsts has gaed a foothold Brtshdustry ad depedet ommuty orgaatos Othe other had a threateg ultraRght has grow up resse to both the upsurge of workglass mltayad the growth of the umber of owhte mmgrat work-ers As Brtas eoom rss otues both Left ad


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Tores hated dustral Relatos t ad statutory omes poly spte of the trade uo leadershps ol

laborato wth the Labour Goermet howeer rakadfle pressure has otued to grow ad the uoleadershp has bee oly partally suessful haelglass struggle wth the boudares of Labour's pla foreoom stablato Brtas eoom stuato moreoer has otued to deterorate ealy depedet omported ol food ad dustral raw materals Brtasost of lg shows o sgs of stoppg ts lmb O the

other had frghteed by Labours promses to the tradeuos, espeally oerg atoalato of dustryaptal flees the outry or goes o strke refusg tomake ew estmets as log as Labour s offe

The rss of Brtsh aptalsm domates the eletostrategy of the major partes ah party has ampagedo ts pla for eoom stablato attemptg to presettself as a party of the atoal terest Labour oly hasto remd the trade uos of the hardshps of Tory rule toseure the otes of the dustral workg lass ad mportat parts of the reolutoary Left are urgg supportfor Labour the eletos The Labour Party s also tryg to ga support from those outsde the trade uomoemet warg that oly t through the soal otrat a keep a ld o flato by keepg wage reases

wth the boudares of ts eoom pla The trade uoleadershp quetly threates a reewal o offal wagemltay f the Tores are retured to power The Toreshae also attempted to preset themseles as hag a atoal perspete, less tet o rushg the workglass tha o sag the etre ato from the folles oftrade uo goermet Oe of the most mrtat reasos for ths etrt perspete of the two major partes

was the pheomeal rebrth of the Lberal Party the lasteleto Presetg tself as a moderg tehoratmddle lass alterate to the arrow selfterestedess of the two maor partes the Lberal Party was ableto w seats the last eleto ad holds the balaeof power Parlamet The Lberals hope to rease thershare of Parlametary seats preetg ether maor party

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fro gag a majorty Parlamet ad rasg the possblty of a oalto goermet

Though t s possble that ths eleto wll oe agaproe oluse resultg ether a morty or a oalto goermet polls show a sharp swg to Labour asthe eleto approahes. Whether or ot Labour s able toform a goermet howeer ltal stablty wll oue. Thugh the root of ths stablty le the logterm ollapse of Brtsh aptalsm ths s refleted dsos wth the major partes. Though the ladershp

of the Coserate Party has stated ts geeral supportfor Keyesa pumpprmg measures ts opposto toreg a statutory omes poly for eample a mportat seto of the Partys rght wg has broke partydsple to adoate a stablato program eterg oa strt moetarst poly that would result muh hgherrates of uemploymet a attempt to stem flato.A further dso wth the Parlametary Coseratesemerges from the oflt Norther Irelad Eoh Powell oe a mportat fgure o the Rght for hs oppostoto mmgrato ad Brtas etry to the Commo Market s ow seekg a Parlametary seat Norther Irelad. It s possble that a blo of Ulster Coserates uder hs leadershp ould emerge to hold the balae ofpower a deadloked Parlamet

The Rght s also growg outsde of Parlamet. Thefous of ths oParlametary Rght s twofold. Rulglass rles oetrate o ombattg the growth of tradeuo power. The US pres has hghlghted the growth ofmoemets lke the Uso Orgaato reated by retred mltary offers to sere as a strkebreakg fore ase of a geeral or ltal strke urg the summer the reato of suh a paramltary strkebreakg

fore of tehas was ee adoated by a member ofthe Coserate shadow abet . May the Brtsh labor moemet remember that suh a goermetssoredstrkebreakg fore was used the dsastrous defeat ofthe Geeral Strke of 926. More sster tha these largelypaper orgaatos howeer s the growth of the fasstNatoal Frot whh has attrated some workglas

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support The Frot fouses its attaks o immigrat workers laimig that they are stealig Britos obs ad hous

ig After seeral years of street demostratios ad thuggish itimidatio of immigrats the Natioal Frot is owstrog eough to stad 80 adidates for Parliamet

The growth of this oParliametary Right of ourseis oly a symptom of Britai s risis Refletig this risismetality, elite British publiatios suh as the LodoTIME hae bee disussig the ssbilities of a militaryoup i Britai or sustaied military admiistratio of idustrial areas rippled by strikes. uh a isio is modelled o the "solutio ow employed i Norther IreladLike Vietam moreoer the tehology used to ombat apopular war for atioal idepedee has bee broughthome to be used agaist the dissidets of the mother outry The Ulster eperiee has begu to politiie the Armyad polie ad oe Coseratie Party groupig has alled

for riot equipmet deeloped i lster to be made moregeerally aailable to the British polie British omradesalready report that lie iolee agaist demostratioshas seerely ireased ad reetly a studet was killedi a demostratio agaist the Natioal Frot.

While there are sigs that the Coseratie Party haslost some of its uity ad hegemoy oer the arious foresopposed to the workig lass, the wer of the workig lassitself is diided Oe importat sig is the growth of regioal atioalism espeially i otlad. Bolstered by theprospet of eoomi idepedee ad prosperiy owmade possible by the disoery of ast oil fields off theoast of otlad the ottish Natioal Party is likely toirease its stregth i otlad at the epese of the Labour Party Ee more sigifiat diisios are foud with

i the trade uio moemet Withi the Trades Uio Cogress a importat miority is opposed to the soial otrat is istig that trade uio moderatio i demadigwage ireses should wait util after the Labour Partyhas fulfilled its part of the bargai Amog the trade uioleadership this left wig is domiated by the CommuistParty At the August meetig of the Trades Uio Cogressthis Left relutatly agreed to support the soial otrat

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so as not to undermne "abour unty as the eectons approached but the same meetng saw the et wng ncreasets share o eadershp postons.

mportant dsons aso exst wthn the workng casstse wthn the unons themsee between unoned andnonunoned workers and between whte and nonwhteworkers. he abty o the workng cas to wthstand thenet oense o capta whether the attack come by way oLabour s soca contract or by way o the more drectattacks o the other parte, w argey tur on the depth

and permanence o these dsons. t s wth the state othe Brtsh workng cas and he nature o the dsonswthn t that ths ssue o ADCAL AMCA concerned. n our maor artce settng out the strugges ondustra workers under our years o ory rue anBrcha hghghts the mportance o the shop stewardsmoement the most mtant secton o the workng cassdurng the 960s. he e stence o ths shop stewards moement a oca onste eected trade unon eadershpwhch has ormed nterndustry nks among stewards groups s one o the most mportant reasons why Brtshtrade unons hae been more mtant around wage ssuethan US unons Whether the stewards w contnue toprode ths eadershp s a queston rased by Bg Famesaccount o the shop stewards moement at Haewood, an

enormous Ford pant near Lero. Bg Fame a bertaran communst group suggests that mportant parts othe shop tewards moement ace ncorporaton nto managn captasm, ncreasngy restrcted to "enorcng thecontract ke ther US. counterparts wo other artcesdescrbe the growth o ndustra mtancy n two new sec-tors, nonwhte workers and women workers. Maa Dhondy,n an artce reprnted rom AC ODAY, descrbes the

strke o ast Arcan Asan workers at mpera ypewrter a runaway subsdary o Ltton Industres romConnectcut. he account o ths strke and ts atermathmake cear that whte Brtsh trade unonsts and thereaders are not mmune to he racst propaganda o teutraRght. Both Dhondy's artce and that o BeatrxCampbe and Shea owbotam howeer, aso make cearthat women and nonwhte workers hae begun to deeop


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an nduta tancy o enoou potenta noa athee goup donate tadtonay owpayng job epe

cay n nonunoned ecto and goenentuppotedoca ece the tancy at eat uceptbe toLabou poe o a oca contact.

n pubhng th ue o ADCAL AMC, we haeted to pode a eaonaby copehene oeew othe c o Bth capta We thnk that an undetandng o th c potant o the US Let oeea eaon. Ft, the Aecan eda hae yteatcay undetated the depth o uope c. A theAecan econoy contnue t de nto depeon weneed to antan o deeop an undetandng o the wodwde natue o th cah Second, becaue the c neae and the tugge oe ntene n Btan than t n the Unted State, the tategy and tactc deeopngwthn the Bth wokng ca oehadow any o the

tak whch w oon ace the wokng ca n th countyFank Bodhead o the A dto

W

Charlie Broadbent regitering the

Communist Party vote fr thecial Contract atUnion Conferee.

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ass Strue i Britai:

Workers Against the Tory Govrnment,97 974

Ian Birchall

he Heath overnment n Brtan (une 97March 97saw a sharp ntenscaton o class strule n Brtan n97 alone twentythree mllon ays were ane nstrke acton hs was over ten mllon more than the prevous year whch n turn ha ha the hhest ure sncethe General Strke o 96 Poltcal strkes htherto almost unkown n Brtan became commnplace an workers evelope a varety o new tactcs o strule workns actory occupatons lyn pckets. n response the

Brtsh state whch tratonally cultvates an mae oknlness (Brtsh polcemen are not normally arme bean to bare ts teeth

he events n Brtan lacke the colour an rama oFrance 968 or taly 969 they were nonetheless o reatsncance n openn a new pero o strule whch maywell prove to be the most avourable or socalsts sncethe years mmeately ollown the Frst Worl War

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he ory Goernmen

he ory elecon cory n 970 came a a urpr e omo people wa no he reul o any upurge o enhuam or dward Heah or or ory polc he percenage o he elecorae who oed 7% wa lower han aany powar elecon he opnon poll almo unanmoulyoreca a Labour cory wa, eenally Labour abaner who brough he ore o power worker whowould call emele Labour aked bu who dd no eel

ucen commmen o her Pary o leae he eleonand walk o he pollng aon

he blame or h abenon re arly and uareyon Harold Wlon and he Labour admnraon and no onany alleged apahy o he Brh workng cla n juunder year n oce Labour had managed o abandonju abou eery polcy had been eleced on and o berayju abou eery prncple had eemed o and or (

o ome people Labour had eemed o be he Pary olberal and progree polce hey were rewarded byWlon lah uppor or he US n Venam and uccee ghenng o mmgraon conrol Oher had eenLabour a a Pary o ocal reorm hey aw a goernmenwhch cu away ome o he mnmal welare leglaon haalready eed Labour, n he name o economy renro

duced he ery paymen or medcal care whch hadabolhed a he begnnng o perod n oce and whdrew he proon o ree mlk or chldren n econdarychool

Mo mporan o all, Labour n power erouly damaged lnk wh he rade unon moemen Labour aemp o mpoe ncome polcy led o growng reance rom worker ncludng ome, lke dumen andeacher wh ew radon o ruggle who had urd he mo under Labour launched rke acon Labour propoal o nroduce leglaon lmng he rgho rke were whdrawn n he ace o mae rade unonoppoon ncludng a rke o nney houand workeron May Day 969

Al l h plu Heah prome o reran nlaon, made

poble or he ore o be eleced Moreoer Brh


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workers preous eperece o ry rule had bee relatl beg From 95 to 96 the ores had bee ableto coceal ther basc ature as ope agets o the rulg

class. he prologed postwar boom produced by massearmamets epedture allowed ull employmet to be combed wth rsg wages ad the ores campaged o thesloga You e eer had t so good But 97 thgswere to be ery deret

By the 97s the stablsg eects o the teratoalarms ecoomy were begg to wear o (3 moreoerBrtsh captalsm aced partcularly acute prolems Despte all ts eorts the growth rates o ts ma rals hadbee two to our tmes more rapd Ad the mpact o lato was becomg more ad more marked

Brtsh captalsm 97 aced three terrelated problems stagato lato ad declg prot margs. Atthe same tme there was a rse workg class mltacyWhereas a perod o ecoomc epaso ths would ot

hae preseted so much o a threat a perod o stagato wage rses would sere oly to worse latot was thereore ot ate cousess (ee though most

ores are act ately cous me but objecte crcumstaces whch led the ew ory regme to break wththe tradtos o postwar orysm ad lauch a attack oworkg class lg stadards ad orgasato

he attack took seeral orms Frstly taato chages

redstrbuted wealth aour o the already wealthy t wasestmated that the rst ory budget 97 added about 355 mllo to the wealth or purchasg power o that thrdo a mllo tapayers who already had comes o oer 5000 a year.

Secodly arous welare serces were cut ad a olet oslaught o workg class stadards was lauched by

the grotesquely amed Far ets Act' whch was actdesged to compel masse creases the rets pad ormucpally owed housg housg habted rtually etrely by workg class people

Thrdly the ores actely ecouraged the crease uemploymet to the hghest postwar leels (leag asdea ew short perods o exceptoally bad weather At theory Party Coerece 97 Chacellor o the chequer


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Anthony Bbe openy encouged the unempoyed to undecut the wge o thoe wth ob veyone who out

o wo k houd go to thoe who t hve ob nd yYou e the m oty You hve the powe to top theetke whch e cey unuted nd you hve thepowe to top uneonbe py cm o ou ke uet

Fouthy the oe ought to mt the powe o ogned wokng c cton by ntoducng the ndut eton B Athough th w commony nd coecty

dec bed nt unon egton t pm y m wnot to ttck the oc unon ognton uch but the to weken wht w the tonget pont o Bthtde unonm the hopoo nd oc ognton

Fthy the o y ovenment med to keep down wge.ven though Heth w pedged to dm nte the voumechnm o economc conto tht the Won ovenment hd ntoduced he w not peped to et wge con

tnue to e n n ntony tuton n the t ntncethe ttegy w one o conontton wth the unon n thentoned ndute, n ode to educe the eve o wgencee.

wo uthe cto compcted the ttegy o the oyovenment the uopen Common Mket nd end

One o the mn m o the Heth ovenment w to

ucceed whee pevou oy nd Lbou ovenment hded n negottng Bth enty nto the uopen Common Mket Such enty w een ptcuy dvntgeou to the mut nton copoton the Bth mwhch ped to opete ntentony nd the technoogcy dvnced ndute But t w o gued thtt woud hve dynmc eect on the whoe o Bth nduty A the Conedeton o Bth ndute put t

( he oppotunte oeed by nd the tmuu o ee cce to t nd gowng mket houd povde thenecey codton o chevement by the UK o gncnty te te o gowth thn h been eed nthe t 5 ye

nty nto the Common Mket w netcby bound upwth the oy ttck on woke. Fo the mn economceect o enty wee degned to be detment to


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rom 97 on there were spasmodc epsodes o bombngn ngland aganst both mltary and clan targets

he ory Goernment handed oer the rsh queston as

unresoled as t had nherted t. But throughout the struggles that took place aganst the Heath Goernment relandrepresented on the on hand a contnung element o poltcal nstablty and on the other an ecuse or the ncrease o State represson n the name o law and order

he Brtsh abour oement

o apprecate the nature o the Brtsh class struggle nthe 970s t s mportant to understand the tradtons struggle that had deeloped n the tes and stes andto see the organzatonal and poltcal strengths and weaknesses that dered rom them

he rst eature o struggles n the tes and early stes s that they were hghly localsed hs resulted n the

phenomenon oten descrbed as wagedrt that ested nmany ndustres notably engneerng hs was based on atwoter system o negotaton natonal negotatons establshed a mnmum rate whle local negotatons coeredpecework rates bonuses etc As ar as workers ' lngstandards were concerned t was the latter that were themore mportant or eample n une 968 the natonalstandard weekly wage or an engneerng tter was just

under 3 but the aerage actual earnngs (not ncludngoertme payments were nearly 3. n many areas theywere consderably hgher As a result or wellorgansedworkers natonal negotatons seemed arly unmportantand as a result so dd the natonal unon organsatonhence the low otes n most natonal unon electons Ocourse or badlyorgansed workers or or those manly

n the publc sector who dd not hae a twoter barganngsystem the pcture was not so rosy.As a result a great many strkes were unocal n the

ten years rom 953 to 96 there were only thrty consttutonal' stoppages n the engneerng ndustry and n thee years rom 954 to 958 there were none at all As oneobserer put t a strke goes on or only a couple odays the queston o whether headquarters supports t or


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not not o oedng mpotance n many cae a centa eement n the tactc o the mtant wa to wn thete beoe tade unon headquate head about t

en moe mpotant wa the act that mot te weeucceu ndeed, the tattc o th peod ae omewhat meadng becaue they omt the te whch weewon o qucy that they wee nee ecoded and thete whch nee too pace at a becaue the management gae n wthout a ght A he conomt, the motca concou jouna o the Bth ung ca put t

Fu empoyment nce the wa ha not ed to moe tebecaue the unon, now moe hghy oganed than eehae been gettng the own way wthout ecoue to them(6

Anothe acto coey aocated wth the abty o captam to gant wage e eatey eay wa the actthat ony a ma pecentage o te wee oe pay n the 950 e than ten pe cent Fa moe te weeoe ue o conto not o coue ome abtactdemand o woe' ght to patcpate n managementbut a contant attempt to encoach on the powe o managem ent though tugge oe queton o wong condton, ue and dcpne

he eect o a th wa o coue the depotcatono woe hee wa much dcuon o ocaed apa

thy dened by the htoan P hompon a the eacho pate outon to pubc e namuch a woewee abe to mpoe the ncome and ng tandad bymtancy wthn one actoy, the need to oo eyond theenaow hozon dappeaed he Labou Paty ueed acontnung o o acte wong ca mtant the ocaoganaton ethe aded away, o wee taen oe bymddeca adca he wdepead coupton n the

Labou Paty meey a de eect o th n a Patywth no acte an and e, the unctonae and munc-pa counc hae a ee hand, wth noone to a awwad queton.

Aeady unde the Labou Goenment the patten beganto change. ncome pocy and popoa o antteaw neceay began to ae the mpotance o potcaacto o mtant n h boo Won o Fod 7 Huw

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Beynon quotes two Ford shop stewards, both commentng onthe experence o the Labour Government. One a Communst Party member says

We must get more nvolved n poltcs. Wth ths Prcesand ncomes Board weve got to take the Government on.Weve created ths monster thats n control now. Wevegot to organse to ensure that t stays n power but that tchanges ts polces to socalst polces.

he other puts the emphass rather derentlyhs Labour government has been an eyeopener or me.

And the lads on the loor. Weve talked about t qute a btMost o the lads thnk you can orget about the LabourParty y know. Forget about t because t s never gong todo anythng or the workng class. he general eelng onthe loor s that we're on our own. know, weve got toght our own battles. everythng ourselves rom nowon.

he two quotatons sum up the two sdes o workng class

conscousness n the perod On the one hand the sense oselrelance engendered by years o localsed struggle; onthe other the recognton o the need or a more generalsed response. he problem was to combne the two.

Under the Labour Government there began the process ochange n the pattern o ndustral struggle. Strkes becamelonger and more oten they were ocal and concerned

wth wages. One commentator has argued that the very acto ncomes polcy had an eect on class conscousnessFnally, ncomes polcy has had an unexpected deolog

cal consequence. n the past, there exsted a surprsng degree o agreement as to what represented "ar pay radeunonsts and employers alke tended to accept wth lttlequeston that tradtonal relatvtes between derent ndustres and occupatons and modest annual ncrements

were natural and reasonable. But ncomes polcy rejectng tradtonal arrangements as a sucent justcaton orgven pay levels or relatonshps made these matters thesubject o wderangng debate. t would be surprsng ths were not one reason or the growng questonng olongestablshed nequtes or the wdespread vocng osuch demands as equal pay or women or party between

car workers n derent companes and areas. (8 6


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he st poltcal stke o any sncance n Btano any yeas was a hhly unpoptous one o a socalst vewpont t cae n 968 when dockes and othe

wokes stuck n suppot o noch Powell who was deandn touhe maton contol Yet hstoy woks nstane ways and thouh a the te socalsts eaced wthunanmous hoo at the event n etospect t s possbleto see ths as a st conused econton by wokes thatthe ndustal senth could be used o wde ends albet eactonay ones Unde the oes poltcal stkeswee to becoe wdespead althouh n ost case theywee token ones.

he enealsaton o ndustal stule bouht the tadeunon leades hps ht nto the cente o the battle hetade unon bueaucats ae necessaly cauh n an ntemedae poston hey ae at the head o wokes oansatons , usually by electon thouh oten they ae voted nby only a sall pecentae o the ebeshp and only once

n a lete hey have to delve somethn to the mebs to usty the estence A t the sae te by thencoe, lestyle and nvolveent n economc and poltcal neotaton they become dvoced o those they aesupposed to epesent and comtted to he antenance othe estn socal ode hs has nothn to do wth pesonal couptblty (thouh as a atte o act any tadeunon bueaucats ae coupt t deves o the stuc

tue o the suaton they nd theselves n Fo nomaltade unonsm centes aound neotaton ove the temsand condons o wokes eployent neotaton thatpesupposes as unpobleatc the estence o captalsteployent elatons ven a unon epesentatve whoquestoned the vey nsttuton o waelabou, the subodnaton o eployee to eploy would have to opeate nhs outne actvtes as captals wee peanent (9

Fo the st twenty yeas o so ate the Second WoldWa the tade unon leadeshp stessed the poltcalneutalty and esponsblty hus, when the oes caeto powe n 95 the Geneal Councl o the ades UnonConess stated


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o ndustry to nd practcal solutons to the socal and economc problems acng ths country here need be no doubt,thereore, o the atttude o the UC towards the new goernment

o some extent the pcture changed durng the sxtes.n the tes the two most powerul unons the ngneersAU subsequently AUW and the ransport and eneralorkers WU both had leaders on the extreme rghtwng o the Labour Pary. By the seentes they were ledrespectely by Hugh Scanlon and ack ones, both on the

let o the Labour Party ndeed wth poltcs largely ndstngushable rom those o the Communst Partyhs meant a consderable strengthenng o rhetorc, and

to some extent a greater wllngness or mltant actonBut only to some extent the let bureaucrats acted wthnthe same ultmate ramework as the rght or them mltancy mght be a useul barganng counter n negotatons;what t was not and could not be was a part o a process

whereby workers emancpated themseles through therown selactty her role was oten to coopt mltancyand to dert t nto sae channels n late 973 ay Buckton leader o the ralway engnedrers unon was askedby a teleso nterewer why he was callng or ocalacton n drect conlct wth the ory oernment Hs reply was reealng n ts drect cyncsm Because otherwse we would lose control o our members

he trade unon bureaucracy coexsted, oten rather uneasly, wth the organsaton workers themseles had bultup at shop loor leel. he mltants o course supportedletwng leaders, but n a pragmatc manner and wthoutbeng wllng abandon ther own deences he recordedcomments o a Ford shop steward n Lerpool on the acto ack ones becomng leader o the WU are probably

typcal m not gong starryeyed about anyone. m prepared to be dsllusoned. m not gong to be carryng alag or anybody or the rest o my le m not a "onesman lke some but ones s an mproement He s concerned about the stewards and the lads on the loor. Hesmakng some moement n the drecton o lstenng to whatthe lads say they want, whch s a hell o a lot derent romwhat we'e been used to thnk he s the best we could hope

1


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" Y V , T O

v H A fOCVRE F /51 & rTOlLUI 6"

C'5 L

G / Y R

J

\ 1/ /"

for at the moment.' (10)he shop steards moement s centra to an under

standng of the tradtons of strugge of the Brtsh workngcass he moement frst grew up n the perod before anddurng the Frst Word War and was an mportant factor n the foundng of the Brtsh Communst Party but tcoapsed after the defeat of the Genera Strke. he moement gre agan and spread n the years after th SecondWord War. he steard eected by those he worked wthsharng ther wages and condtons and subject to reca

s n a qute dfferent reaton to those he works wth thanthe unon bureaucrat (hs s not to say there are no shopstewards who are mpropery eected or who are corrupt,promanagement or reactonary. here are just as theremay be unon bureaucrats wth hearts of true reoutonarysocast god. But what matters s ther stuaton)

he strengths and weaknesses of the shop stewardsmoement ar e summed up n hs pcture of the shop ste


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ard at Chryser's car pant n coentry (one of the best

organsed ndustres n one of the bestpad and best-organsed areas For many wokers the steward wasthe unon On the shopfoor there were reguar argumentsabout wages and condtons and the steward operated underthe cose scrutny of hs members hs was what made thereatonshp a democratc one Howeer at a tme whenempoyers were wng to make a seres of mnor concessons rather than ha t producton the success of a mtant

steward often hnged on hs nddua negotatng skshs netaby contaned the danger of the good stewardsubsttutng hs abty for the coecte acton of the secton Fnay he was a sho steward and as t was here thatmost mproements coud be negotated there was ttempetus for hm to ook beyond to the rest of the factoryor the trade unon moement outde (2

he shop stewards ' system was the most formdabeweapon n the armoury of Brtsh workers and any Goernment that wanted to hod down wages had to take t onAt the same tme t was a weapon desgned for a ery dfferent perod than the one that was now openng up hswas the drama that was to be payed out n the fortyfourmonths of ory rue

3 Strkers aganst the ores

he frst few months n power were not proptous forthe ory goernment. he tde of strkes that had been rsng durng Labour's ast years contnued unabated Wthna month of the ores comng to power a dock strke hadbegun coerng a ports n the Unted Kngdom t asted

two and a haf weeks and oer haf a mon workng dayswere ganed' Despte the somewhat equoca atttude ofthe unon eaders a substanta ncrease was won

hen n the autumn a strke of manua workers empoyedby Loca Authortes n ngand and Waes rose to oer amon days hs was a further extenson of the acton bythe ower pad' pubc sector workers whch had areadyerupted under the Labour goernment entuay after

about sx weeks acton ncreases not far short of the

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ognal clam wee won amountng n pecentage temto aound teen pe cent

ven moe gncant wa the mne te that ame

autun n the te and te m ltancy n the coaleldhad been declnng the poton o the mne had beenweaened by the gowng ue o ol and a delbeate polcyo pt cloue hee had been lttle decve leadehpom the unon bueaucat, ght o let

But thee wa a deep eentment mouldeng among thelabou oce n the coaleld and th eplodeq ove the

970 pay clam When oeed a ten pe cent nceaea ballot o mne howed a majoty n avou o teacton but the majoty wa not bg enough to meet theequement o the unon ule When the oe wa aedto twelve pe cent, the ecutve narowly voted to acceptbut te boe out pontaneouly n Yohe Scotlandand South Wale and began to pead to othe aea theCommunt Paty and othe let leade n the unon had

gven eal encouagement and leadehp at th pnt, theadvantage could have been peed home a t wa a uth ballot wa held and the twelve pe cent accepted.onethele th wa not a deeat pue and mple twelvepe cent wa condeably hghe than the ot o nceaethe oe wanted to gve Moreove the te aw theue o the lyng pcet a tactc that wa to become centalto the 97 mne te

he oe got ther t tate o blood wth the actono the electcty upply woe n ecembe 970 heelectcty woe dd not go on total te (whch couldhave educed the county to tandtll n a matte o hou but ntated a wo to ule h tactc wheby woetc omaltcally to the ule a lad down by management led to a hap all n poducton and hence to the ne

cety o power cut he pe televon and othe ma meda mmedatelylaunched a avage attac on the power woe aggeated tore o the dange to le and lmb a a eult oelectcty cut wee gven enomou pomnence publcantagonm to the powe woe wa delberately nctedOne telev on programme put ve powe woe n ronto an audence o two hunded people A ame tated that


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he had a shotgun he woud shoot a e and was cheeredhs payed nto the hands o the unon eaders who were

ony too happy to ca the acton o and accept a Court onqury Frank Chappe eader o the ectrcans' Unon(an exCommunst now usng hs Stanst experence n theserce o rghtwng potcs decared the pubc hae haenough'

But the unon machnery had not been used to counter theattack rom the meda nothng was done to try and breakout o the power workers soaton. As two Manchester

mtants put t n an nterew wth Socast Worker ( 3 he unon eaders made no eort to put our case. heres a ot o resentment n the statons We bore the brunt othe attacks and we ee et down

he ocas dd not contact ther members n other natonased ndustres to ge us suprt Acton rom menn gas and water suppy coud hae been decse

housands o eaets shoud hae been produced We'

hae to do t oursees next tmeBut the ores were not wastng ther tme durng ther

rst sx months they were preparng what was to be theynchpn o ther attack on rank and e organsaton thendustra eatons B whch was to become aw n 97

he ndustra eatons B had certan anaoges wthegsaton aready proposed by the Labour Party anao

ges whch Labour potcans hastened to orget But tnonetheess represented the most arreachng attack ontradeunon rghts n Brtan snce unons had grown ntother modern orm

he B sought to mpose mts on both the organsatonand the acton o trade unons. Organsatonay trade unons were to be gen the opportunty o beng regsteredsuch regstraton was to be dependent on ocia approa

o the unons nterna rues Unons that were not regstered were dened arous ega rghts. Moreoer nddua unon members were to hae ega protecton aganstthe rues and dscpne o ther own unons In addton theB proposed a rather nebuous concept o unar ndustra practces' whch whe not remong the rght tostrke sought to mt the occasons on whch strke actoncoud be taken or exampe tryng to preent sodarty

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actonshe B was not o course ame at smashng trade un

ons as such he trade unon eaders were too mportantas potenta aes o the goernment to be got rd o heores had no desre to see thousands o trade unonstsmprsoned under the Act ths woud ead to a masse n-dustra conrontaton the ast thng they wanted Whathey coud hope or was that the Act woud ntmdate work-ers especay the ess organsed and mtant sectors whohad been troubesome o ate hs woud n eect seng-

then the hand o the trade unon eadershp who desptether erba protestatons o opposton to the Act woudactuay be abe to use ega shackes as an excuse or tonng down the ee o acton

onetheess the unon eadershps were orced to takeacton aganst the B here was strong rank and eressure n partcuar rom the Communst Party dom-nated Lason Commttee or the Deence o rade Unonsn a there were our oneday strkes aganst the B be

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tee eebe 90 d Mh 9 outy th otdto o pot te thee ee mpott tep

od At the me te oedy te e by deto eey ymbo to ue they e ee to beed to oeth oe oeu they pdy utte d deoe thoe oed. Fe d ty thetde uo edehp he ued oedy te ety e o ty o y ye he UC ed deotto t the B hh ttted ete o uppot th y deotto e the

but t ed o Sudy o ot to teee th o o . hot the tde uo edede t e o the be tht they ee ot peped to ue the u dut teth hh theoy y the oy oud he bee hed.

the hot te the dut eto At toy o the oe the oe te t to poe toe oud the e Fty beue t oedddu empoye ho ht ot be th tem othe teet o the hoe to uh pootee to. Ad eody beue the hoe deoottey o the At bed A oe obee put t

he Coete the ttept to u the udyto eo dut eto eeted the oe bh othe ptt t te tht by tdto the mot eut

the ot mpeo d the ot ebe t pheome ppee. By u the out to eoe pute tuo Heth peuby ed he oudutze the mety o the to e the o hh d h bee tdtoy bd t the deoo eet ety the eee. epobty o oeo the e o the e ott dped o the oeet oto the udy. h dd

ot depotze the tt o the uo t epotzed theuto o the out o the o the poett. ()But the dut eto B oy eode

epo o the oe he ey ue e d ht eeded eempy toy. he to d eto o oe th hom hedo oottooud be ted d thh dteed uh tht yothe eto oud th te bout m eee

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pay demandshe postmen tted the b neaty hey were owpad

pubc sector empoyees wth no tradtons o m tancy anda potcay ambguous eadershp hey were noed pr-mary n the etter serces whch made a consderabeoss rather than the automatc teephone serce whch wasshowng ncreasng prots. A conrontaton was careuyset up emergency procedures were ntroduced n the PostOce and the Post Oce charman Lord Ha who hadndcated some sympathy wth hgher wages or potmen

was unceremonousy sackedhe Unon o Post Oce Workers (UPW submtted acam or teen per cent (the same as the oca uthortymanua workers had receed n the autumn o 90. heywere contemptuousy oered eght per cent and n anuary9 they began compete and ndente stke. he strkewas to ast ortyour days and was by ar the bggeststrke snce the war n Brtan.

he postmen had one asset and one aone the owndetermnaton and enthusasm eryone ncudng the unon eaders was astonshed at the enthusasm o the workers response to the stke ca. here was no queston ostrke pay he unon had started a sma strke und onythee years preousy At the begnnng o the strke theund totaed 33000 he most ths money coud nance

was a "hardshp und or those strkers (such as sngemen who had no ncome whe on strke. en so the undcoud ony ast or a mamum o three weeks Yet the re-sponse among postmen was amost unanmous. he Pressnotaby the Da press and Da Ma mmedatey or-dered a ts reportes to "Hunt the Backeg but werehard put to t to nd a chnk n the strke. O 00000 postmen ess than 00 reported or work (5

But een ths antastc ghtng sprt was not abe tooercome the tragc soaton n whch the postmen oundthemsees. Frsty the teephone serces were man-taned rtuay ntact whch meant that Brtsh captasmdd not ace a crppng bow to ts communcatons Sec-ondy other unons were not abe to organse eectebackng to preent workers such as orydrers andrawaymen beng used to carry packets and messages that

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woud omay hae oe by post hrdy ad most cucay o a despte much hetoca buster the UC aed

to pode he UPW wth the kd o aca support thatwoud hae eabed to poo the strke.And so , after foty-four days, the strike collapsed ; the

money won was only infinitesimally highe than what hadbeen offered someweeks ealie. The decision of the Exec-

utiveto call offthe stikeled towidespead demoalisationand anger among the members ; many branches votedagainst acceptance of the offe, and in Lvepool a mass

meeting of moe than 2500 UPW members voted two to oneaast etu to work

Amost smutaeous wth the posta wokes strke wasthe stke at Ford pats thouhout Brta Here the de-mad was or substata wae creases to eabe Fordwokes to achee paty wth other car ms Bta.he stke asted oe two moths ad was the beststoppae aect a se empoyer Brtsh hstoy he

strke was oy bouht to a ed by the tereto oack oes ad Huh Scao (et eaders o the two best uos Bta who hed secet taks wth HeryFod ad the caed a secret baot o a ew maaymproed oer. he oer was accepted but the settemetaa caused btteress ad demorasato amo mayrak ad e members who reseted the whoe procedure

o secret taks d secret baots. Huw Beyo records thecommets o a Lerpoo stewad ack oes had comeup here. aked to the ads od them that t was a upthat the uo coudt aord ay more strke pay. 'kowput t to the ads hey mht hae sad A rht ackthat's ar eouh et's ca t a day. Or they mht haeoe o wthout strke pay Ykow. But t woudt haetured them aast oes. What reay made us mad was

hs aree ad the ett the Compay to arrae abaot or the ads to ote whe there'd bee o repotbackmeets. 'kow eeryth about ths stke ad the waywe e doe ths sce 99. Neotatos eaets eportback meets at the Stadum. Ykow orased.erybody toether o the same way. at baotsmased a that. hat's hat we wot ore oes or.'

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So by Sprig 97 he rae uio leaers ha eeciely accepe he Iusrial Relaios Bill a secio ocarworkers raiioally he spearhea o Briish work

ers a a secio o lowpai public secor workers habee smashe The Tories appeare o be geig o op

Bu here were hree progs o he aack o workersegislaio a wage resrai were wo o hem; he oherwas uemployme Durig he course o 97 uemployme rose o oer oe millio The closures a sackigsha were leaig o icrease uemployme eee ewacics o igh hem

A impora sep orwar was he sruggle ha ookplace a pper Clye Shipbuilers CS CS ha beecreae uer he abour Goerme i 968 whe a umber o shipyars ha bee raioalise io oe wih heol owers geig geerous compesaio a seas o heew boar Bu i Jue 97 he Tories aouce he closure o he yars 6000 jobs were irecly a sake a a

oher 0000 o workers iirecly epee o he yarswere i agerThe CS shop sewars commiee (poliically omiae

by he Commuis Pary respoe wih a worki begiig o July 30 This mea ha proucio o ships was obe maiaie a ha whe workers were sacke heywoul coiue o work i he yars a be pai rom a aioal ighig u amiisere by he sewars The ra

ioale o he acic was eplaie by a poliical supporero he sewars

The problem acig he leaers o he CS workers waso eise a ew echique o sruggle which woul achieeheir objecie o pree reuacies a closures iwha was bou o be a ough sruggle A srike coul playio he has o he employers whe hey were se o closures ayway. A sii woul hae bee iicul o maiai or log eough I woul hae also gie he employers a goo ecuse o aack he workers by arguig ha hesii mae i impossible o ulill ay corac a aggraae he bakrup siuaio This coul hae helpe heTories o alieae public opiio rom suppor o he UCSworkers. (7

There is o oub ha he UCS worki was a impora

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a imagiaiv avac. wo h husiasic suppor oohr workrs spcially i umploymsrick Scola orovr i ra is h whol qusio o owrshipa corol o proucio. mark h bgiig o a rvival o h workigclass coic baly shak by has o h Sprig

A h sam im h worki acic ha srious limiaios. irsly h aim o h worki was cociv oas big primarily o iluc public opiio i orr omaouvr or cocssios By coiuig o compl

ships h CS swars ha ovr o h auhoriis hmai physical asss i h workrs' has A wihi hyars iscipli was maiai vry much i h ol wayTh ori Sar ( 8 rpor prouly v imkpig has clock w rcors o prcisio I is summup by h ac ha h raiioal luchim pi is owmius bor h hor gos a h imclock bll rigsvry sco. As a rsul moralisaio s i By Ju

97 oly our pr c o rua workrs wr sillworkigi. Th CS swars plac all hir hops oryig o prsua a Amrica busissma o ak ovrh Cly yars

Bu whavr h limis o CS isl i ha a ormousimpac i raisig h issu o occupaio amog Briishworkrs. acory occupaios us brillialy by rchworkrs i 968 wr virually ukow i Briai uil97; sic h hr hav b may isacs o hirus.

or ampl i Spmbr 97 workrs a h Plssyacory i Alaria Scola ci o lauch a allou occupaio agais a hra closur. A ywissscrib h sc almos uprc i Briish workig class hsory

as ray h lag ovr h Plssy acory was haulow a ump o h maagr's sk Wih i cam hwors W hav ak ovr Th compay ha io clos h acory. Isa h workrs occupi i Thay bga wh Plssys payig o h las 0 mplys.Th h workrs hl a mass mig march hroughh works lock h mai gas a ma hir shock aouc Sic h hy hav slp i h acory a

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maiaie a hour guar o he gaes aagers havebee amie oy aer agreeig o have heir carssearche a givig cerai saisacory assuraces o heworkers. Ay boss reusig his has bee ocke ou Pos

ers a acars have bee u u a a squa o workershas erece barbe wire barricaes as a eece agaisay sue oice swoo o he a. oo a bakeshave bee suie by wives a a ew oca raesme. 9

ay simiar occuaios oowe. Ahough he successi acuay ighig uemoyme was imie heir eeco cass coiece was cosierabe or occuaos co

ro he whoe hegemoy o he ruig cass. As eecricias ' sewar Archie Bree oe o he eaers o heisher Beix occuaio ear iveroo i 97 o ciais Worker

Welsh steelworkers protest imending steel bill clash with policeoutsde Prliament, Febary 26 1973

aageme are reua. We cou ru he acory. Ocourse we wou have robems bu we wou ge assisace rom oher exeriece rae uioiss.

Peoe became immeiaey resosibe They o ogeree subservie

Bu sigiica as he occuaios were hey aece

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oly a small secio o he workig class The real urig-oi came whe oce agai he Goerme ook o a hea

o igh wih a major secio o workers oer wages Thisime i was o be he miers.The miers were emaig icreases o bewee ; 5 a

9 he bigges claim eer submie by he uio Alhough he aioal Coal Boars resose was coemuous i is clear ha i he begiig eiher he Goerme or he uio leaers beliee here woul acuallybe a srike I aricular he Presie o he aioal io o ieworkers Joe Gormley we ou o his way o becociliaory

Bu he Tories miscalculae They beliee he mierscoul be isolae a beae i he same way ha he osm e ha bee Bu here were imora iereces irslyhe miers lie i igh coceraios i i illages aha a log raiio o bier sruggle behi hem as a

resul hey were relaiely imerious o he aacks ohe mass meia oable i aricular was he soliariyshow by amilies I srike siuaios he Brish resseligh i rakig u wies who oose heir husbas srikeacio They ha o luck i iig ais rike miers ' w es

Secoly he miers were able o succee where heosme ha aile i wiig massie suor rom oherworkers Sice beore 9 he miers ha bee a key sec-

or o he Briish labour moeme a oher workers kewhis They also kew ha he mier job was a ilhy aagerous oe a hough hey esere more ay Aaboe all hey recoge ha he osme ha bee e-eae hrough isolaio a ha i was i heir ow ieress o o le i hae agai

rom he begiig o he srike soliariy was aareCollecios were hel i uio braches a worklaces u

a ow he coury Sues oere moey o he mi-ers a occuie colleges o roie accommoaio orickes hus showig how comleely heir social role hachage sice 9 whe sues roie he mai resere o scabs urig he Geeral Srike

Bu he key acor was ickeig The TUC ha isrueha o oher workers shoul cross miers icke lies

Bu his was meaigless uless he icke lies were ac 0


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ually physically here. The miers ha o pree eisigcoal supplies rom beig moe a use by pickeig pors

power saios a coal epos A aasic orgaisaiogrew up wih pickes o miers raellig he legh abreah o he coury a receiig warm welcomes romrae uioiss whereer hey we

Bu warmh was o eough he Tories were respoigby orerig layos o workers a seppig up police a-acks o pickes. I he srike ha ligere o oo log hemoo coul hae goe sour The cruch came a he alley

coke epo i Birmigham oe o he ceres o miliacyi he egieerig iusry I Salley coul be close heGoerme woul hae o hik abou rereaig. Salleywas close i oe o he highpois o soliariy acioo he Briish workig class A pariipa escribe howi happee

or he miers i was imple. The closig o he epo

became a maer o priciple a as oe miers leaersai "We may hae o brig suicie pickes here o makei physically impossible or a lorry o rie hrough hegaes

The call we ou o he Sauray or me o come romBarsley. The srikig eiece o how miers respoeo he call or pickes is show by he ac ha o he Su-ay 0 miers were a he Salley gaes. The Gas Boar

close hem bu aouce hey woul be ope he e ay.O he oay a Tuesay rusraio a esiomoue as lorries we hrough he pickes I oe casea lorry burs hrough he crow. The cha bega "Closehe gaes Close he gaes !

Builig workers car eliery riers a elegaiosrom acories suppore he picke bu as he pickeigorce icrease i seeme as hough he police coul call

o ulimie reiorcemes. Hures o era police werebrough i a he oal buil up uil hey pracically ou-umbere pickes.

Plai clohes police i he crow irece sach squaso arres milias amog he pickes. A his sage iseeme as i he police woul hol he lie a hrough arress a a massie isplay o sregh keep he gaes ope.

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The ecisie ees which swug he sruggle o icorybega o Tuesay eeig 8 ebruary whe he as Disric Comiee o he egieerig uio i Birmighacalle a meeig o seior sewars or he ollowig ayA he meeig oer 00 seior sewars issue a call ora soliariy soppage a a march o Salley o Thursaymorig.

The respose was amaig 0 000 workers sruck romscores o Birmigham acories a 0000 marche oSalley

The 000 police gae up They were o mach or sucha massie isplay o workigclass soliariy wih workersrom Roer ucas Tracors a Trasmissios WilmoBreeo a may may ohers assemble ousie hegaes To massie cheers he Chie Cosable orere hegaes shu a 0 i he ieress o public saey '

ie ays laer he Goerme se up a special equiry he Wilberorce Equiry This repore i hree ays

la a i essece cocee a subsaial icrease o hebasis ha he miers were a special case i e ha heiricrease shoul o be see as a eample or oher workers The Wilberorce oer ell shor o he ull claim ai coaie some isaaageous clauses oably oe eeig he agreeme o ebruary 973 which mea hahe e sruggle woul come i Sprig o Wier whehe miers woul hae less bargaiig power Bu esseially he miers ha wo a icory a i was perceieas such by boh he Goerme a oher workers

Alhough he Goerme maage o hol he lie hahe miers were a special case i ealig wih some weakersecios eg eachers he coiece geerae le o aicory or he railwayme espie he ac ha a cooligo perio a he a secre ballo were impose by he

Iusrial Relaios CourA i was o be he usrial Relaios Cour which wasa he cere o he e coroaio This ime he workers iole were ockers a he issue was jobs The iroucio o coaierisaio ha cos he ockers a hiro heir oal umbers oer he preious ie years Theockers were o ighig agais echological aace assuch; bu hey saw ha uer a sysem base o proi

2


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coairisaio was big us o rplac ockrs wihohr workrs who i o ha h wags a coiioswo by h ockrs or yars o sruggl

As a rsul ockrs wr pickig a coair po aChobham arm Eas oo Ar a cosirabl amouo lgal oig a roig o uly 97 h IusrialRlaios Cour s i ockrs o jail or rsig oappar bor i o sa hir cas

DQCll 0

Dmonstration suprting jaied Pentonville dokers

Th prss a mia ha o hir bs o blu workrs soliariy by makig his appar as a colic bw

wo groups o slish workrs ohlss wh hcruch cam a workrs wr or h irs im acuallyjail ur h ha Ac h rspos was ar biggrha ihr h Gorm or h uio lars coul hapric. mmialy h machiry o rak a il soliariy w io acio A obsrr rlas

As soo as h ws cam hrough o h oo swars ha h i woul b ail hy rsol o go backo h ock a call h m ou Wh hy go hr hm wr alray laig.

Abou 300 ockrs wr ousi ila Col Soragby pm ray o sa guar or h m who wr o bail Wh h irs wo licm cam or h m hywr arly lych. Th swars calm h m owa a w mius lar hr o h i wr arrs.


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ialy h ockrs hl a ig i h car parko h arby acky gryhou saiu a h ky callw ou : Pick h priso Th pick was sablishirly by 6 : 30 p a h ockrs ha hir r cr.

As Bob igh o o h ay rak a il ockrs iialy iol i h sruggl plais : Pickig Poill priso ga h whol hig a bas i was our uoicial issio corol ro hr w coul s ourpicks ahr. A ha is how h soppag was sprabyo h ocks wh picks wih iiiai a wih

iagiaioOur w ow l r (whr aioal wspaprs ar pri o riay igh Bob says. W chosl r bcaus ha was h oly iusry w coulsop or h wk. I h back o our is was his psychological iporac o h aioal paprs.I w go h shu ow h w woul ha h bs prssw ' r ha.

O h riay igh h ockrs picks wr urow by h prirs. Th o auray igh h lcricias o alog wih so ATOPA pri uio chapls a all h uay paprs wr shu ow wih h cpio o h uay Tis

Bu i was sill ouch a go. O uay hr was a ralliklihoo h paprs woul rappar Th OGA T aohr pri uio who orgais h a rirs o

a l r was sw upTh ockrs o ou sig swars a picks

hr hr a rywhr. l r ha bco hsar o h sowball.' (

Th srik i i sowball. Wihi a ay or wo hTC Gral Coucil isl was hraig o call a Gral rik or h irs i sic 96 Th raso wassu up wih h cyical pragais ha oly a l ra uio buraucra coul usr by Jack Jos o hTGW : I w o' o sohig h h larship willb i h has o uoicial ls.

Th Toris i o wa a Gral rik. Bu hy hah probl ha h jail ockrs akig a priciplsa o rig o rcogis h Iusrial RlaiosCour woul say ohig i hir c. o ro h


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recesses o Briais archaic a poerous legal sysemhey rege up a srage igure calle e Oicial olici

or whose job i was o plea or hose who coul o pleaor hemseles. ew oher a lawyers so much as kehe eise. Wihi ie ays he ockers were ree. assacio ha agai wo a icory

A ieresig sieligh o e ees is proie by aieriew i ocialis Worker (3 wih Toy Churchmasewar o he oocker coaier workers a Chobhamarm who ha origially iiiae he moes agais he

ockers i he Iusrial Relaios Cour. ow more impresse by soliariy i acio ha by a o o propagaaabou uiy he sae Wha we i by goig o he IRCwas abolical. We were oig wha he Tories a he em-ployers hae always rie o o I am prou o be associae wi he ockers.

The ial eal o guaraee jobs a reuacy pay-mes or ockers was cosierably less ha coul haebee gaie largely ue o Jack Joes eager cooperaiowih he employers Bu i was sill beer ha woul haebee wo wihou milia aco a he class as a wholeha oche up aoher big icory agais he Heah Go-erme. I he lae summer builig workers ook u heiiiaie wih a successul srike i which he lyg pickeacic was agai use The ime ha come or he Heah

Goerme o uameally reiew is sraegy.Whe Heah came o ower he ha eouce he ea oicomes policy as pracise uer abour. belee hesai i a ree eerprise ecoomy i which people akeher ow ecsios a ru her ow lies . (4 Bu aerhe eeas ilice oer he miers claim a he jailedockers Heah was orce o sar ryg o cobble ogeherus such a icomes polcy.

rom July o oember 97 here were a series o so-calle rparie alks olig Goerme TUC ahe Coeeraio o Brsh Iusries. The rae uoleaership arcipaed hese alks esige o ake heGoermes chesus ou o he ire isead o pursughe adaage hey had gaie rom he icories earler ihe year. Ahough hey were erbally commied o gegrd o he Tories ad replacg hem wh a abour Go

5


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mt i tms f th wattight catgis f thi id-lgy this had t b d by litical acti a syymf vtig ad t by idustial acti dd thy w

almst athtically dtmid t v thi ssibilityad dglik lyalty As Jack Js f th GWU ut it aftth talks had fially bk dw W a ad t talkad gtiat i th bst itsts f th Bitish l bcaus w a as Bitish as ay wh claims t b fmay th uat (5

th cus f th talks Hath mad vaius ffs icludig a ff f a

a wk flat at icas all ud

h ss f h Ecmist was t hadli Gd fPfits (6 Ev th U culd t swallw this ad -tai its cdibility S th talks bk dw ad Hathmvd it his t gambit a statuty ics ad icms licy his bga i vmb 97, with a thmth ttal fz Ev th h tad ui lads didt giv u as lat as Jauay th Mi Sta tdath st f talks tig that M Scal will b attd-ig as h fls it is cssay t hav th militat viwit ut (7

h fz was a wag fz u ad siml withic ctl itducd ly as a ic f widwdss-ig aimd sumably at th fblmidd t was bviust ay wh v td a sh that ics ad scially fd ics w ctiuig t is; th atmt

f ad ad dusty amd with ust 5 staff ad thmaimum sacti f a 400 fi had t much chac fdig aythig abut it

Phas w which fllwd aft th mths f fzwas littl btt t st a u limit f lus 4% f icas wkly wags Oly th vy lwst aid whs bhalf th is w shddig flds f ccdiltas culd h v t k ac with isig ics Adyt thaks t th uivcati f th tad ui ladsth was slid ft agaist th licy which culd havfcd its withdawal Hath had tud th tabls ad thstuggl was c agai t b wagd by fagmtd sctis

Phass O ad w w mt by a wav f sha stuggls but thy w almst tily usuccssful Basicallythis was bcaus th sctis wh wt it stuggl did t

6

i


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by hmsvs hav th musc fc vicy. h ssi-biity f au sik acti by d cawks ad bymis was avtd. his was ay du th ski f thui buaucats i usuig cciiaty icis aday bcaus may wks w dcivd by th u-mus cicuatd hat ugh wag stai was y tmay ad tha Phas h du i th autum wud bmuch m gus

Ad s h scs tha w it sugg w agywaid wks fm th ubic sct wih fw tadi

is f idusia miiacy Sm ik civi svats adhsia wks had v b i aci bfBut h t th f th ui ads was y

cha h aci it sciv ad atia siks ahha g f a aut cftai h hsita wksw d t gag i sciv stiks y hugh haf fhm had vd f a uimid stik h gas wkssik was dd af a da ivvig si ctibu

tis ad a sc bat h atia Ui f achsd by mmuist Pay mmb a is tk timu fm is camaig f a high Ld awac (aay f hs facig high ics i Ld ustifid by hvitua cas f h sch sysm i as f Ld atack fwig miitas agd t hav bhavd disuivy' at a mass ay

A via asc f h abdicati by h ui ads wash faiu t ca ay ffctiv uid aci bw hscs i stugg Such attms w ft ca iitiaivs am i th amd ad sig aa fth Ld a mig was hd at th ca f th Biishusum bach f th civi svas' ui ivvig auis i stugg gaswks hsita wks tach-s ad ths A aci cmmi was s u which

cad futh migs ubishd agada ad gaisd sut f icks ad dmstais Simia cm-mis w s u i a umb f h aas

By Ai th suggs w agy v. Hah had hh i ad Phas w had b svd iact t was aca dfa ad wks saw a dci i hi ivigsadads But h was dmaisai. Rath wks smd ad t wat ad s wha Phas h

7

,


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wl ff An m an m ta nnsts w b-cmng awa f tw thngs that nly mltancy ays an

that th was lttl t b h fm th ta nnlas f lft an ght alk Hath ha wn a bathngsac bt a sha clash was claly n th cas

h sccss f any y lcy stll n n wnnngth st f th ta nn as an ct s-sn was nly a scnay asct f th statgy nthlss ssn cam t fg ncasngly n ylcy ng 973 f nly as a mans f ncasng -

lgcal ss n th nn bacats an f wnnngml class st n th bass f an aal t law an

A ma tagt f th s was cktng whch hav a cntal wan n wks stggls v thvs cl f yas A scal lc nt was st t cnat actn n alng wth tntally lntcktng an scally tan nts f lc w st whch cl b snt t tbl sts A gmnt n thHs f Ls l that t was llgal t acflly bstct a ly n th cs f cktng

h ffnsv aganst cktng was back by whatwas n f th mst mtant ltcal tals n Btan fmany yas . n Octb 973 bgan th tal f 4 blngwks accs f ffncs ng th vs yas

stk. h s f flyng ckts ha bn cntal n thsstk as a mans f cntactng an bngng t n stkwks n many scatt an ftn ly gans sts

h tal was nt bas n th nstal Rlatns Act;that wl hav sk a at f th actns that fllwth alng f th fv cks th vs ya. nstanntnth cnty nsacy Laws w ak an thtal lastng sm mnths was hl n th mt an

hghly cnsvatv twn f Shwsby bf a g whscacly tbl t cncal hs actnay vws. n thn ntv sntncs w ms n f th cnvctcvn th as n sn an anth tw.

h nn lashs n gnal ha lttl t say abtth Shwsby tals. h allgatns f vlnc wan mbaassmnt t thm whch thy f t vaath than gng n th ffnsv aganst ths ally

8


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sosbl for ol th bldg mloyrs whos roftskg ad glt of safty lads to sh a hgh adtrat th dstry h ma bldrs o UA a-

tally strtd ts brahs ot o otrbt moy toth faal sort of th asd kts

h ral targ of all hs was th mrs Phass Oad wo had largly sdd thr am h aalrat of ras of args had b t bak from 5% to 4% arag takhom ay was oly st kg wthth r d ad th shar of rofts th atoal

rodt had rs a th s of wags ad salars Atth sam tm may workrs wr bomg matt hors had oly lmtd room for maor h ovralloom sato wold ot lt thm o th gats forbggr wag rass a th sam m thy old otrsk a gral ofrotao As h Eoomst otd hgovrmt bls hat h worst dsastr ths wtrwold b a ar gral strk that was sssfl bas

th strkrs ommadd a wd masr of bl sym-athy h mrs wr obvosly h ky to h whol stato

hy had alrady show hy wr aabl of dfatg thgovrmt ad h atm of 3 thr osto wasgratly strghd by th Mddl East War ad th ostal rss ol rs

Phas hr was arflly wordd to g th aara

of grosty t was mor flbl tha ts rdssorswth allowas for rodtvty ad for thrshold agr-mts ' ablg addtoal aymts aftr a sv r tras th os of lg addto t otad arovso rmtg ra aymts th as of workrswho had to work soal hors shft workrs t hswas sally dsgd to lt th gormt off th hook

by allowg hm o ay h mrs mor f t am to thrh dd t was rortd that ths las of Phashr had b artly draftd by a al Board offal sothat t old at as a looho for th mrs wthot sttggral rdts

Mawhl th mrs wr shg ahad wth thrlam to stablsh mmm wkly wags ragg from5 to 45 aordg to tys of work gotatos brok

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dw th fac f h ga ay scs ad h UMadsh w facd wh th us f hw t fgh fh cam Gmy ad h ghwg ads w fcus as aus avd had cfa as Hahad th mmus Pay ad th f ads had ca aav.

Gmys stagy was s a cm ba vm cudg wkd maac ad safy wk.hs cud b sd h mas as a ffcvsac wch wud ady b whu vvg ms

th sacfcs a au stk. A h sam m was a dca h s ha h UM ads wssb m wh wad k akg ad avda cfat.

Hath hwv was w a st wh hs whcdby ddd batg h ms. Rumus f ac w aady f S h had sak a dgwha h had fad t d 97 sa th ms fm

h st f h wkg cass cmb h s dcad a sta mgcy,f th ffh tm sc hy had cm t w hy hfwd hs by ug th wh f dusy a h-day wk sagh accutg ms ths was ss was dsgd t s Bta 00 tms m aa -cm tha ayg h ms wud cs. Bu was a caca mv wh w ams. sy dcat ha h

Gvmt was ad s u th Sg ahha ay h ms Ad scdy by ffc msga ss u 40% f ags wks t cuaghm bam h ms ad t h s f h msfus. hs was fwd by a ss f vcus cus ubc du dfc was cu back smwha bu sw sca svcs such as hah ad duca whch

sm aas w aady fa fm h f cas.St h was ca ss fm h ad uads. h hday wk had ud h sugg btw h s ad h wh wkg cass buh u ads w u uwg cgs hs adsa ad au ac agas h Gvm Bcausf vaus ca agms wky mmums ad c-ds, h fct f th hday wk was hghy uv.


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Yt th u machs dd vtually thg t cmmucat th c fm sct aa t ath lta t st a utd ft agast cuts stadads

h UM adsh st cad talkg tyg tatch u a cmms But a cftat cud tb avdd A bsv cds th ta f vts

At th bgg f Jauay th gvmt cuagdth ms t bv that cal stcks at th stats ug but by th mddl f th mth bdycud hd fm th tu facts Accdg t stt

sh stads mst stats had ugh cal t ast at lastt t th mths ad kly t b ab t k gg dst th vtm ba ut th mdd f summat last At may stats th buks s ful thatfsh suls havg t b tud aay

Ag amg th ak ad fl as mutg cstsh th mst ghtg aa ak Smth aasctay f 2 yas ad a mmb f th atal c

utv sd th vtm ba t b calld ff Malkd ut f th ts th aa ad dmadd hs sgat h fst mass mtg th calfld sc thGal Stk as cald at hch Smth as fcd tags.

Mah cas bg mad at a t ad aa vlf th act t b std u Evtually at th ata

cutv cmmtt mtg 24 Jauay t as dcddt bat th mmbsh th a cmmdat f stkact h ballt as hld a k at ad th sult asa massv 1 ct favu as agat 5 ct 2. What mad th sult v m makabl asthat th mmbsh had b s bady ad f astk U ut t ks bf th dcs t ballt thak ad f had b cugd by bth lft ad ght

g mmbs f th cutv t blv that th vtmba as gh mass v majty shd t thgs fstly t d

catd th dtmat f th ak ad fl t fght ad ad scdy t shd th mtac f dcsv ladsh Aft ths c tad u ffca shudv b ab t bam hs ulgss t fght th uctac f hs mmbs h bat shd that th ak

1

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ad fl wll sd t cla lads matt wlat t may b cmg (2

S t was a cftat wth t buaucats lkdt t But th cgtal ccuat wt saatgltcs fm tad usm was sw wh Mck McGay Vc sdt f t UM ad a mmb f thmmust aty mad a usg sc wc tatd tat f ts w usd t bak t stk tu wuld call thm t dsby ds s ulasda clac dsca ad abu Ms sgd a statmt attackg McGahy McGays ss was t tus t tuty t as t whl ust f statw but t mak at sc whch statd am f t dg f th gvmt as uckly as ssbl But w ll d t u w tadtal way, thug tballt b

But tg was mssg fm t sca as lad

by Hat t ms w t bg slatd fm t stf t ulat At t bgg f buay a ll swd tat v t last mt t ctag f tulat w w wllg f t ms t b ad hads fm thtyght ct t fftytw ct

Hat ad t lay hs fal cad A Gal lctwas aucd f buay 2 Gmly w td fa-tcally t gt t stk calld ff but ud massv ak

ad fl ssu th cutv agd that t wuld g 4 lct was m claly a class cftatta ay vus lct sc th Scd Wld Wat t shuld b stssd bcaus th abu aty had ay ss a wkgclass gamm Wls ad sfds w ust as claly cmmttd t ug th catalst systm at th s f t wkg class as wasHath lcs th ly dffc was abus cmmtmt t a fw tmd fms (as suga t ll adts blf tat btt dustal lats culd b acvdby cat wt t us (tat s t u ladssuld b mad accmlcs t scwg f th mmbs

But cscus mmbs f t wkg class tadtallydtfd wt t abu aty ad th abu aty was

gacally lkd t ad lagly facd by t tad u


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is A victry fr th ris i a cti frc by astrik wu b s as a rsmt fr th ris'atiui icis Wrkrs wu f mrais aisat a th ris wu hav a rsmt fr thstig u f rrssiv masurs agaist th usA abur victry th thr ha wu b s as acuragmt fr tra ui miitacy a a rjcti fHath's ui bashig abur iticias i thir bst tbscur th fuamta issus with th usua rhric

abut th atia itrst' But i th circumstacs thycu t why succh ris i thught thy cu rfit frm a at

mshr f cfrtati h ui ars ha b sagtic abut thmsvs that uibashig sm tb wrth vts O rightwig ry caiat wt s faras t ca th Labur Party r azis' h Ecmistamst as hystricay war Wrst f a a succssfu

mirs' strik icuig succssfu iga icktig wuissiby sra ru by frc thrughut th Britishcmmuity A surrr w wu mak uawfu frcsm th rma way f cuctig th busiss f arigBritai s ivig hr is t just a whiff f Wimar iBritai hr is a sm f Argtia. ' (30 h ry cti maifst highight th thrat t withraw scia scurity aymts frm th famiis f wrkrs strik

hr is sm vic that th witchhutig backfira that th ris actuay st gru by thir rbaitigtactics Mr sigificat was th fact that thr wr sits i thir w raks th ruu t ig ay thris suffr tw mrta bws irsty Ech wwh jy grat surt amg th ry rak a fiauc that h wu b vtig abur bcaus f La-

burs siti t th mm Markt Scy amb Aams irctr gra f th frati fBritish ustry th mai myr's rgaisati) -car that th ustria Ratis Act ha is i-ustria ratis a shu b ra. Bth ths mvscu b itrrt i trms f th rsa stratgis fth iiviuas ivv; but thy wr imrtat as sym-tms f th vry maais isi th ry arty a


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i th whl ulig classh lcti sult was a victy f by. h is

civ a cla vt f cfic h Labu Patythugh mgig with th mst sats w sht f a clamajity M suisigly thy ll fw vts thaat ay lcti sic 35 a a small ctag f thll tha at ay sic 3 As f th much claimLibal usug it st sstially a ssif issatisaci with bth mai atis

May l vt Libal t k th is ut h

Libal vt is a vt f aical isctt which i thcmig i f stuggl cul g ith t th aical lft t th aical ight

S Labu fm a gvmt hy ai th mis thugh with th chful acuiscc f buaucats flft a ight alik thy ai sm catgis f wkswll sht f th full claim

th fist tim ta ui acti ha bught wa gvmt t was i a ss a victy f th wkigclass. But it was a lg way sht f a clacut victyi i tsct it will bably b s as mtha a bathigsac i th ctiuig stuggl

4) h Plitical Psctiv

Labus accssi t w l t a lull i th stugglt wul b flish t ict th timig hythm f cm-ig vts but it may wll b that by th tim his aticlis it th scall hym btw Labu ath uis will b v a w cftatis will b thi way th fist mths f Labu ul th scts stuggl a agai lwai ublic sct wks uss lcal gvmt ffics with taitial at

tachmt t th Labu Paty But th havi battaliswill t b silt f lg a th itatial cmicsituati s t giv Labu much sc f buyig thmff

uig th i f siti Labu ma ctai a-at mvs t th lft his is a mal att f thLabu Paty which uss is f siti t wi backt its aks sm f ths wh hav b isillusi


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orals by s prorac wr At sa Labour ca r rsk support o lrou otrs

by al tsl too acty wt ustral strust s a s balac ro by t socall l' ot Pary wo or rpat rtorca opposto to tPary l coup w faco suppor, tus lp okp a t lluso ta Labour ca b pus to lt appot o olt lw rb' caoo as str o poyt s ust o apl osos abty to apulat ts stuao

r ar two rasos wy t op o pus Labouro t lt s lusory rst s t atur o t Partytsl As Ralp ba as pot out O poca par

s ca socals to b tr a Labour Partyas always b o o t ost oatc o abou socals, but abou t paraary sys Eprcal a

lbl about al ls ts lars a always a oon to tat sys r po o rrc a tcono actor o r poltcal baour ' (3 ) Labouras r b cott o ass obl sato o workrsor t ortrow o captals as always b cot to ak captals work or sooty (antrby possbly a b or ualy) 45, or toa uc lssr t 64 was abl to o ts by n

5


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touc so sall but al os (th lopt oa halth sc th postwa po b th ost

obous apl I th pst cooc couctu tha o os s a lss tha t was o th o thpous occasos Labou wll ha to b oply a butally pocaptalst soo

h sco aso s th pst oasatoal stat oth aty h has b a cotu cl th llo act cott to h Labou aty I 90, 2local pats (out o a total o sowh o s hu

al to s lats to th atys Aual Cocbcaus thy coul ot a act b wll aabl to o o bcaus thy coul ot ao to s oth a w locals cptos th local bachs o thaty a th obu o oat by l classbs h aty lashp oo has ouht hato stablsh th pct that Coc csos o th

aty a ot b o th alatay Labou ay lt alo a Labou Got I shot to wa a hts th Labou aty woul b lttl o tha wastbath

t at th sa t th o a poltcal lashpbcos o a o t h atcal basbtw poltcs' a ta uos ba to cublu th ath astato, ot bcaus o a s wok class coscousss but bcaus o th oy polcy th a statutoy cos polcy y stk s a poltcal stk

h oasato bst plac to o such a poltcallashp woul at st sht appa to b th BtshCoust aty Copa wth ts sst pats ac a Italy th Btsh C has always b sall,

a ts o palatay polt t has b usuccssul chall th ooly o th Labou atyo th wok class ot But sc th Scool a, wh th populaty o Russa a ts l oo too ctcal supt o th wa ot l to th ostap owth ts hstoy th C has ha a scatluc ay ta uos b pst by ay

o th bst shop stwas as wll as captu tos th aous lls o th buauacy

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h Briish C P oyay oow th zizas o Sainisan stainization, but ana o a a nubr o srus on th way owr or h as n or itn yarsit has bn incrasiny incapab o orin a iianarship. his ac ss ssntiay ro its stray,o pushin Labour wars an at th sa ti tryin owin positions in h tra union hirarchy ra unionctions an n in hss insta o a ans o ann, th concrn no to barrass rins in h t unionburaucracy bca a or iporant consiration tha

h n o obiis an uca th rank an ih Counis Parys ain wapon or inustria intrntion was a boy ca h Liaison Coi orh Dnc o ra nions his was ciy a sappoint boy, bu it ca conrncs o ats rotra union bois On Dcbr 0 i ook th iniiai in cain a onay srik aains th propos nusria Rations Bi. Bu whn ra action was ca or,

h Liaison Coitt was nowhr to b sn or xap whn h i ockrs wr jai in uy 2 thrwas no noicab inrnion by th Liaion Coi,n thouh ony a onh arir i ha ca a conrnco tw hunr ats which ha an ir action aains h nusria Raions Ac

h or h Counis Party pu h ain phasison ainainin riny raions wih t buraucras iniin h to spak on Liaison Coit paors, wriin h couns o th orning Star, c h ss ab itwas o ainain a iscipin inusria car. brsin iporan an snsii poiions wr or an orab o oow hir own whis rahr han Pary iscipinh Pary's oranisaion, spciay in h workpacs, ban o a ino dcin A pahic inicaion o this was

in in h rport o th C P Excui by ohn Goan onh ass or 3 ca or a bi ri or orninSar sas, sin ha ry br is a rar' (32)hn sru ha rach its hihs or yars hPary's ai was no or han sin hat a is own brs ra h Pary 's aiy papr Thr is i hop hah C P wi b ab o proi an ci adrship in hcass srus n coin yars

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As yt howvr th rgc o a rvoutioary atrativ to th t o t Couist arty is provig a sowprocss ti th at sitis rvoutioary orgaisatios

i Britai wr iiitsia i si ad usuay buriddp i th abour arty h irst opportuity or th torac a widr audic ca i th 66 priod A wavo iitacy swpt through th uivrsitis ad cogs;th Vita Soidarity Capaig orgaisig i oppositioto th Couist artys ca or pac' pur ad sipwas ab to gt up to a hudrd thousad pop oto th

strts o odo ad t ay 6 gra stri irac awo th hops ad thusias o ay o tht A siab rvoutioary iiu grw up though it haditt ipact i th worig cass

It woud b uti to cataogu t varyig tdcis oth Britis rvoutioary t hr ar at ast twvrotsyist groupigs ow to th prst writr ad thaoist groups (o which h is ss o a cooissur ar

probaby as urous oy aoist group with ay sigiicat roots i t worig cass i s th Couist artyo Britai (arist iist which too a ubr o C iitats i t girig uio disiusiod wit ticrasigy rorist poicis o th C adrsip Oth orthodo' rotsyist groups th ost sigiicat arth Itratioa arist Group (IG ad th orrsRvoutioary arty (R orry th Sociaist abouragu) h IG Britis sctio o th ourth Itratioa has ad so ipact i studt circs ad hasdistiguisd its i atiipriaist soidarity wor (Irad Vita Chi), but has ot succdd i aig ayra iprssio i th abour ovt h R hasad t atastic achivt or a group o at bst acoup o thousad o producig a daiy papr h or

rs rss h pric has b a high turovr o haustdcadrs ad a sctaria sty which ss to prohibit coopratio with ay othr tdcy

h argst o th rvoutioary groupigs is t Itratioa Sociaists (IS (h prst writr ust dcara itrst as a activ br o IS ) IS cos ro throtsyist traditio havig distiguishd its by dvopig th viw that Russia Eastr Europ ad Chia ar

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ae capa ocee. he poca oreao o S he pree pero ha here o propec o cha or p he abour Pary a ha wha eee

he coruco o a ope reouoary pary he aer a he pree e o ha he reouoary oraao w be ue by raw a urae eee buprecey he oppoe ha he reouoary oraaow o be ucey ope o he ew ayer o workerbe racae he pree rue h pe apocy o ope recrue o a u reouoaryprorae a a cocerao (o ecue oherarea o work) o bu a coba oraao rooe he workpace

he acheee o ar reaey oe oehoer hree houa eber abou ha o he auaworker a a oo proporo o he re whecoarrae uo a weeky paper Soca orker wh acrcuao approach ory houa hher ha he

crcuao o he C ay or Sar or he e abour weeky rbue a oe ory brache orae acore a oher workpace

Bu he bu o a aerae poca eaerhp caoy ake pace he coure o rue A pree oeo he reouoary roup ca eree he coureo aoa rue (houh hey ay hae a eceweh a a or ocae coc ha eee

urey he pree uao a oee whch cacorporae he houa o worker who are be obreak wh he abour Pary a he rae uo bureaucracy bu are ar ro be w o accep a reouoary prorae ha eee a rak a eoee work e he e rae uo oee, bu h aa he bureaucracy. Such a rak ae oee cou be o eeop he or o oraao a coac requre rue whch he eoe rucure o he Brh rae uo oeeo o roe

Oer he a wo or hree year a uber o rouphae eere arou ure a uo whch reec a awaree o he ee or a rak a e oee oe cae uuay uo oae by he rh

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wig ths groups ha b poliically ispird by thCouis Pary th lashlight group i h lcricias

uio, or th buildig workrs Chartr) ohr cass or apl h Rak ad il group i th atioal ioo achrs ty ha b aiad by roluioarisi h tth o Couist Pary oppositio. hs groupigs all ha spciic progras or th uio or idustryi qustio but grally cobi a coitt o ilia policis wih th dad or th docraisaio o thuio

A iporta sp towards h dlopt o a ral rakad il o was a corc hld i Birighao arch 30 4 sposord by a ubr o rak ad ilpaprs i arious idustris. his was attdd by or500 dlgats o or 300 rad uio bodis hr wrdlgats rprstig 40 shop swards ad cobi co its two strik ad occupatio coitts radscoucils ad s district coits h 23 uiobrachs rprsd icludd 5 ro girig, 3ro trasport ad 32 ro achrs hr was so dbat a th corc as to to wha t such a ot should adop a political, as distict ro a iliat,rad uio progra but thr was gral agrto th d or a aggrssi st o dads o wags adcoditios dc o trad uio rights ad rad uio

docracy a ss h corc was a tribu to Edward ah.For such a corc o ha b hld our yars arliridpdly o th sposorship o h Couis Pary(who disissd it as big calld by h roskyist traioal Socialiss' (33 would ha b qui icociabl.

Bu th ah gor was o or ha a prlud to

h struggls ha ca b pcd i h t our yars.h probl or workrs durig h our yars o oryrul was a raic rac to dlop ors o orgaisaioo kp up wih h dads o h struggl. Tha rac sillgos o

5 0


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Ian . Birchall is a member of the National Committee of the

British International Socialists, author of the recently

published Workers Against theMonolith ; TheCommunist

Pais sin 143 (PlutPress, 1 974 ) and co-author ofFan : h Suggl Gos On

OES

(1 ) Gain ha is by h woks h oiial saisis o all h los'

(2) Fo a ail suy o h iology an oliis oh abou Govnn s P Foo h Poliis o Haol_ilson onon 168.

(3) S Kion sn Cpalism Si ha,onon 10.

(4) Biain ino Euo onon 0 2(5 ) f:-'h Buauay oay' Innaional So

ialis 48, unuly 11(6) Ail 6, 15() onon 13 225.(8) R Hyan Inusial Conli an h Poliial Eon

oy' h Soialis Rgis 13 onon 14, 10.( ) 1 (10) Bnyon o i 265.( 1 1 ) For a full accunt see J Hinton, The

_!st Shop

Swas ovn onon 132 ) P s Poliis an h Sho Floo' Innaionalialis 64, ovb 13.

-1 3 ) Dmb 1, 10( 4 ) A Ban Class Suggl an h Hah Govn

n w Rviw anuayFbuay 13.( 1 5 ) F h Posal oks an h oy Onsiv

onon 11 3.

(16) Bnyon o i 304.( 1 7 ) A Murray UCS - The Fight for th Right to Work,

London 1 97 1 , p 1r: - -. 0 _.-

.-

(18) Daily a o h onis Pay Sb 31 1 .

(19) Soialis ok b 11 11(20) J2 1 97

5 1


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() rave Was ocasWorke Jauary 4

() aure y ocast Worker, Jauary 6 4(y addtos bracke _

(3) Auust (4) Jue (5) Quoted aca es oveber (6) epteber 30 92-' ( ) Jauary 3.() ctober 6 3

() B Messae Mers a peca trke teratoa oas 6 Apr 4 \0 er 4

(3 ) Paraetary ocas, odo 3(3) ot Jauary 3(33) org ta Apr 4

SocialstWorkerWEEKL PAPER OF THEINTERNATIONALSOIALISTS (Ful coverage of the workers' move-ment in Britain and relar articleson the inernaonal strue forcilism

Subscrition : 2 dollars for a year 6

dolars for 6 months (srface mail)or 2 dolars for a year dollarsfor 6 months (arma) fromSOCIALIST WORKER, CrobidgeWorks Corridge Creent LondonE2 UK.

5 2


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from the

New England Free Pess

LIBERATNG YONGCH I LDREN FROM SEX ROES

By Phyl li s Taube Greenleaf . Thisbooklet uses anecdotes from daycare centers , p ay groups , and freeschools to show ways n whch stereo-typed sex roes can be broken down It was recommended by Ms Magaz ineand is in its thrd printng 24 p age , 3 .

T HE P O I C S O FHEAH CA R E : A B I B I O GR A Y

Edited by Ken Rosenberg andGor do n Sch i f f Wel l o ver 4 0 0annotated l stngs of boosand art cl es o n h ea l th ca r e inclding hospital s , inrance ,drgs , hea lth worker s , commni ty control , women nd he alth ,mental health , ecology , occ

pationa saf ety , al ternatvehealth care system , and othertop i c s 8 p age s ,

6 Union uare, omvile, Mss. 02143

5 3


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# 19

OCAL and FEMINS

Brb Es, Tw a fed Mv Iekl -O W' Uni

p f ty[I Zrky 1 " Sc a st Pol i : ad

Fm

o in this ue ; fnber , " o.li' fa'P. 'SM n hl "

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NAME _ADDRSS CITY___ STAE/ZIP___ ubscripton (6 issues) $ 1 0 o Forign subsription $ 1

o inge issue $ 2 Contrbution$__

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Women orkers

ad Cass Strugle

Sheila Rowbotha

and Beatr i Campbell

Wome ow make up 40% of the work force i Briaiad over haf of a wome o out to work This meashat the oder pater of spasmodic work outside the homewith a o period spe i chidbeari is bei repacedby a more cotiuous reaio to he waes system Theeffects of this chae o womes cosciousess are compex but eremey siifica They are compicaed by hefact that the icrease i the umber of wome workers isarey amo married wome wih you chidre forced

to do parime uskied work Aso he coditioi ofite irs i he famiy to be submissive to ated, servecompeme ad defer cotiues whe wome o out owork emiie coditioi ad job prospecs reiforceeach oher.

Moreover wome are si maiy resposibe for housework so for wome with famiies work for waes is oyoe aspect of the tota paer of abor Housework ad

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cari for chidre ad e is hidde abor bu esseiaor he coiui of work i he wae abor syse This

doube shif eas ha for he woa who oes ou o workher work reay is ever doe Woe are o jus physic-ay exhaused bu aso have roube cocerai. Thusahouh woe s ives spa he couiy ad idusry doesic producio i he faiy ad coodiy produc-io or capia he percepio of os woe reaisfraeed A woa shop seward describes his fra-eaio A woa akes up her poiics fro bis ad

pieces he oy haf ises o a prorae o TV whisshes doi he roi or soe oher househod job hehas' o he ie o si dow ad ise o soehi ahe way hrouh (2)

The ae orieaio of idusria reaios ad radeuio baraii reiforces his fraeaio by iorihe specific siuaio of woe as a sex Woe workersare hus preseed as uoraizabe ad "backward, a viewwhich is uforuaey reiforced by ay sociaiss Wihi he woes ovee i Briai i he as few yearshere has bee a rowi recoiio of he eed o uder-sad how cass expoiaio ad feae oppressio ierwie ad how soe aspecs of woes cosciousesscoud, i recoized, have a posiive ad radica eiai quesioi bureaucracy i he uios ad he ecooi sic

coceraio of uch wae baraii (3)This arice reviews he various fors woes a work has ake i he as few years i a effor o disiuish siiariies o ad diereces fro es acioWe wi discuss boh he srues woe have had o fihike e workers ad aiaio aais he specific ie-quaiies o woe ike srikes for equa pay.

Woe a work are obviousy subjeced o he sae

pressures of he ecooic decie of Briish capiais ase uepoye iaio he deeriaio o e-poyers o resis wae deads ad he icreasi e-decy for he sae o iervee direcy o coro payUepoye, houh has probaby aeced woe as aroup ess ha e because he iediae efec o redudacy (ayofs ) has bee i idusry raher ha i he

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service sector where woe predoiate (4) the otherhad woe i aufacturi which is hit by uepoyehave bee affected raher ore tha e i the sae i-dustries ad have bee ivoved i severa struesaaist redudacy Much feae epoyet is awayshidde because of the use of woe by capita as a reserveof cheap ad casua abor

Woe are cocetrated i the ow paid jobs i whichiirat woe costitute a ower eve eve ao wo-e workers herefore the effects of ifatio ad wae

freeze o woe are especiay harshy fet particuaryby woe who have to be the soe supporter of a faiyJob isecurity ad a ow eve of uio oraizatio ofteo with poor pay y just over a quarter of woe workers are i uios as opposed to haf of the ae aborforce Eve ao woe who are uio ebers theirroe is ofe a passive oe of payi dues but havi itteifuece o icy aki with their specific rievaces

frequety overruedroups of workers who are bady paid ay of the ithe pubic sector where the overet ca directy iposewae restraits have bee propeed ito a uaccustoediitacy i the ast few years Perhaps aoher factorbesides risi prices has bee he deteried iervetioof epoers ad the state i the traditioa echaissof trade uio uderstadis of a fair wae ad of acceptediequities bewee various sectios of he worki casshus productivity deas icoes icy a d the rhetoricof ecooic paers about the piht of the owy paid haveiroicay throw o stadi ipicit acceptaces of differeces ope to eaiatio (5) his has stretheed hecotiui tedecy withi capitais to break dow odcraft skis ad cofuse he disticio betwee skied ad

uskied Deads for parity ad equa pay eted herae of what is coparabe.fueces upo cosciousess are difficut to chart ad

prove withou very deep ad detaied studies of particuardispues which we ack a preset Whie the eistece ofwoe's iberation has had soe direc traceabe effeco particuar dispues i which woe have bee ivovedrece its imact has bee ore as a eera sybo

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of deface py hear abot the acto of other woeat work ca be portat too he ords sew achstswho wet o strke for the rht of woe to be acceptedo the hher pay rades ser 6 ad cosed dowords dobtedy ecoraed other woe (6 ) I 2 ashop steward Je Marrer oed a dspte ood-as odspeaker factory Haat apshre whch hadbee preosy ozed sad the woe workers readabot ad dscssed woes berato ad were ecoraed by he acto of other work cass woe who re-

sstd reddacy by occpy a shoe factory akeha orfok ( )

EW RA AD IE MIIAY

Whateer the precse cases there hae bee seerapsres of rak ad fe tacy dstres whereether there has ot bee acto for a o te or tat

acto has ot bee take before Woe hae payed a s-fcat part both these deeopets Eary 0 4 50 workers the eeds coth dstry, ay ofthe woe erpted after abot th

radical america - vol 8 no 5 - 1973 - september october

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