Workers Press no. 1047

workers press

MILITANT WORDS AMOUNT TO NOTHING

CP AND SCANLON

SEEK TORY DEAL

INCORPORATING T

DAILY ORGAN OF THE I

From Stephen Johns in Torquay THE MEN who lead Britain's deal between their union and the Tory government. This must be the verdict from the engineers' policy- making conference at Torquay, after a week of dis- dominated by the Tory attempt to destroy the cussion trade union movement. of Despite torrent the national ever on com- But all their efforts militant words the national mittee. been devoted have to what committee of the Amalga- they call left unity. mated Union of Engineer- This has meant two ing Workers (engineering things at Torquay. section) have made three major retreats. FIRST they have watered down abandoned their or have the • They given resolutions to get every left green light for their leader, into their wing windbag Hugh Scanlon to enter new 'progressive' camp. open-ended talks with the SECONDLY they have con- Tory government. tinued the desperate now • They have deliberately task of boosting Hugh refused to lay Scanlon as a genuine 'left". plans for a political and industrial cam- This becoming very bring down paign to the This week's discus- difficult. government. sions have seen Scanlon on the right the words • Yet they have drawn are up different, but the principle and hours claim a wages is the same. that cannot succeed unless the forced On all questions he has government from office. had the right-wing's agree- ment. Though these policies have So what guarantees have been hedged by all kinds of rank-and-file engineers hard- verbal 'safeguards' the exe. by rising prices, rents cutive of the unions are say- and mortgage payments that it's ing business usual' as Scanlon will lead a national and will Heath with meet pay fight on this claim? the rest of the trade union None whatsoever. Just leaders. over a year ago he atomized The reason for this re. pay fight the national with treat is simple. Not one of his treacherous plant-by- the delegates. from the Sta- plant bargaining which wiped linist-dominated left', to the the central demand of out extreme right. had the cour- shorter hours. age or principle to take up produced This strategy the political challenge laid minimal pay increases which down by the Tories. were immediately eaten up That is why resolutions Tory-inspired inflation by industrial demanding mass and price rises. to defeat the action gov- Scanlon justified this bank- ernment, a national strike rupt, reformist strategy on wages and talks over no grounds that a national the with the Tories under any strike would have involved circumstances vanished from the NIRC and the application the of the week's agenda of a court-enforced cooling debate. off' period. The situation is now very This before the retreat serious. Industrial Relations Act- The union's despite the Goad president affair-is Hugh Scanlon will certainly danger of becoming in the jump at the opportunity complete rout under offered. Phase Two laws. On Wednesday, he said The engineering conference been decisive. has It has talks with the government should start the sooner the proved intelligent to any that better. Whether the Tories working-class observer militant talk is a charade.

accept his plea remains to Reg Birch, the "Maoist' be seen. member of the

AUBW

The failure to exDose executive council, told one these dangers and warn the delegate not to talk about working class rests entirelv revolution. with the Communist Party.

The national committee This year the Stalinists

TURN TO BACK PAGE

had their largest faction ATING THE NEWSLETTER • FRIDAY APRIL 13, 1973 • No 1047 • : 4p

F THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE SOCIALIST LABOUR LEAGUE

DANGER

If the George Bassett confectionery group gets its way the 750 workers al Barratt's Wood Green sweet factory in north London will start losing their Jobs in August. In two years the factory biggest employer of labour in - will be completely closed. Union representatives the area for 100 years. in the factory are planning to call meetings of their members in the next few days to discuss possible action in defence of their right to work. They met management yesterday.

THE 1.5 million-strong is now on the brink of yesterday calls on the new talks with the Tory union leadership not engineering union is to continue its defiance of government. co-operate with the Stalinist speakers yes- until the Act the Industrial Relations is

PAINT

terday began all their set repealed and to press Act. by TUC to 'con- the set up contributione The union's policy- gratulating' the

AUEW

fund for unions making conference re. executive council for its ized under the Act. Tor- iected a move at stand the Act. against It also demands that quay yesterday to allow Bracknell delegate Labour government members Stevens Gordon said: fore the National Indus- repeal the Act and *Nothing has given uS back the fines with trial Relations Court. reason doubt our interest. But the main issue original decision against

A UE W

executive Hugh Scanlon's call for the Act-nothing at all. government amendments This member Bob Wright interpretation said that to to the anti-union laws- weeks after comes two rECOgniZE was not raised the the court was the first by Scanion's statement to strong left-wing faction parliamentary Press step to recognizing the men Act. the conference. in which he invited the The He said the union was silence on this government to make two issue was in line with amendments to the Act willing to set up the Communist Party's of a deal with voluntary body for con- part policy the the ciliation of disputes with unions. to protect union leadership, policy adopted which The the

CBI.

IT LOOKS as if we're mov- ing into action - Socialist Labour League branches in Southwark £10, Luton £23.05, Leeds £7, and a London reader £30, have brought the total to £1,307.95. This means we have to find £692.05 by next Tues- day, April 17, to reach 22,000. If we do this, then a kind reader has offered to double the fund. Who will be next? Post to: Party Building Fund 186a Clapham High Street London SW4 7UG A DEPUTATION from Fine Tubes, Plymouth, which lobbied the AUEW national committee yester- day said that engineers' presi- dent Hugh Scanion has said their dispute was 'not urgent' to merit discussion. The Standing Orders Commit- tee wiped off the agenda a motion calling for support to the three-year union recognition fight. John McQuade, AUEW shop steward at Fine Tubes, said: 1 am really disgusted. We came down here to solicit sup- port. We expect support. 'We are going to come back and try again next Tuesday. The matter will not rest here • See fuller story on p.3.

01-720 2000

workers press

MILITANT WORDS AMOUNT TO NOTHING

CP AND SCANLON

SEEK TORY DEAL

From Stephen Johr THE MEN who deal between their This must be the verdict fror making conference at Torquay cussion dominated by the Tory trade union movement. Despite a torrent of militant words the national committee of the Amalga- mated Union of Engineer- ing Workers (engineering section) have made three major retreats. • They have given the green light for their leader, Hugh Scanlon to enter new with the open-ended talks Tory government. • They have deliberately refused to lay plans for a political and industrial cam- paign to bring down the government. • Yet they have drawn up wages and hours claim a that cannot succeed unless the government is forced from office. Though these policies have been hedged by all kinds of verbal 'safeguards' the exe- cutive of the unions are say- ing 'it's business as usual' and will meet Heath with the rest of the trade union leaders. The reason for this re- treat is simple. Not one of the delegates, from the Sta- linist-dominated 'left' , to the extreme right, had the cour- age or principle to take up the political challenge laid down by the Tories. That is why resolutions demanding mass industrial action to defeat the gov- ernment, a national strike over wages and no talks with the Tories under any circumstances vanished from the agenda of the week's debate. The situation is now very serious. The union's president will certainly Hugh Scanlon jump at the opportunity offered. On Wednesday, he said talks with the government should start 'the sooner the better'. Whether the Tories accept his plea remains to be seen. The failure to expose these dangers and warn the working class rests entirely with the Communist Party.

This year the Stalinists had their largest faction

INCORPORATING T

DAILY ORGAN OF THE

1 Johns in Torquay who lead Britain's e ready to seek a their union and the rdict from the engineers' policy- Torquay, after a week of dis- the Tory attempt to destroy the , ever on the national com- mittee. But all their efforts have been devoted I to what they call 'left unity'. This has meant two things at Torquay. FIRST they have watered down or abandoned their resolutions to get every left windbag into their wing 'progressive' camp. SECONDLY they have con- tinued the now desperate boosting Hugh task of Scanlon as a genuine 'left'.

This is becoming very difficult. This week's discus- sions have seen Scanion on the right - the words are different, but the principle is the same. On all questions he has had the right-wing's agree- ment. So what guarantees have rank-and-file engineers hard- hit by rising prices, rents and mortgage payments that Scanlon will lead a national pay fight on this claim? whatsoever. Just None over a year ago he atomized the national pay fight with treacherous his plant-by- plant bargaining which wiped out the central demand of shorter hours. This , strategy produced minimal pay increases which immediately eaten were up inflation by Tory-inspired and price rises. Scanlon justified this bank- rupt, reformist strategy on grounds that a national strike would have involved the NIRC and the application of court-enforced cooling period. retreat before the This Industrial Relations Act— despite the Goad affair-is in danger of becoming a complete rout under the Phase Two laws. The engineering conference has been decisive. It has proved to any intelligent working-class observer that militant talk is a charade.

Reg Birch, the 'Maoist' member of the AUtW executive council, told one delegate not to talk about revolution. The national committee

TURN TO BACK PAGE

ATING THE NEWSLETTER • FRIDAY APRIL

13, 1973 • No 1047 4p

F THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE SOCIALIST LABOUR LEAGUE

If the George Bassett confectionery group gets Its way the 750 workers at Barratt's Wood Green sweet factory in north London will start losing their jobs in August. In two years the factory biggest employer of labour in the area for 100 years _ will be completely closed. Union representatives in the factory are planning to call meetings of their members in the next few days to discuss possible action in defence of their right to work. They met management yesterday.

THE 1.5 million-strong is now on the brink of yesterday calls on the new talks with the Tory engineering union is to union leadership not to continue its defiance of government. co-operate with the Stalinist speakers yes- until the the Industrial Relations Act is A0I1mt terday began all their set repealed and to press Act. by TUC to contrihutione 'con- the set up The union's policy- the

AUEW

gratulating' fund for unions penal- making conference re. executive council for its ized under the Act. Tor- jected move at the Act. stand against It also demands that quay yesterday to allow Bracknell delegate Labour government members to appear be- Gordon said: Stovenc fore the National Indus. repeal the Act and pay 'Nothing has given 11 C the fines with back trial Relations Court. reason doubt our interest. But the main issue- original decision against

A UE W

Hugh Scanlon's call for executive the Act-nothing at all. government amendments This member Bob Wright interpretation said that to weeks after to the anti-union laws comes two recognize the the court was the first was not raised by cantamon+ strong left-wing faction parliamentary Press men step to recognizing the Act. at the conference. in which he invited the The silence on this government to make two He said the union was issue was in line with amendments to the Act willing set up the Communist Partv's of a deal with voluntary body for part con- policy the the ciliation of disputes with to protect unions. adopted union leadership, which The policy the

CBI.

£100,000

PARTY

BULDING

FUND

IT LOOKS as if we're mov- into action - Socialist ing Labour League branches in Southwark £10, Luton £23.05, Leeds £7 and London reader £30, have brought the total to £1,307.95. This means we have to find £692.05 by next Tues- day, April 17, to reach £2,000. If we do this, then kind offered reader has to double the fund. Who will be next? Post to: Party Bulding Fund 186a Clapham High Street London SW4 7UG Fine Tubes pushed off engineers' agenda A DEPUTATION from Fine Tubes.

Plymouth, lobbied AUEW national committee yester• said that engineers' presi- dent Hugh Scanion said has their dispute was 'not urgent' to Mer sc asion. The Standing Orders Commit- wiped tee agenda motion calling for support to the recognition tutee-ved Un on fight. steward at Pine Tubes, sasdop John

AUEW

Fine am really disgusted. We came down here to solicit sup- port. We expect support. 'We are going to come back and try agair next Tuesday. matter will not rest here.

• See fuller story on p.3.

NEWS DESK

01-720 2000

PAGE 2 Workers Press, Friday April 13, 1973 THE COMMUNIST PARTY is now openly supporting Hugh Scanlon's plan for a corpor- atist deal with the Tory government. The 'Morning Star' yesterday reported approv- ingly from the engineers' national committee conference in Torquay: 'The resolution does not prevent the union president Hugh Scanlon taking part in talks with the government on matters other than incomes policy and at no stage in the day's debate did any delegate suggest that he should be barred from talking to the govern- ment.' In the first place, the resolution did not specifi- cally instruct Scanlon to take no part in talks with the government where incomes policy is to be discussed, and it is perfectly obvious that as things stand at the moment, Scanlon will be back to Downing Street with the rest of the TUC leaders as soon as talks begin again. Secondly, the issue is not talks as such, but talks of the kind that have already been held at Chequers and Downing Street regularly since last summer. These discussions have taken place in the middle of a historic offensive by the ruling class to push back the working class, stifle free trade unionism, and impose a corporate state on Britain. In a period of unprecedented class battles over rents, the Industrial Relations Act, the jailed dockers, the wholesale arrest of pickets, and the abolition of free collective bargaining, Scanlon and the TUC leaders want to capi- tulate to the Tories. Scanlon told the March 5 special Congress: 'We went out of our way to reach agreement even in the knowledge of the slings and arrows that would have to be faced if the Chequers' deal had come off. 'We offered the government something that no trade union movement has ever offered before in peace-time: to limit wages at a fixed level in return for statutory controls on all prices.'

The Stalinists, as usual, are deliberately dis- torting the facts. Their editorial is a blatant cover-up for what Scanlon is really doing.

It declares: 'While it can be argued that it would have been better to decide to refuse any talks with the government in which ques- tions of pay were involved, the terms of re- ference laid down by the engineers rule out talks concerning any form of wage freeze.'

The issue is to stop Scanlon and company doing a deal to 'limit wages', which they tried but failed to conclude at Chequers only because they felt they could not sell the terms of the The 'Morning Star' deal to their members. resolutely refuses to deal with this question.

In fact the Stalinists go on to tell an outright lie in order to cover up their capitulation.

Their editorial continues: 'This is a defeat for Heath and those on the right wing whose aim in talks with the TUC and the government is to achieve an agree- ment on some form of wages freeze and restriction on collective bargaining.'

It was SCANLON who told Congress of the plan to 'limit wages at a fixed level'.

It was SCANLON who offered the Tories a corporatist deal in his Parliamentary Press Gallery speech. It was SCANLON who supported the TUC pledge to discourage other breaches of Phase Two if the hospital workers were made a special case. It was SCANLON who was reported in the same issue of the 'Star' (yesterday) saying: 'There could never have been a permanent arrangement with the government even along the lines of the deal proposed by the TUC leaders in the talks last year, as the present form of society does not allow for this.

'But a 12-month agreement would have given a "for putting our respective breathing space houses in order"? Certainly Scanlon and any union leader have a right to talk to employers and on occasions may even need to talk to a Tory government.

The issue, however, is this: Are they there to war against the class enemy wage a tactical as part of the developing struggle to expro- priate the capitalist system in its entirety?

Or are they there to help impose corporatist restraints on the working class in order that the capitalists can get through their econo- mic crisis? It is now clear to everyone where Scanlon and the Communist Party stand.

YASSIR ARAFAT, leader liberation organization, Al the US Central Intelligenc sibility for the Beirut terror three Palestinian leaders w The Palestinian command sa responsible for the attack were in Beirut. Israeli naval vessels opposite the embassy, but they pick up the assassins. The operation had all the hallmarks of partici- pation by the CIA's 'de- partment of dirty tricks' which specialized in the murder of revolutionaries and anti-imperialist fight- ers. This organization is closely entwined with the Israeli special services. Six agents carrying foreign passports-three British, two Belgians and one West Ger- man-booked into hotels near the scene of the Israeli landing on the Beirut coast.

They hired cars in readi- ness for the invaders and left without paying their bills after the raid. Important documents are reported missing from the homes of the murdered men.

These include details of the Fatah organization in Israel and the occupied territories.

One of the victims, Kamal Adwan, was a leader of the WAR COULD break out 'at any moment' in the Middle East, according premier Abbas to Hoveida of Iran, current- ly the Tory government's guest. He is not reterring to Arab-Israeli struggle, but to the tension in the oil-soaked Persian Gulf. This is the richest oil- producing area in the world, supplying 35 per cent of the world's oil and containing 60 per cent of proved oil reserves. It has long been a focus for the attention of the imperialist powers, notably Britain and the United States.

These powers have woven tangled web of intrigue, a setting up statelets along the Arab coast of the Gulf which totally subservient to are their requirements as is the Big Brother in the Iranian north. Iran has been singled out SOVIET car production for 1973 is to be dropped by per cent according to revised target figures pub- lished in Moscow. This will still mean an increase over last year's output, but will enable scarce materials to be switched to other lagging sectors of the in economy the 'third, decisive year' of the Five-Year Plan. Pitching the target lower will make it possible to claim a big success if it is ex- ceeded and gloss over the real failures. , leader of the Palestinian ion, Al Fatah, has accused elligence Agency of respon- it terror operation in which aders were murdered. mand said that some of those ck were still in the US embassy vessels had been off the coast but they had not been able to Fatah intelligence organiza- tion. Israel is no newcomer to the business of anti-Palestin- ian terror. The men who BIG WORKERS' demon- strations have continued in Barcelona against the shooting of a striker by police last week. On Wednesday afternoon over 2,000 demonstrated in the main streets and petrol bombs were thrown to halt traffic. An estimated 7,000 on the streets in the were evening when armed police turned out in jeeps. A series of strikes has as the most reliable pillar of imperialist influence in the Gulf in the wake of the British forces' withdrawal in 1971. Many. British mercenaries are still engaged in the area and units like the notorious Special Air Service under- "training' take missions in the Gulf states. But the main role has passed to Iran, which is be- ing militarized on the grand scale. The Shah has budgeted some 50 per cent of the country's oil revenues about £2,000m—for sophis- ticated weaponry and equip- ment. Areas like Baluchistan are closed off to visitors and have become vast training camps where, it is said, Iranian troops are receiving instruction from Israeli advisers. All this activity is being masterminded from Wash- ington and London. Shah has The been appointed to keep the Gulf safe for imperialism. WEST GERMAN Chancellor Willy Brandt won an initial victory over his 'left' critics at the conference of the ruling Social Democratic Party in Hanover on Thurs- day. He re-affirmed his sup- port for keeping American troops in Europe. He linked the maintenance of the alliance with the United States to the policy of detente with the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, of which he has been a main protagonist. Despite the challenge to the leadership from the left wing, mainly concentrated in the Young Socialists' or 'Jusos', the party apparatus carried out the massacres of Arabs at Deir Yassin and other towns in 1948 have an honoured place in Zionist circles. After all, without their efforts, Palestine could never have been 'cleared' of its original inhabitants to make way for large-scale Jewish settlements. taken place in the city's fac- tories. Underground sources claim about 50,000 have been involved. At the shot worker's firm, 1,600 staged a lightning were sent home strike and by their employers. A group of lawyers and professors have called for an inquiry into the original shooting, which occurred when construction workers in the suburb of San Adrian de Besos called an illegal strike for higher wages. He is already waging a pitiless internal war against any opposition. Student demonstrations against the huge arms pur- chases earlier this year were with met bullets and l6 students were killed. investment adviser J. T. Laurenson put it earlier this year: 1972 was in the which the States finally woke up to the fact that its energy resources were being consumed at a it that frightful rate and could no longer remain vir- tually independent of foreign supplies at least in the short term.' Profits of the oil mono- year 'make polies for last depressing reading, with a general drop in net income of over 50 per cent in the case of BP and over 28 per cent in the case of Shell', according to the 'Financial Times'. Heath, Nixon and Hoveida are getting together to make sure by violent means that this trend does not continue.

• have the confer- seems to ence well in hand. One of the most applau- ded passages in Brandt's speech came when he in- sisted that there was no place in the SDP for Com- munists or pro-Communists.

Brandt is determined to resist any pressure to push the party to the left and has said that he will resign if the conference does not en- dorse his government's policy. The 'Jusos, which in- cludes party members up to 35 years of age, wants a revision of the party pro- gramme adopted at Bad Godesberg in 1959 which

BY A FOREIGN

CORRESPONDENT

THE TRADITION of terror is built into the Israeli state machine. Money is lavished on the Mitzah Elohim (God's Wrath), Tel Aviv's own 'dirty tricks' depart- ment. Headed by Gen Aharon Yariy, the military police chief, it is under the con- stant supervision of premier Mrs Golda Meir herself. Its men are specialists in assassination, terror, sabo- tage and murder. It was they who murdered Mahmoud Hamchari, Paris representative of the • Pales- tine Liberation Organization at his flat last December.

Other victims. have in- Khanafani, cluded Hassan Wael Zuaiter, and most re- cently Basil Raoud al Ku- baisi, murdered in Paris only.

last week. It was this organization, which for many years Palestinian infiltrated the organizations guerrilla preparation for its present murderous attacks, that be- gan the 'export' of the strug- gle for which the Zionists now like to blame thé Arabs. In fact it was Israel which began the 'export' of conflict by attacking , refugee camps in 1966 outside its own bor- ders. The first Arab operation outside Israel was the hijack- ing in 1968 of an El Al jet.

It is important to note that this operation was car- ried out by a minority of Palestinians who were dis- avowed by many of the other fighters, whereas the Israeli acts of terror are car- ried out with the full back- ing of the Zionist state.

The Israeli terror-state is operate under allowed to cover of diplomatic privi- lege with active backing from the imperialist powers, despite a lot of hypocrisy about 'terrorism'. They would actually wel- come a situation in which the Palestinians would be regarded as international outlaws, to be shot, hung, bombed or mutilated with impunity to ensure con- tinued domination of the Middle East by the mono- poly interests of imperialism.

dropped all reference to nationalization or socialism.

The party hierarchy's firm stand have appears to cowed the centrist 'Jusos' • Its criticism of the party's right-reformist policies re- flects deep currents of dis- satisfaction in the German working class. It voted en masse for the SDP in the last election to defeat the extreme right Franz-Joseph around Strauss and expecting big changes from the govern- ment. Brandt Is anxious to con- serve the alliance with the Free Democrats, a capitalist party, upon which the fate of his government depends.

Sir William's reds Sir William McEwan Younger, chairman of the Conservative Party in Scotland, yesterday Tory warned women about the 'reds' menacing British industry. Speaking at a women's rally in Alford, Aberdeen- shire, Younger said: 'There are in industry to- day reds, not under the bed, but in positions of power and influence. 'Reds and near-reds, so near as to make no differ- ence, so near that they are united in their desire to use THE NEW national office Union, David Warburton, 1 that it now fell to the union The Industrial Rela- tions Act, he said, had done great harm to in- dustrial It relations. ditching needs in the same wastepaper bin as other anti-union legisla- tion.? Warburton, formerly officer for the G&MWU's clerical section, MATSA, recently succeeded to the post made vacant when David Basnett became union general secre- tary. An ardent supporter of right-wing witch-hunt the against the majority of the National Committee of the Young Socialists in 1963- 1964, he is now in charge of negotiations for a £5.64 pay claim on behalf of the Pilkington glassworkers. His speech yesterday was delivered to a joint stewards' supervisors' conference and on industrial law-organized by the corporatist Industrial Society. During the last week the society has also been patronized by HM the Queen Mother and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh. Shambles Claimed Warburton: "There is now no doubt that the present government's Indus- trial Relations Act is … a shambles. It is so, not merely be- cause of the attitude of the trade union movement, but because employers recognize it as a hindrance to good industrial relations and choose to avoid it as far as possible? This passage of the speech was presumably drafted be- fore Lord Widgery's judge- ment on Tuesday using the Act to place new clamps on picketing. Warburton then insisted that the Act must be re- pealed 'or amended to such an extent that it is unrecog- nizable to the one we have' no half-way There was house for bad law, he said.

There was no trace in his speech, however, of any call for a campaign to mobilize the trade union movement to remove the Tory authors of the Act from power. Workers Press, Friday April 13, 1973 PAGE 3 Full backing to toolroom strike

THE EXECUTIVE

council of the Amal- They're everywhere who has been awarded gamated Union of Engineering Workers has surprising number of licences declared official the strike by 211 toolmakers in Scotland. at the GEC factory in Coventry.

Younger's defence of the Tory ladies told 'capitalist the structure According to district 'He seemed to be tell- officials this is one of o he unest systel devised by Illan.

were is laughable. hiding to nothing, the endorse. added. industrial complex industrialized struc- action pull It's a ments by the EC glorious system, of on is particularly vulner- down the canitailst structure Ture course. It you happen to be record. Chater went into the of industry, which, whatever works on separate union youngers But despite this its fault— -and it has faults- lionaire, landowner, director but pickets Younger pic- couragine sted. Television and has come more to mase me were alarmed when they kets have received little standard living of the the British Linen from Dank. moral support SaW Jollowed mass of our people than has Thihily to the Tory bares the toolroom superin- Those end Frank Chater. the a want to als any other torm tendent. this exploitation of the many trict organizer. ton yet devised by man. workers by the few at the He spoke to them the conters. The strike has been 'We are menaced by near- 'anti-social'! other top are called aay

MOOC

called in protest against anarchy and certainly despondency', ac- the company's refusal to to one of the forces See breweries' profits. cording winose negotiate on the annual malevolent activities Glasgow businessman, Monday P.4.

PLACES

Day claill. G & M officer at Industrial Society Home from Union 'good sense' home dole outdates bad law' Playgroups suggestion by MPs' committee MAKE YOUR local labour exchange a home away from home.

BY OUR OWN REPORTER

That's the message to come from a Commons select committee report published yesterday.

THE NEW national officer of the General and Municipal Workers' The report says that play areas for children should be established in Union, David Warburton, told shop stewards and supervisors yesterday employment exchanges. This should encourage larger numbers of women to that it now fell to the unions' good sense to stabilize industrial relations.

make use of the services there.

As the employment ser- vice is to be "substantially rehoused' by 1980, it play areas into the porate "Jobcentres'. new These should be centres staffed with by people matters closely affect-

TIRE 188E3 178

ing women and able to give davice. All-party The report on the emplov.

ment women by the 1S all-party Employment and Social Services tee the Expenditure Committee.

CORRECTION:

Workers Press, pater • ester 4, i was incor- suggested in a caption that Derek kobinson, aeputy chairman of the Pay Board for the was chosen the head of the eccucians Chapple. union HranKi made clear the text, the Chapple in fact chose Job Kolnson

TOT

was presentation of the power workers case the to Wilbertorce incuirv. One of the many pickets at the American-owned Fine Tubes plant in Plymouth where workers have fighting for union recognition for over three years. Now the union will not even put it on the agenda.

GET YOUR BOOKS. PERIODICALS AND

NEWSPAPERS FROM THE

Fine Tubes motion paperbacks ruled out of order centre

THE

ENGINEERS'

But

AUEW

about this. The division- committee national committee should policy-making con- yesterday accepted have done something at Torquay ference from about this. recommendatior yesterday refused to Orders 'It should have been Tire discuss Committee not dis- discussed here. con- a call for 28 charlotte st cuss the issue. strike to back the action scer a wree car an emergency, said Cornwall delegate three-year-old Fine Mr Baumbach. Ron london wl Tubes strike, Ply- The resolution had been mouth. mittee has rejected plea 1o back union An emergency resolu- standing orders thought involved nothing new Tion Trom There

WICIDES

West Cornwall district in the situation. organize the engineers' committee They also argued that at their factory. union te enolneers execulive Wine en Ture aso. and the Transport and tion should have come OPEN Monday lo Thursday 9 am -6 p.m

NOW

General Workers' Union another emergency a.m. -7.30 p.m. from the union's divis- the jailing rudays fiate night opening) "co- resolution on execulive and not lona Come nichoers rael a district committee. to settle the Fine Tubes Niesewand by the Smith i feel regime in Rhodesia. strike. pretty rotten

PAGE 4 Workers Press, Friday April 13, 1973

FINGER PRINTS-

TO KEEP

TABS ON

EVERYONE

Commander John du Rose, former deputy assistant com- missioner at Scotland Yard, has called on the government to introduce compulsory fingerprinting. Du Rose, head of the special hunted squad which the Richardson and Kray gangs, says that 'thousands' of crimes unsolved because the police don't have a national file of fingerprints. The calls for such a file are also being echoed in right-wing sections of the Tory Party. article in the 'Daily year the first national crime computer begins operating.

It will produce any crook's record Within seconds. But it will be at least another year before the computer can be geared to cope fingerprints — those of with known criminals and many more unidentified ones. 'Even when the machine pro- duces fingerprints, the police will still be without the key offenders' to many of the identities. That is why more and more police officers are that sayıng the government must compel every one of our 55 million population to have their fingerprints recorded.

I think that in this age of world-wide travel, an increas- ing number of air disasters, and the risks of acident OF death to which our nomadic teenage population is exposed, most people would welcome such a move to assıst in identifying the seriously ill or injured or killed.' But du Rose can't be serious.

The clamour for a national fingerprint bank has nothing to do with helping the police trace disaster victims. It is to Above and below: The principle of the I do with extending state repres- in the magazine 'Electronics Today Interı sion. Having stealthily introduced their national police computer at Hendon, armed the police

LASER

and formed special anti-picket squads, now the police want to introduce further weaponry to keep tabs on people, people who haven't committed any

AUDIO

crimes. CUrUT The police are all in favour of increasing the surveillance of the citizen, but ordinary how they bridle if it is sug- gested that the police force be

DETECTOR

MIXCH

investigated Fa - FI to examine the amount of corruption that is going on. Writings of

TRỜT SIV

Leon Tintsky (1938-9)

WRITINGS OF

WRITINGS OF

LEPH

LEON

TROISK

UROTSKY

1934-25) Six volumes of History of Russian Revolution Trotsky's writings during -special gift pack the years 1933-1940 of three volumes £8.00 inciuding poslage £1.70 including postage Please tick those you require. Amount enclosed Name Address Complete form and post to: New Park Publications, 186a Clapham High Street, Lon A New Park Publications Booklist is a vailable, fre Details of a highy. sophisticated laser bug. ging device have been compiled by a group of academics and scientists and published in "Electronics Today Inter- national'. The journal says that the eavesdropping equipment has developed and been is being used by state security and in- telligence organizations.

In footnote, the editors • "Electronics Today say: In- ternational" would like to thank the academics, many and scientists industrial Or- ganizations who supplied uS with background material for this article. "They not named-at are their unanimous request!'

The article says that the newly-developed equipment is able to monitor conversations in miles rooms up to two away. The laser bug has two major advantages over more traditional devices: No equipment • whatsoever needs to be installed in the premises to be bugged. Nor, in fact, does access have to be gained to the premises at any time. • It obviates the need for The telephone-tapping. basic principle is very simple. Any sound generated within a room will cause the windows- and, to a lesser the extent, walls-to vibrate in sympathy with the generated sound.

le of the laser bugging device as shown This effect can readily be ›day International'. demonstrated by applying one's ear to the end of a stick, end the other of which is pressing against the outside of

REAM

EXPANDING

TELESCOPE

of glass. And sounds a pane within the room will be heard quite clearly. An even more dramatic de- monstration is to turn up the volume of a record player in small room; the window can often be seen glass and felt to be moving. The laser bug exploits this

TARCET

effect. The beam laser is

RECEIVER

the directed against window

TELESCOPE

and monitors the minute vi- brations.

OLD JUDGES

MOVED TO

HIGHER

COURTS

The Tories plan to allow ex- magistrates—too old to preside in their own courts—-to sit in the higher Crown Courts. This ludicrous and reaction- ary proposal is included in the Administration of Justice Bill, now before parliament. It provides for some ex- 70 magistrates, aged between and 72, to sit at Crown Courts, even though they can no longer sit in their own courts. Trotsky-a documentary by Magistrates who sit with a Francis Wyndham circuit judge at the Crown and David King Courts have as much say £1.65 including postage as the judge in a sentence. The proposal has been criticized others, by, among Professor Gordon Borrie, director of Birmingham Univer- sitv's Institute of Judicial Administration. 'Surely it is very odd, said Borrie, 'that a man or woman is considered too old to sit in a magistrates' court, but not too old to engage in the work of a higher court. ret, London SW4 7UG «These septuagenarians are ble, free, on request. barred by statute from sitting in a magistrates' court' These are then fed from receivers, mixer and modu- lators until the voices can be recorded. At first sight it essential—in would seem order to receive the reflected beam—to have the receiving and transmitting devices set up so that the beam is normal (at right angles) to the win- dow glass. 'In practice, when the inci- dent ray strikes the glass, diffuse reflection takes place (as well as normal reflection) —i.e. some of the energy is reflected in all directions. Therefore the laser may strike the window from practically any angle and sufficient energy will be diffusely reflected to provide a usable signal.'

Many such instruments are available commercially which, with slight modifications, can be used for snooping. These are known as 'laser veloci- meters' and are being bought in large numbers for use in in- dustrial control applications.

Mr Laisk, a physicist at the Macquarie University in New Wales, Australia, has South shown how easy the laser gear is to operate. He and his third- year students made one of the devices and monitored conver- ny sations in a room 30 yards away. The magazine suggests two ways of beating the invisible bug. One is to ensure that no confidential discussions are held in a room with an out- side wall. Secondly the bug's effect can be dashed by installing heavy doubled glazed windows the air space open to with atmosphere while the outer pane should be mechanically excited by a white noise gene- rator. In a less serious vein the magazine suggests: 'A very effective approach would be to paint the entire outside of the premises matt black. This would totally absorb the energy of the laser beam thus preventing reflection!' Quite simple equipment can be used to detect whether a beam is being used to bug your office. You merely check your windows for heat energy.

Lord Denning, the Master of the Rolls-aged 74. The judiciary is staffed by inordinate number of an septuagenarians. Lord Denning, the Master of the Rolls, is 74, while Lord Morris of Borth- y-Gest, who often sits in the House of Lords, is 76.

= WALL ST IS HIT BY THE

EQUITY FUNDING FRAUD

BY JOHN SPENCER

The New York Stock Exchange is reeling under the impact of the Equity Funding disaster, which promises to be one of the biggest financial scandals ever to hit Wall Street. Alread badly shaken by the fall in share prices, which has wiped over 10 per cent off average share prices since January, the Wall Street mag- are now thoroughly nates frightened. Some of the biggest names in United States finance could well be tarnished by the crash and already a fraud of gigan- proportions, literally in- volving thousands of millions of dollars, has come to light.

Equity Funding, until last week, was one of the glamour stocks on the Wall Street market. The glamour stocks— a diminishing group - were the only bright spot on the market. Now, as the Financial Times' put in on Saturday, 'even those fund managers who got off lightly will be taking another look at the other glamour stocks in their portfolio.' Equity Funding stock was by some of the most held prestigious names in US among them the Boston Cp, Fiduciary Trust Co, Chem- ical Bank, Bankers Trust, Ford Foundation, Morgan Guaranty Trust, Fidelity Corp, Sears Roebuck Pension Fund, Dreyfus Fund and Lowes Co.

The company's sudden demise came as a particularly severe shock in the offices of the American National Bank and Trust Co in Chicago. Officials of the Illinois Insurance De- partment found that the bank had exercised a little too much trust. They forced open a safe deposit box belonging to Equity Funding which was supposed to contain some $25m worth of negotiable securities. The box was empty.

Also caught in the crash are the First National City Bank of New York, Wells Fargo and Franklin National Bank. They were in a banking consortium which loaned Equity Funding more than $55m. Equity Funding has a $75m with revolving credit this banking consortium and at least $55m was outstanding when the crash came. The banks are planning to seize $12.5m in other Equity Fund- ing accounts to offset their loss. In addition the banks want lay their hands on the to Equity Funding subsidiaries, Bankers National, Northern Life and Equity Funding Life Insurance. Outstanding stock of these firms was used as collateral for the loans to the parent corporation. This grab is being chal- lenged in the courts and practically everyone involved is taking out writs and de- manding court orders in what promises to be a bonanza for securities lawyers. Equity Funding's downfall also hit investors who had pur- the company's shares chased on margin—paying only part of the purchase price and hoping to be able to sell at a profit later. It was this form of trading which accelerated the catas- trophic fall of share prices in 1929: margin purchasers are forced to sell their shares if their price drops below a cer- tain point to avoid losing the entire investment. To freeze the situation a Federal judge last week ordered Equity Funding into immediate bankruptcy. Now investigators from the Securi- ties and Exchange Commission (the government-appointed 'Watchdog' on Wall Street) have moved in. Wall Street 1929. Inset left: Raymond Dirks, They the plan

NOSI

thorough-going investigation in the commission's 40-year tory, start it necessary the entire necessary to try and find how Equity Funding got away with it so long. If Equity Funding fraudulent, the Was argument how many goes, big names are equally otner rotten inside? The basic fraud which Equity Funding was involved in consisted of dreaming up phoney insurance which ¡lTe was then re-sold to other in- surance companies at a dis- count. The bankruptcy is also blow the of prestige number of Wall prominent Street analysts. At least eight of them recommended inves buy Equity Funding tors to shares during the past SiX months. The existence of the fraud was first revealed by Ronald Secris (37), a former employee of Equity Funding, who told prominent Wall Street an- alyst, Raymond Dirks, that at least a third of Equity Fund- insurance was

1NOS

1Te phoney. According to Secris the nót company was Content simply with creating fake in- it also fake put in surance. death claims on the re-insurers and falsited the accounts lo fool the auditors. aymond Dirks, Wall St analyst. Right: Stanley G The practice became so ex- tensive inside the firm that a special department, No 99, was created to dream up new variations on the fraudulent theme. What happened between March 6 and March 27, when the New York Stock Exchange suspended trading in the com- pany's shares, 1s likely to occupy a good deal of the in- vestigators' attention. It seems almost certain that 'insiders' who knew a crash was imminent unloaded their holdings of Equity Funding shares onto innocent bystand- ers who were left holding the parcel. Among the insiders who sold were Stanley Goldblum, the company's chairman and president, who resigned these offices on April 2 together with two other top Equity Funding men. An insider report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows that Gold-.

blum arranged to sell 50,000 Equity Funding shares on March 26. Three days before the Equity Funding chief ex- ecutive assured the Stock Ex- change council 'there was no truth in the rumours' about his firm. The holding Goldblum sold was worth $900,000 when he Workers Press, Stanley Goldblum, Equity Funding's chairman w sold it. But today it is worth- less. One firm which was sold a large block of shares on the Goldblum sold his day was Loew's the Corporation, a tobacco, hotel and theatre company which is now suing its stockbroker. Goldblum is a former scrap dealer and meat salesman who in started the corporation Delaware in 1960. Until 1966 it was engaged almost exclu- sively in the sale of life- insurance policies and mutual fund shares issued by other firms. Then it bought four insur- ance companies and moved in- to the insurance and mutual fund businesses. Goldblum be- lieved that the real competi- tion in both insurance and mutual funds was for sales- men, not clients. He offered big commissions and built up his sales force from under 200 to 2,500 in seven years. By 1968 the firm was selling individual life- insurance at the rate of $425m a year. Mutual fund sales were at over $100m a year and net income was up from $800,000 a year in 1965 to about $6m in 1968. The next year Equity Fund- ing's shares reached an all- time high of $80 each. But it seems likely that despite its size the company was on the decline. Ronald Secris dates ers Press, Friday April 13, 1973 PAGE 5 hairman who sold out and resigned.

the beginning of the great Equity Funding fraud at least as far back as 1970. Such fraudulent operations are the classic desperate re- source of managers who can- not raise ready cash any other way. The idea of creating fic- titious life insurance business and then selling it at a dis- count was ingenious. But there was one problem.

The re-insurers expected to be paid their share of the insur- ance premiums after the first year and the company had no option but to sell further fraudulent claims to other in- surers in order to raise the necessary funds. The significance of the Equity Funding crash can hardly be underestimated. The company's total life insurance were supposed to have sales been $3,240m and much of this is owing to the firm's in creditors. At a time of unprecedented inflation the revelation of the Equity Funding fraud is cer- tain to undermine confidence in the stock market still further and to speed up the existing wave of selling i by share-holders. But the question that will be uppermost in everyone's is how mind many other glamour companies of the New York Stock Exchange are built on sand like Equity Funding?

TEN YEARS OF THE YOUNG SOCIALISTS

PAGE 6

Workers Press. Friday April 13, 1973 Demonstration outside the 1963 Labour Party YS conference.

ALOUR OVERNAN:

Young Soci

ERS

S! YS members march 1966: against Wilson's antl-union laws.

Below: Alexandra Palace, 1971, 4,500 gathered for Anti-Tory rally.

Right: Em- pire Pool, Wembley, 1973, the Pageant of Working Class history.

BY SHEILA TORRANCE

enormous against the steady growth of job-

YS NATIONAL

workers

SECRETARY 1966-1970

By Easter those who supported Keep Left had won growing sup- port for their policies and ment. came a Socialists. majority inside the By WHAT faced Young young people when six leadership members out of Il were elected ago? Unemploy- ten years the YS national committee.

ment was high - over the It was a tumultuous year. Un- A Tory gov- million mark. employment continued to in- was in In ernment power. The frustration of the Young began to reveal itself in Young Socialists three youth the among the National Committee savage hatties mem- between 'mods' and 'rockers' bers who fought for socialist broke out in different areas.

policies and supported Keep 1964: The Young Socialists Left were expelled from the National Committee called a de- monstration during the winter Labour Party. against unemanst and forced mittee took The Labour Party leadership the national executive committee expulsions. official support, was determined to avoid any give its of challenge to the Tory govern- was the first time that the The Labour Party had been forced At this time our paper ment. to come out on issues facing the had been banned because it working class. spoke out in a forthright way.

to turn attention On January 12 of the same away from te hardshin offun.

for year, the Young Socialists held employment, youth were to remain diveded be- demonstration in de- Socialist couraced fence of those expelled and tween 'mods' and 'rockers', and taking up the fight against un- On Were ven rence on a rem employment and the Tories. ment from the capitalist Press. The Young Socialists By March the whole of the actively the intervened. trade union movement staged an Large numbers of these young into the were won YS branches and were united in a common struggle against the real enemy - the Tory govern- July the Labour Party leadership had decided to act.

Working class youth and their frustrations with this system had in the Labour Party. Five members of the Streatham Young Socialists were expelled campaigning for support 'mods' and rockers' and for winning large numbers of these young workers into the Young Socialists. A huge lobby of the Labour Party's National Executive Com- mittee took place, against these expulsions. But it was the eve of a General Election. called for The Labour Party unity in the guise of 'don't rock the boat' and tried to silence its youth movement which was de. manding that 'Wilson must Stand for Socialist Policies' Expulsions began and Young federa- branches and tions were closed down. September 27 thousands of YS members marched through the streets of London to de- monstrate against the witch-

FOR

LINKS

hunt: demanding Labour removal of Wilson and a fight with full-scale attacks by air and must fight or socialist policies for socialist policies. land, the policy of the Young the only Socialists stood firm for victory way to ight the The 'majority' on the YS Na- tional Committee convened the to the Vietnamese revolution eno The election of the Labour October Socialist contingent Fifth Conference of the yS and government did nothing to Young took stop members founded an independent youth these movement. It elected a new Na- maste Linger Carnecol Dall lll d Internalud Young demonstration calling ana the leaders of the to lead this committee Socialists National Committee for the victory of the Vietnamese fight. who supported Keep Left, people American 1966: the

WELC

Gradually the Young 11l1- all expelled. perialist aggressors. Socialists began win support 1965: Young Socialist branches for their policies amongst the 1967: The Young Socialists led function brat independente federations continued Workers trade union movement. the struggle inside the labour Keep see tne LaDour movement MPs to force the lett ernment for what it really was, Leit became te omcial paper oI to ngnt wilson in order to bring the YS. realize that helped the about socialist policies. The per- The true nature of this Labour Dalikers Droverty-owners alic sistent betrayals of the Labour ignored the working class.

government became rapıdly clear increasingly government „became In January a mass demonstra- see. apparent to thousands of

TOT

ever vone co Ce - termineci to help the bankers TIOn te pro- ers. and posed anti-strie legislation 'In the monopolies and ignore Meanwhile, by the summer, Strife' Barbara by the working class. The hrst thing support for international lal an they did was to break their elec- casue vouth movement had grown and tion pledge to help the old age And by the Sixth Conference international assembly was a big of the Young Socialists. a body held under call forts or une waistolic. of fraternal delegates came from all parts people from The Labour government gave the factories and union branches itself a wage increase and turned and gave their support. its on the pensioners. In October, we celebrated the back June brought the seamen's 50th of the The anniversary Young Socialists deman- The Labour strike. government ded the increases Russian Revolution with an ex. hibition, a rally and films.

granted September sea- by men: the era of political strikes the But freeze brought had begun. about by the Blackpool outside the Labour government Party Conference which called Vietnam, the US was having its effect. The dock dock pressed forward strike The the government broke out. OAPs the 101 JuDoOrL LOr TO government did everything in its legislation. A serious movement power to defeat the strike.

pose a socialist was growing lo 1968: All of Wilson and sections the alternative to an labour movement were now call- emergency Labour Party confer- ing for a socialist alternative to ence was demanded. Wilson. the On eve of the Labour Young The Eighth Social- Party Conference in Brighton we ists' launched Conterence was domi- colest demand nated by the September 26 the that ment on edition of we must not sit back and hrst. .our daily paper, allow the Tories The 'Workers' Press, to be was run Unemployment turned to off the The struggle for powel. press. Britain. leadership again alternalive was growing all Was Then in May and June came the underway. greatest manifestation yet of the 1970: The year of Lenin and international crisis in the General Trotsky was a momentous year. Strike action in France and the Wilson Washington visited city of Paris brought for to a stand- talks with Nixon and the YS stıll by the action of thousands called demonstration against workers. Czechoslovakia of In his visit. workers rose in bitter At the Tenth Annual Confer struggle against the Stalinist ence in Scarborough it was clear Ireland riots that Wilson's to everyone po- broke out in Derry. licies door were opening the each day for the return wider 1969: The year opened with a of a Tory government. strike by the workers postal In June the driven to action Tory after a period government of 40 was elected. Right from the stari years. In February a mass demonstra- the Young Socialists campaigned the bringing tion held against the pro- down of the was Tories and the posed return of legislation and the Ninth Young Socialists Con- Labour government pledged socialist policies. was held around the de- terence mand that the -TUC call a Gene- Unemployment was on the in- ral Strike this Charter against crease. Our of Basic acli Rights was launched on Decem- ber 19 from the All Trades Unions Alliance Conference at a when all the basic rights time won by the working class over hundreds of years of struggle and deprivation, now came under the sharpest possible attack from the Tory government. 1971: A big campaign began for the Right to Work, parti- cularly, at first, in defence of the Pılkington Glass workers.

In February, the largest de- monstration for several years, of 200,000 workers. called was by the TUC in protest against the The anti-union laws. class con- flict in Ireland exploded and civil war broke out in Ulster. We led the campaign against Tory government, the against British troous in Ulster and in March we held the biggest rally in our history when 4,500 work- ers came to the Alexandra Palace in support of our demands to fight the Tories. The Tory government stepped up its attacks against the health service, school milk, trade union rights and wage demands. In the summer a fair organized was £1,200 which raised for the Pilkington workers who were in Workers Press, Friday April 13. 1973 PAGE 7 the forefront of the struggle for the Right to Work. On August 15 the world was stunned and the course of history by Nixon's changed statement that gold would no longer back the dollar on the world market.

Immediate attacks were launched against the working Un- class. and our Right employment grew to Work campaign began. Work 1972: The Right to Marches began with the Glasgow FIve march Februarv 5. on marches culminated in the big- gest rally ever, of 8.500, who gathered to demonstrate against the Tory government at the Em- pire Pool, Wembley on March 12. Keep Left expanded to a week- ly paper the first and issue appeared on May 13. Inflation beginning was to have serious effects on the work- ing class as the Tories stepped attacks against basic their up democratic rights. At the Twelfth Annual Confer- made to ence a warning was youth everywhere that this Tory government determined In was its blatant efforts to destroy workers' rights. The anti-union legislation came effect and as a result into tuil of its use, in the summer. five dockers jailed. The were enor- mous movement of the working the Ciass against imprisonment forced the government to re- the dockers. Soon after- lease i wards the T&GWU hined was under the new laws and for the first time the Taff Vale since Judgement of 1901, a union was by held liable the law of the the of land for actions its members. Unemployment mounted dur- ing regional the summer and Right to Work marches were held in Scotland, the North East, the North West and Yorkshire gaining big support. Meanwhile food prices had already The begun to rise. Young Socialists launched of 'Fight the campaign winter Tory' rallies, showing the colour film Right Work marches to made by the ACTT. These rallies were used to strengthen and build a mass Young Socialists' move- ment. Attacks by the Tories went on: Young Socialists entered Councils of Action to join with local labour the movement 1n order to fight back against the government. pushed their The Tories attacks to heights and new brought in openly dictatorial measures. State control of wages was introduced and Britain went into the Common Market. 1973: The year began with the unmasking of the real face of Toryism. A new offensive was launched by Heath which in wages were held down by legal while prices rocketed measures into the Common atter entry Market. The Tories began to arm the police and brought in a special security Committee under Lord Jellicoe, strengthening 'law the and order' brigade within the ruling class. On March 1l, at the Empire Wembley. Pool biggest de- the monstration we have ever staged was presented in the form of a Working Pageant of Class His- 10,000 trade unionists, tory: housewives and youth attended anti-Tory rally defence this • In of their basic democratic rights and to support the building of the Revolutionary Party. At each stage of development in the objective situation inter- Young Socialists vened and provided a decisive lead to hundreds of thousands of workers and youth in this country. Our history is one of prin- cipled struggle. We have never backed down any fight: from and on every occasion we have remained firmly on the side of the working class. We have al- exposed the treachery of ways and the reformist Stalinist within the leadership trade and labour morements. union Thirteenth Our Annual Conference on April 14 and 15 of marks the beginning a new year in year - a which the working class will be called upon to arm itself as never before in face of the attacks that will be launched by a Ruling class in unprecedented crisis: let us go forward and win thousands of young people every- where to bring them right to the the forefront of struggle to transform the Socialist Labour League into The Revolutionary Party. from

KEEP

LEFT

Reprinted April 7, 1973.

PAGE 8 Workers Press, Friday April 13, 1973 An astonishing attack on a Workers Press article which con- cerned the Lancashire port of Heysham has been made at a meeting of the Morecambe Trades Council. The article was described by an NUR delegate as a 'vicious attack' on his members while a delegate from the National Union of Seamen claimed that statements in the article were 'dastardly lies'.

The article called —'A day in the life of an unregistered port'— appeared in Workers Press on February 9. The authors, Charles Parkins and Andrew Laurence, described the wages and conditions of casual labour employed at Heysham on the new truit whart being operated by the tirm, James Fisher and Sons. Here the two authors reply to the trades council delegates and reiterate the facts about the situation at Heysham. Our article was based on trade union officer. Exactly who is supposed to be 'jealous'? first-hand experience at And does Mr Rowlands regard the docks. It described it as the job of trade unions how, when a ship comes to encourage a competition be- workers different in to Heysham, tween casual who can do the ports to see 'dockers' turn up in the most work for the employers?

There of morning hoping that their number are a peculiar aspects, in fact, to the names will be called for Morecambe Trades Council a day's work. attack. For one thing, how is it that, The article pointed out that from early in February, when with the high unemployment Workers the Press article and low wages in this area of appeared, it has taken the Lancashire, there were num- delegates until the beginning of April to decide that they to turn up for the chance objected to it? It seems rather a day's pay at Fisher's. long time for spontaneous It went to on S. Rel state- indignation to boil up! ments by Mr R. Robinson, Secondly, Trades Council United Kingdom shipping man- secretary Owen Spencer is re- of the Citrus Board ager ported as saying that he has which is sending fruit made 'exhaustive inquiries' as effect into the to the origin of the article, but that the great advantage of has been unable to trace where using Heysham was its cheap- it appeared. ness compared with Liverpool, Yet the article appeared in and that another advantage Workers Press, in an issue was that there was 'no pro- which, like every other, clearly blem or difficulties with labour'.

bore the address of the pub- Nowhere in the article was lication and a telephone num- the National Union of Rail- ber for our news desk. let alone waymen mentioned, If anyone wanted to query its members attacked. On the anything in the article, to con- contrary, the article advocated test any of the facts in it, or that Heysham should be made to make any comment on it, it a registered and that all port, fairly should have been trade unionists should unite to simple matter either to write demand that a Labour govern- or telephone the paper. all ment would nationalize Which can only bring us to docks, under workers' control the question: did those who and without compensation.

condemn the article actually It seems rather strange, read it? And if they did not, therefore, that instead of dis- then how, as a matter of in- cussing the threat trade tol terest, was it actually brought unionism that must be posed to their attention? by the use of casual labour, the delegates of the

NUR

should denouncing Workers Press be for publicizing it, and accusing "attacking' us trade unionists. One delegate who actually likewise It is noteworthy seemed able to quote from the that the representative of the Rowlands. article was Mr He National Union of Seamen- condemned it for allegedly at- whose members are themselves tacking both the NUR and the expressing concern about the Tames Fisher and company, threat to jobs and conditions Sons. from the increasing of He further alleged that state- use foreign ships by British Rail- in the ments article were 'dastardly lies' and should should apparently fail to re- be cognize that dockers in ports refuted. like Preston and Liverpool are This is a serious allegation equally concerned about what to make. is going on at Heysham docks.

Workers Press has a large In fact the NUS delegate, and growing circulation among Mr Bill Rowlands, declared: I trade unionists, including think there is a bit of jealousy dockers and railwaymen, Heysham. Not throughout Britain, over many who regard weeks ago, there was a letter the a reliable source paper as the of sent to employees con- information industrial questions gratulating them breaking and a vital instru- on the British record for unload- ment in the struggle against That in itself has ing a ship. the Tories. perhaps caused people to be If, as a result of misinforma- jealous.' tion, we had printed anything peculiar This seems a rather that was inaccurate, or untrue, from statement to come a about Heysham docks or any Picketing at the unregistered port of He!

other matter, then we should hear from any be glad to workers who wished to point this out, or to correct us.

The February 9 issue with the article on Fisher's wharf was sold in the Lancaster area to, among others, workers who had been employed at the wharf the previous month.

Although it aroused some interest and discussion, none of them complained, either to the paper itself or to the sellers who are in the area regularly, about anything in the article.

We also have NUR members who read our paper regularly, none of whom told us he saw the article as an attack on his union. To say that the article con- sisted of 'dastardly lies' , im- plies that not only was it not factually correct, but that the writers deliberately made statements that were not true.

Was it a 'lie' that casual labour is employed at Fisher's wharf? Was it a lie that, when a ship comes in to dock, un- employed workers turn up at the dock gate hoping to be picked for a day's work? Was it a lie that, the faster the 'casuals' unload a cargo- perhaps quickly enough for Mr Rowlands to boast that they have broken a record'-the ort of Heysham during the national dock strike sooner they are all out of a job again? Was it a lie that Mr R. S.

Robinson of the Citrus Board of Israel was quoted in the 'Lancaster and Morecambe Guardian' as saying: 'One of the port's great advantages is the cost. Last year it cost the Board about £8 a ton to discharge ships in Liverpool. We can discharge ships in Heysham and forward the crates to Liverpool for about £2.50 a ton less than that price.'? Was it a lie, that Mr J. Anthony Grant, on behalf of the Tory government, des- cribed the new wharf as 'an example of excellent industrial relations'? We are not out to attack trade unionists at Heysham or anywhere else. Our fight is with the Tories and employers, and Workers Press aims to unite all workers in this fight.

We do not wish to see workers competing with each other for jobs, whether as individuals outside a dock gate-evoking memories of the 'bad old days' of muscle-

MANEYSTE DOCKERS

SHOP

SIDWROSCO:

ck strike last summer. feeling and the 'blue-eyed boy' system-or as work forces in a particular area or port com- peting to offer themselves as cheaper labour than those in other parts of the country.

It last was no pleasure summer to see dockers from Preston and Liverpool having to picket Heysham and Glasson Dock, where other dockers, equally worried about their future, were handling extra work. We know that the pickets did not enjoy it either; and we suspect that the trade unionists at Heysham were themselves not exactly happy about the situation. As one Liverpool docker remarked at that time, as he watched the police escorting a out of Heysham: The so long as this sort of thing is going on.' • Our article on Fisher's wharf was written as part of the fight to stop that 'sort of thing' from developing any further; to alert workers to the dangers posed, and to achieve unity of dockers, and all trade unionists.

are out to stop the Tories laughing, once and for all. And we think most trade unionists, including those in Morecambe and Heysham, are with us on that one.

CHAIRMAN MAO'S CHINA

'Economic Mam Chine vant: 1972', by Joan Robinson. Angio Chinese Educational Institute, March, 1973. 20p.

BY TOM KEMP

'The basic characteristic of the Chinese economy is that 80 per cent and more of the population, organized in communes, is responsible for feeding and housing itself. The surplus provided by the communes feeds the rest of the population and provides material raw (particularly cotton) to industry.' In this on page 12 of way, her pamphlet, Joan Robinson sums up the present level of development of the Chinese economy. It is still predomin- antly and under- agrarian capable of developed, pro- ducing an adequate supply of basic food and for Clothing the but with only masses, limited for invest- capacity ment in industrialization.

Joan Robinson well IS known as enthusiast for an Mao's China, which to She has been a regular visitor, and particularly for the 'cultural Her revolution. account of the organization, or, she as 'management' of calls it, the Chinese economy is uncritical.

Nevertheless she does pro- vide some useful material which is fairly up-to-date, col- lected as it was during her visit in the spring of last year.

She brings out the main differences between the present form of planning in China and sphere sciousness) in every the methods used in the Soviet from top to bottom. Union and Europe Hence the eastern constant cam- and which were favoured by paigns and exhortations backed the former head of state, the 'The up by group pressure: now disgraced, individual is not free to please Liu Shao-chi and other 'capitalist-roaders'. himself, he is kept up to the mark by his neighbours.' is still highly- centralized in some respects- Both in industry, and even more in the prices are laid down for each communes, some anterprise which has to work of the methods imposed during the 'cultural revolution' out its targets in. association have with the higher bodies. But the been abandoned as 'ultra-left'.

Soviet planning system favours There is an interesting producers and there is much account of how the communes dependence on individual in- are organized and the way in which a surplus is centives, cash bonuses and drawn off fulfilment in physical from them to enable the rest plan of the economy to function.

terms without much regard for market requirements. Because Mrs Robinson is an Maoist These have been done away enthusiastic fellow- with in China, according to traveller the reader should Mrs Robinson: some of her judge- approach 'The Nothing Chinese system de- ments with caution. pends high of is said about the power strug- on a level morality political gles in the Chinese leadership, (or con- Where is Britain Going? Paperback 37$p • Problems of the British Revolution Paperback 35p Lessons of October Paperback 60p In Defence of the October Revolution Pamphlet 15p Marxism and the Trade Unions Pamphlet 25p Death Agony of Capitalism and the Tasks of the Fourth International Pamphlet 10p Postage: 10p per book, 5p per pamphlet.

Order from: NEW PARK PUBLICATIONS 186a Clapham High Street, London SW4 7UG the continued adherence to Stalinist methods the Maoist version of 'socialism in one country. It is all a little too good to be true when she writes, at the 'Chinese patriotism close: and socialist ideology are pull- ing together, and every indiv- idual can see in his own little corner what that can achieve.

'In this atmosphere, even the dreariest work ceases to be a bore. When Mrs Robinson visits China she is received by offic- ials as 'a friendly foreign per- sonage and goes on a conduc- ted tour. She does not speak Chinese and is now an elderly lady full of enthusiasm for a way of life so different from her own before her retirement-teach- ing "bourgeois' economics at Cambridge University.

CLOSE DOWN

UNIVERSITIES

The recent splurge of pub- licity to the annual confer- ence of the National Union of Students has seriously bothered Mr K. M. Young, a reader of the 'Birmingham Post'. He wrote to the paper say- ing that 'we, the public, now demand that, for the time be- ing, the social and political departments of all British uni- versities be closed down.

'When we have ceased turn- ing out from our institutions of higher learning people who have demonstrated beyond all doubt that all they have ti Workers Press, Chairman • Mao. Above: Chinese construction workers eng learned is a passionate desire destroy all facets of the to existing society, and sanity has been restored to student affairs, we might then consider reopening those departments with very limited intakes of students and new staff chosen , teach a curriculum com- prising only the beneficial and academic aspects of so- ciology and politics respec- tively. And if students still revol- ted, we could burn books on politics and sociology and lock up the agitators until their minds had been re- trained.

CASUALTY

The Labour Party has suffered another casualty — Manches- ter councillor John Goldstone.

He is not standing as a Labour candidate because he 'believes there is a certain business morality no matter what poli- tical colour a person is' ers Press, Friday Aprll 13, 1973 PAGE 9 rkers engaged in bridge bullding.

The morality Goldstone re- fers to is the Manchester Labour council's correct de- cision to halt the sale of council houses. The Tories brought in the sale of council houses as part their strategy to destroy of housing. public sector To- gether with the effects of the Housing Finance Act they hope to reduce the stock of council Council property. homes that are sold pass for- ever into the private sector and ultimately into the hands of the housing sharks. Goldstone, who represents one of the most solid work- areas of the city, ing-class voted with the Tories over council house sales. He also voted with the Tories over the Housing Finance Act (with many other Labour council- lors). Because of his position, he feels unable to stand as a Labour candidate in the next election.

PAGE 10 Workers Press, Friday April 13, 1973 All Trades Unions Alliance meetings EAST LONDON: Monday April 16, WANDSWORTH:-Monday April 16, 8 p.m. Bromley Public Hall, Bow 8 p.m. 'King's Arms', High Street, Road, E.3. Councils 'Fight rising rents and S.W.18. Build of Build Councils of Action'.

Action'. prices. TOOTING, Tuesday April 17, 8 'Bricklayers Arms', Tooting Baths, Tooting 8 p.m. p.m. Road, White Hart Broadway, S.W.17. 'The crisis of near Lane. 'Make Scanlon retract'. capitalism' MIDDLETON, Thursday CRAWLEY: Tuesday April 17, 8 April 19, Robinson Road. 8 p.m. 'Assheton Arms', near the AL Hall, D.M. Middleton Gardens. Make Scanlon Retract'

FELTHAM:

Thursday April 19, 8 ACTON: Tuesday April 17, 8 p.m.

'Three High p.m. Horse Shoes' 'Six Bells', High Street, W.3. Street. 'TUC must call a General 'Make Scanlon retract'. Strike to make the Tories resign'.

PADDINGTON: Tuesday April 17, SLOUGH: Wednesday April 25, od wand asterr 8 р.т. 'Prince corner 8 p.m. Community Centre, Farn- of Harrow Road and Road

'TUC

ham call Road. 'Make must Scanlon withdraw Strike General to make the his proposals. No collaboration Tories resign inursday April 26, with the Tories'.

CROYDON:

WOOLWICH: Wednesday April 18, Coombe p.m. Ruskin House, Castle', Powis Street, Road. 'Marxism and the trade collaboration with the unions Pay Board'. WILLESDEN: Thursday April 26,

WALTHAMSTOW:

Wednesday 8 p.m. Brent Labour and Trades April 18, 8 "The Bell', Hoe .p.m. Hall, Willesden High Road, Street. 'TUC must call a General N.W.10. 'Build Councils of Strike'. Action'. FULHAM: Thursday April 19, 8 HOLLOWAY: Thursday April 26, Fulham "The Swan', Broad- 8 p.m. Co-op Hall, Seven Sisters p.m. way, S.W.6. No collaboration with Road. The economic crisis and Pay Board'. the the rising cost of living'.

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TODAY'S TV

BBC 1

Holi hynt. 12.55 News. 1.00 12.30 Pebble Mill at one. 1.30 Chigley. 1.45 Look, 2.05 Portrait stranger. 2.35 Badminton horse trials musician. and from Newbury. 4.00 Slip racing school. and slap. 4.10 Play 4.35 4.50 Deputy 5.00 Jackanory. dawg. Crackerjack 73. 5.40 Sir Prancelot. 5.45 News. Weather.

6.00 NATIONWIDE.

FILM: 'Hostile Guns'. George 6.45 Montgomery, Yvonne de Carlo, Donlevy. Tab Hunter, Brian Western. 8.15

THE

GOOD OLD DAYS.

9.00 NEWS. Weather. 9.25

THE REGIMENT.

10.15

DIMBLEBY TALK-IN.

11.00

LATE NIGHT NEWS.

11.05 FILM: "Arabian Nights'. Maria Montez, John Hall, Sabu. 12.30 Weather.

REGIONAL TV

CHANNEL: 1.15

News. 1.30 London. 2.30 Yoga. 2.55 Short story. 3.25 Lon- don. 4.25 Flintstones. 4.50 London. 6:10 Report: 6.35 London. 8:30 Coms.

6.35 London. 8.30 Come- dians. 9.00 London. 10.35 Film: 'Miami Exposé'. 11.50 News, weather.

WESTWARD.

As Channel except: Dr Simon 9.50 Danger man. 10.45 Locke. 11.15 Homes of history. 11.30 London. 12.37 Gus Honeybun. 12.40 Diary. 6.25 London. 1.27 News. 6.00 Sport. 10.32 News. 11.50 Faith for life. SOUTHERN: 10.15 Paulus. 10.40 Yoga.

11.05 Dr Simon Locke. 11.30 London.

12.05 London. 12.00 News. 2.30 Women. 3.00 Galloping gourmet. 3.25 London. 4.20 Weekend. 4.25 Pebbles Bamm. 4.50 London. 5.20 and Bamm Cartoon. 5.25 Crossroads. 5.50 London.

Scene SE. 6.35 Upper 6.00 Day by day. 7.05 Sky's the 0.3ot week- 7.35 crusts. Madigan. 9.00 London Two Faces 10.30 Film: "The end. 10.35 Dr Jekyll'. 12.15 News. 12.25 Weather.

Guideline. Sesame street. 10.55

HARLECH: 9.55

11.05 Coastguards. Sara and Hoppity. 2.30 Women. 3.30 Lon- 11.30 London. 4.50 Lon- 5.20 Chuckleheads. Cross- don. roads. 5.50 London. 6.01 Report West.

6.15 Report Wales• Return of 6.30 Doctor in 7.00 Film: the charge. Comedhans: 11.00 Profile.

9.00 London. 10.30 Comedians. 11.30 Our Locke. 12.30 kid. 12.00 Dr Simon Weather. FIGHTING the Tory govern- ment means fighting politically if we are to win, Gerry Healy, national secretary of the Socialist Labour League, told a public meeting in Methyr Tydfil, South Wales. Organized by the local branch of the Socialist Labour League, the meeting was well attended by workers from the town, the and the Ebbw local collieries Vale steelworks. Gerry Healy said that it was nonsense to say that any section of workers had been beaten. The found them- hospital workers selves isolated today because the union leaders were too trade frightened to give assistance.

When engineering union leader Hugh Scanion declared the Tories had won a victory it was appropriate to ask what victory?

The Tory government had won

ITV

Brown 9.30 Charlie show. 9.55 Film: Go Home'. 11.30 *Munster A tale of Cartoon. two hawkers. 12.00 12.05 house. 12.25 Happy Hickory house. 12.40 First and report election re- sults. 1.30 Crown court. 2.00 General hospital• 5 A summer story.

afternoon. 2.30 Good 3.00 4.20 Lassie, 4.50 Magpie. 5.20 Arnie. 5.50 News. 6.00

CROSSROADS.

TODAY,

6.35 7.00

SKY'S_ THE LIMIT.

7.30 THE FBI. The Extortionist.

8.30

WHO DO YOU DO?

JUSTICE.

Dummy Scoular 9.00 Against the Crown. 10.00

NEWS. 10.30 POLICE FIVE.

10.40

FILM:

"Last Holiday'. Alec Guinness. . A man with only a few weeks to live decides to spend his last weeks at fashionable seaside hotel.

12.10

ONE POINT OF

VIEW.

12.15 JASON KING. Toki. HTV Cymru/Wales as above except: 4.25-4.50 Stesion cantamil. 6.01-6.15 Y dydd. 10.30 Sports arena. 11.00-11.30 Outlook. HTV West as above except: 6.15-6.30 Report West. ANGLIA: 9.30 Images. 9.50 Paulus. 10.00 Gilbert and ns 11.30 2050 10.50 Gourmet. 11.15 Cartoons./ 12.05 London. 2.30 don. 12.04 New$3.00 4.25 County London. vote. Romper room. 4.50 London. 5.20 Part- ridge family. 5.50 London.

6.00 About 7.30 Avelia. 8.30 Comedion. 6.35 London. Hawaii 9.00 London. five-o. Probe 11.00 Film: •Night 10.30 Creatures'. 12.30 Epilogue.

ATV

MIDLANDS: 11.00

Acres for Guide. profit. 11.30 London. 12.00 12.05 London. 4.20 Forest rangers.

4.50 London. 5.20 Flintstones. 5.50 London.

6.00 Today. 6.35 London. 7.30 Hawaii five-o. 9.00 London. 10.30 Police sur- Film: "Bunny Lake is geon. 11.00 Missing'. Weather.

ULSTER: 11.30

London. 1.29 News. 1.30 London. 2.30 Cartoon. 2.40 Rom- 3.00 London. 3.25 Randall per room. and Hopkirk. 4.23 News. 4.25 Rain- 4.50 London. 5.20 country. Reports. 8.30 Comedians. finders spectrum. 11.00 Name of the game. no fight at all on the question of inflation. With dwindling wage packets, increased rates and mort- gages and VAT, the increases awarded under Phase Two of Tory government's wages the policy were completely wiped out. back The Tories were to square one. They knew that the ded fight was in front and that is what they were preparing for.

This was why the maximum unity of the working class was needed. 'It is a fight to a finish with a leadership which is prepared to put the Tories out,' he said.

'We must begin the task to trans- form the Socialist Labour League into such a leadership.' Speaking on behalf of a group of hospital workers, Cissy Powell, from St Tydfil's Hospital, de- clared that no one was going back to the conditions which Playwright Harold Pinter wịth Henry Woolf who is cast as The in Pinter's 'Monologue', Man written specially for TV. It's on BBCZ tonight.

BBC 2

11.00-11.25 Play school. 5.25 Open University.

MISTRESS OF HARDWICK.

7.05 They Expect a New Queen. 7.30

NEWS

SUMMARY.

Weather. 7.35

GARDENERS'

WORLD.

8.00

MONEY

AT WORK.

The 95:5 Society. 95 of the per cent wealth in Britain is owned by 5 per cent of the population.

9.00

FILM:

"Capricious Summer'. Second of two films directed by Jiri Menzel. 10.15 PLAY. "Monologue'. By Harold Pinter. With Henry Woolf. 10.35

FILM NIGHT.

11.00 NEWS EXTRA. Weather. YORKSHIRE: 9.35 Ed Sullivan. 10.50 Dr Simon 10.00 Gilbert and Locke. 11.15 4.25 Flintstones 4.90 London. 5.20 M.

5.20 Me calendar. Weather. 5.3s London. 9:30 chimp. London. Who do you do? 8.00 Hawaii five-o.

9.00 London. 10.30 Film: "The Misfits'.

12.25 Weather. GRANADA: 9.30 Enchanted house. 9.45 Gilbert and Sullivan. 10.30 Galloping gourmet. 10.55 Spiderman. 11.15 Fishing. 11.30 London. 12.00 Cartoon. 12.05 London. 4.25 Joe 90. 4.50 London. 5.15 Dick Van , Dyke.

Sky's 5.50 London. 6.00 News. 6.20 'Maracaibo'. 8.30 the limit. 6.50 Film: Kick Comedians. 9.00 London. 10.30 off. 10.55 Film: 'Weekend at Dunkirk'.

12.50 Spyforce.

SCOTTISH:

10.00 No easy answer. 10.45 Batman. 11.15 Serenade. 11.30 London. 12.00 Gustavus. 12.05 London. 2.30 Dateline. 3.00 London. 4.20 Nanny 5.25 and the professor. 4.50 London.

Today. Crossroads. 5.50 London. 6.00 do? 7.00 London. 6.30 Who do you 8.30 Comedians. 9.00 London. 10.30 Friday night. 11.00 Late call. 11.05 'Kill Her Gently. Film: 12.00

GRAMPIAN:

11.30 Landon Cart000 News. 12.05 London. 4.25 4.50 London. 5.20 General hospital.

5.50 London. 6.00 News. 6.10 Gram- pian week. 6.35 London. 30 Come-•.

7.00 Film: Man'. The Undercover 10.30 jobs. 10.3. The Terro prevailed when she first started work 22 years ago. Reading a letter which she and her workmates had prepared earlier in the day she said: 'Like thousands of other workers we want a living wage.

Our wages are a mere pittance.

'Maybe it is our own fault, as many people seem to say pack it in, there's plenty of work in the factories. But somehow, like the medical staff we get dedi- cated to our work? Third speaker in a personal capacity National Union For Mineworkers, Elwyn branch secretary at the Bedlinog Colliery. about the Speaking recent miners' ballot he said: 'I am not despondent about the vote. We are asking for a living wage. In the autumn, if prices go up as they are now, then the miners will be out.'

Pickets out at three Staffordshire engineering plants PICKETS have been active at laston, Staffs, factories hit by Guest Keen Nettlefold (GK Mitchell. At Rubery Owen the picket is bei The police are also on the scene thr One picket told Workers Press th strike, Monday April 2, there were 1 King's Hill factory. More than 2,500 workers from Ri 200 from King's Hill are out in pr attempt to end piecework and subs Work system of payment. This would and £9 a week for many piece- workers. The management has been pressing its demands, backed by the local Tory Press. Despite the widespread disruption to the Midlands car industry, the man- agement seems determined to break the present pay structure impose MDW under the and Tories' new state pay laws. In work harder for less moneye to work harder 'Unions weaken' In the face of this onslaught the Amalgamated Union of En- gineering Workers' national or- ganizer, Mr John Foster, told the •Wolverhampton Express and Star' on Monday: 'No one is going to tell me that after two years of talking there is nothing more to talk about.' Prior to this, on April 2, the Transport and General Workers' Union organizer in Wolverhamp- ton, Mr Harry Littlehales, told the same newspaper: 'No one in his right mind would accept a substantial reduc- tion in earnings. Formal support from the T&GWU executive com- mittee would be sought. 'Stoppages may also be called in factories directly or indirectly concerned with Rubery Owen?

One of the pickets commented 'As: sourly: the management it grows more determined, appears the official union position weakens' Brian Doughty, one of the pickets Booth Street told Workers Press: 'I work on the presses making axle cases for the Land-Rover. Wages drop 'Management's proposals would in wages mean for me a drop from £53 a week down to £44 • £l for the same amount of work, only under Measured-Day Work conditions of about 120 perform- ance rating. "True they are offering me a lump sum of £536, but they are trying to buy out piecework, try- ing to buy out mutuality.

They are trying to implement this new scheme without discussions with the union. JUST DOWN the road from Rubery Owen is GKN Bolts and Nuts Limited, where tive at the gates of three Dar- hit by strikes: Rubery Owen, d (GKN) and Wilkins and et is being mounted 24 hours a day.

scene throughout the day and night.

Press that on the first day of the re were more than 200 police at the from Rubery's Seven Acre site and ut in protest against a management and substitute a new Measured-Day his would slash wages by between £6 200 toolroom and plant mainten- ance workers are on strike.

Ken Wilkes, on behalf of the shop stewards in the engineer- ing manufacturing division, told Workers Press: 'We have been negotiating since last October. The company wants to give us £2 a week on top of our present £36 in four 50p steps tied to performance on the delivery of orders out of the door. First strike 'This claim should have been settled and paid by January 1, but the government freeze has it up. So two weeks ago held introduced a work-to-rule we and ban on overtime. 'Management retaliated by laying off 23 workers on Tues- day and Wednesday, April 3 and 4. So the rest of us also took time off. . When we returned on Friday, April 6, management told us that unless we called off the sanc- tions, then 32 men would be laid off indefinitely. At a mass meeting last Friday, 200 work- ers decided that we would come out with the 32 rather than call off the sanctions.' Pickets on one of the Station Street gates, said: 'We are the only section not to be offered plus per cent without strings. This is the first strike at this group of factories in over 30 years.' DARLASTON'S third strike is at Wilkins and Mitchell Limited, Servis domestic appli- division, in Darlaston ances Road. At the plant, between 100 and 200 AUEW technical and super- visory staffs members are out on official strike in support of a wage claim based on a past agreement to reduce pay differ- entials within appliance division factories. Management is refusing to pay the claim because it says it breaches Phase Two of the counter-inflation government's policy. This strike, like Rubery Owen, is in its second week. • ONE THING is clear about this three-pronged attack on wages and trade union organiza- tion in this Black Country town: the employers feel stronger fol- lowing the passage of the Phase Two pay laws and the retreats by the trade union leaders.

Workers at the three factories must now allow their struggles to become divided and isolated.

They are common struggles be- cause they are against the pay laws. Tories out And by introducing these laws the Tories have given each wages fight a political content.

Because to beat the pay laws immediately a fight means against the government. The Darlaston workers must fight through their trade unions for a policy to call on the TUC mobilize the to : whole trade union movement in a General Strike to force the Tories to resign. The incoming Labour govern- ment must be pledged to imple- ment socialist policies, including the repeal of all anti-union and anti-working class legislation.

SOCIALIST LABOUR

LEAGUE MEETINGS

Liverpool Transform the SLL into the revolutionary party Monday April 23, 7.30 p.m. "The Mona', James St (Entrance at back in Moor St) Make Scanlon retract! No collaboration with the Industrial Relations Act!

No acceptance of Phase Two! Force the Tories to resign! Build the revolutionary party! South London

TUESDAY APRIL 24,

8 p.m. Clapham Manor Baths, Clapham Manor Street, SW4 North London

WEDNESDAY APRIL 25

8 p.m. Woodlands Hall, Crown Street, Acton, W.3. Workers Press, Fi Press shop out THE EARLY shift at Ford's Dagenham, Essex, press shop walked out yesterday after a man had been suspended for working to rule. They will not to work until Monday. return The suspension follows a man- agement circular on Wednesday which declared they would re- sort to 'the necessary action' to get the press shop back to nor- mal working. The work-to-rule has cut press-shop production by a third.

SLL LECTURE

SERIES

The revolutionary party and the history of the British working class Caedraw School Merthyr Tydtil 7 p.m. Sunday April 22 Lectures given by Peter Jeffries The Unions and the working class in Britain. The Revolutionary Past of the British working class-and Its future. The Transformation of the SLL into a Revolutionary Party.

READING

Trotsky, Where is Britain Going? Problems of the British Revolution. Perspectives for Transforming the SLL into a Revolutionary Party. Marxist Analysis of the Crisis.

Registered as a newspaper at the Post Offic Clapham High Street, London, SW4 7UG. Pri Clapham High Street, London, SW4 7UG.

01-622 7029. .. • Press, Friday Aprl| 13, 1973 PAGE 11 Above: Pickets outside the Wilkins and Mitchell Servis do- mestic appliance factory in Darlaston Road. Below left: Police keeping their eye on pickets at Rubery Owen's Booth Street gate. Below: A vehicle entering the GKN Bolts and Nuts Division factory in Salisbury Street is halted by pickets.

MARPLES Ridgway was fined £150 with £150 costs yesterday for a construction failure on a motorway bridge at Reading which resulted in an accident killing three men. At a court in Bracknell the company pleaded guilty to a summons that a temporary span over the M4 was not of adequate strength and stability. Mr John Griffiths, QC, defend- ing said the company pleaded not guilty to a second allegation that the temporary span was not 'of good construction'. He success- fully applied for an adjournment sine die of this summons.

SLL LECTURE

SERIES

The Socialist Revolution in Britain Middleton (nr Manchester) Hollins Social Centre Tintern Road, Hollins Estate 7.30 p.m. Monday April 16 Lectures given by Cliff Slaughter (SLL Central Committee) The Socialist Revolution In Britain: 3. The state and revolution.

Reformism and revolution ir Britain. The fight for democra tic rights today means prepar- ing for working-class Basic reading: for transforming Perspectives the SLL into a revolutionary party. Marxist Analysis of the Crisis.

Problems of the British Revo- lution (Trotsky). Death Agony of Capitalism and the Tasks of the Fourth Inter- national, Communist Manifesto.

• Post Office. Published by Workers Press, 186a /4 7UG. Printed by Plough Press Ltd. (TU), 180b SW4 7UG. Newsdesk: 01-720 2000. Circulation: ..

Shotton steelmen SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, APRIL 14 & 15, WINTER GARDENS, BLACKPOOL PAGE 12 Workers Press, Friday April 13, 1973 RANK-AND-FILE action committees from doomed at Shotton today must think carefully about the campaign. About 6,500 men are to lose their jobs a and the jobs of more than 40,000 others are to be a years or so. Shotton, Ebbw Vale and Glengarnock, where S redundancies are due to take place, have now all protest. British Steel Corporation officials have wa from the windows of Steel House in Victoria to see be the largest. Labour MPs at Westminster have somehow managed to maintain the verve and sincerity of their speeches over three months while the platitudes have stayed the same. But as the MPs pointed out in lobby after lobby, their hands were tied despite what they felt in their hearts.

The fact was that the Tories outvoted them in the divisions. Not only have they admit- ted that they halt cannot the Tory plan for steel but some of them, including Mr Michael Foot, showed con- siderable unease by confess- ing that it was not the plan which he objected but to rather the manner of its execution. With a record of creating redundancies on the railways, in the mines and in steel, were left to many workers wonder whether a Labour would government serve

THE ANCILLARY

WOr-

BSC

them any better than kers' pay fight enters a chairman Lord Melchett and dangerous new stage today premier Edward Heath. when union leaders meet The protest campaigns management in London to signally failed have to per- talk about a way round suade the Tories or the BSC the state pay laws. to alter their plans in any The Whitley Council talks way. The only trifling concession will be lobbied by hospital the Corporation has made is workers who are demanding to agree to make Ebbw Vale their leadership call a that closure dates negotiable.

national strike. Sir Keith Joseph, Secretary Cold comfort to men who. know end of of State for Health and that at the day they will not only the Social Security, told union Wednesday be but he out. on the stones leaders on will have no chance of an- refused either to the treat the hospital workers as a special other job remote areas in which they live.

case or order a special in- quiry into their claim for a At Shotton there is already evidence that the hopeless, f4 increase. reformist protest-policies are Instead Joseph and the men kicked around spreading disillusionment.

union hoary - and extremely Right from the beginning, the dangerous-idea of speeding of the doomed at many productivity bonus deals.

works, there was a strong up And there was some talk and right-wing current favoured set- of accelerating equal pay for which opinion ting the BSC the best pos- women workers. In both cases these pro- example in a bid sible to posals are simply a smoke- persuade them call off to screen for acceptance of the their closure plans. employers' derisory, govern- At Shotton there is a ment-controlled £1.80-£2 pay growing danger, now that the offer, and important more that this protests are over, the principle of state pay tendency will be allowed to control. come to the fore. the Hope strikers As at Criticism of the action Hospital, Manchester, com- committee for supporting the mented yesterday afternoon: Shrewsbury builders If back for this we we go reflection of this movement might as well not have been and could lead to changes out for out for the last six weeks.

last six the its membership. in Sources say the number of Transport and General Wor- THE strike liaison commit- and BISAKTA kers' Union tee for Coventry, Nuneaton members on the committee and Rugby have voted for may be increased. all-out, complete seven-dav 'Militants' may be elbowed from tonight. strike action out. accident hospital, One Committee spokesman Mr and Coventry and Warwick. Don Caddick one geriatric hospital. High said: 'We have been sensitive to View. at Bedworth, are ex- criticism that has been pected to be exempted. •levelled at us lately. As the could still 12 WORKERS at the Leeds crunch be months away we are working General Infirmary will meet at ways of making sure we today to decide whether to everybody with go ahead with their cam- carry us campaign.' paign which will close down through this But even the most super- the giant hospital.

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, APRIL 14

loomed steelworks meeting ut the next stage in their r jobs at the Deeside works to be axed in the next two here some of the biggest low all had their days of ave watched with interest a to see which march would S

NOT

St NI NC. One of the Shotton jobs marches.

human efforts to make the doomed works pay will save neither Shotton nor any open-hearth other steel plants. In general Basic Oxygen Steelmaking had slashed production time from 12 hours to 40 minutes and than doubled output. more This sort of rise in pro- ductivity is vital if the BSC is to force down costs and maintain its competitive edge in world markets. The Tories have persist- ently refused to permit the Corporation to raise prices —still at least 8 per cent lower than prices charged by Common Market producers. To avoid slipping into the red, to increase returns and to maintain its advantage in world markets the BSC was left with no alternative but to draw up drastic modern- ization plans to cut costs.

It has already been shown that these government backed policies cannot be beaten by protest. Neither the 13 steel unions

FROM PAGE 1

was not discussing revolu- vival he said, but tective collective of free bargaining. Mr Unfortunately for Birch the government have decided that the destruction of free collective bargaining is an issue on which they stand or fall. Unless the coalition of interest between the Stalinist Party and the right wing is

RIL 14 & 15, WINTER GARD

BY

IAN

YEATS

HOTTON

teelworks

NO TO

FIN

individually nor the TUC steel committee have so far hint of serious shown any willingness to throw the Tory challenge back in their teeth.

last month's Indeed at Sheffield steel conference union leaders conspicuously avoided commiting them- to a fighting policy selves to defeat the government's plan for the industry. Resolutions must be passed immediately in every branch of the steel unions calling their executives on to mobilize the campaign to kick the Tories out of office by means of a General Strike.

A Labour government must be returned to power and forced by mass action to carry out socialist policies.

This must include an ex- tension of nationalization, without compensation, in the steel industry to include all those finished products works still in private hands.

Together with all other major industries steel must be put under full workers' control. exposed before the working class and smashed, it could lead to a serious defeat for workers in all sections of industry. is why we have That invited the widest possible participation in the dis- cussion of the Draft Per- spectives to build a new leadership and transform the Socialist Labour League into a revolutionary party in the immediate period ahead. • See What We Think

FOR DETA

TELEPHO

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BY THIS weekend we must reach nearer our halt- way mark. Our total to date stands at £271.39, which is a long way from our £1,750 target. So don't sit back. We urge you all, dear readers, step up the campaign today. We realize we are in the midst of ralsing two funds, and that, in Itself, is a tough assignment.

We also realize that all of you must be feeling the huge increases, in the cost of Ilving, particularly with VAT. Thousands of workers everywhere must be feel- ing the same. It is, therefore, more important than Workers Press to reach out to ever that we use these new forces. Our paper must be used to bulld leadership which is necessary in a revolutionary the fight against the Tory government.

Let's now raise as much as possible. Give some- thing extra yourself If you can.

Make a special our fund right up. Post every donation eftort to pull Immediately to: Workers Press April Appeal Fund 186a Clapham High Street London, SW4 7UG THE ENTIRE 4,700-strong force of Mersey labour Docks and Harbour Board's cargo-handling division de- cided to strike yesterday at a mass meeting in Liverpool Stadium. have About 1,200 men been on strike all week in unregistered protest against staff doing the work of registered dockers. A mass meeting has been called for Sunday. The dis- pute arose in the Alexandra- of Hornhv-Gladstone area staff began the dock when doing check-in work for the Clan Line. Some stewards are play- ing down the implications of the strike because it is staff in- understood the volved are T&GWU mem- bers. SMETHWICK magistrates yesterday fined Valor Partridge Limited for using defective power presses and employing three 13-year- old boys as operators at 16p an hour.

The Valor factory of Cradley Heath in Worce- stershire pleaded guilty to nine charges of employ- ing children and six charges of allowing defective notified of its machinery to be used after being defects and before the defect had been remedied.

The company was fined a total of £650 with €5.78 costs. Mr Alfred Pritchard, the works direc- admitted nine charges of employing children.

tor, The court was told that the three schoolboys who worked the presses were approached in the asked if they street by a company official and wanted to work operating power presses.

They were given a minimum of instruction. One to work the press by shown how of them was Pritchard, after a tool setter refused to teach the boy because he was too young.

days on a power Another boy worked for two press that should not have been in use because it had a defect. Mr John Bacon, prosecuting, said this particular immediate source of danger' to machine was 'an employees. 'The mind boggles at the number of cases that could have been brought against the firm every time these presses were used.

boys were employed by a director who 'These their age and the power press regulations.

knew had been Defects needing immediate attention brought to his notice previously, yet he did not attempt to stop the use of these presses, Bacon added. The three boys all worked about 19t hours for the company and were paid f3 each.

VALOR

group's chairman Mr Michael Montague said last year hat the company's profits had 'handsomely exceeded expecta- The company had made tions.

DETAILS

more than £l.1m. In the first six months of last

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vear the company made a pre- tax surplus of £621.000 compared -622 7029 with £303,000 in the correspond- ing period the previous year.

Turnover was up from £3.9m in 1971 to £4.7m last year.

The company's financial Dosi- buoyant that flm tion was so was allocated to promote South Africa's largest gas liquefying firm.