Actors-leaders suffer-major rebuff arSpecial General Meeting

THE GENERAL Council of Actors' Equity suffered a major rebufl at a Special General Meeting (SGM) of the union when the members rejected an attempt to curtail their democratic rights.

The Council tried to restrict the right of members to call SMs by a change of rule allowing an appeals board to veto such requisitions. The Council's motion • failed to get the necessary two-thirds majority.

A wide cross-section of actors spoke out against the rule change, insisting that there was too little democracy as it was.

An overwhelming majority of the 1,200strong meeting, which overspilled from the Adelphi Theatre to the Strand Theatre next door, had declared that an earlier SGM calling for the Coupcil's resignation had been a 'necessary meeting'.

These two decisions amounted to a decisive repudiation of the General Council's conduct over the recent period. Although the motion calling for their resignation was lost—just short of 300 people voted for it— the discussion was overwhelmingly declared necessary. And the Council's attempt to strike back at those who called the SGM was thrown out.

The policies of Equity's leadership have been seriously into question.

Criticizing the proposed rule change, Ian Milton attacked the Council for its divisive and unconstitutional tactics in trying to limit the rights of members, issuing a one-sided Press statement to summon the meeting, and not waiting until the annual meeting in a few weeks time to propose their rule change.

Geoffrey Collins said that events in the world-wide economic crisis were now moving so rapidly that it was essential to preserve the democratic right of members to call urgent SGMs. No politics' move by NUT executive THE NATIONAL Union of Teachers' executive is to try to stop militant teachers involving the union in direct political confrontation with the Tory government.

During the recent campaign for a rise in teachers' special London allowance some NUT associations sought to link their struggle to those of other groups of workers fighting the Tory pay laws.

The executive will ask its annual conference at Scarborough next weekend to approve that none of the union's 680 branches or individual members shall engage in strikes or industrial action without official backing.

The Communist Party-led executive view ehat tie NuT shit remain, as it always has been, a nonpolitical organization.

The executive is still considering disciplinary action against militants who led a rebellion New party for Ulster poll? MacStiofain freed A NEW political grouping made up of nationalists, Republicans and other minority groups may emerge later this month to challenge the Social Democratic and Labour Party and the Labour Party in the elections to district councils and the new Ulster Assembly.

Westminster MPs Bernadette Devlin and Frank McManus and both wings of Sinn Fein have been present at meetings, the latest of which was held at Omagh at the weekend.

Former IRA chief of staff Sean MacStiofain was released from Curragh Camp yesterday after serving two thirds of his sixmonth sentence for membership of an illegal organization.

Reports say he plans to seek immediate medical treatment and that this could delay his reBasic right to union meetings is defended 'It is essential that minorities should be listened to at a time like this, Collins went on, "and it is wrong that three people on an appeals board can take away the right of 40 or more members to call an SGM to air their concern about our future.' Catherine Parr said the SGM was one of the few opportunities for the membership to get together. 'We cannot have too much discussion. Any • negation of democracy is a denial of free speech.' Jonathan Hales said he had been against the first SGM motion calling for the Council's resignation, but he was very much against the rule change. against it at a meeting at Westminster Central Halls earlier this year.

The militants were seeking joint action with hospital and gas workers.

Union leaders quashed an attempt by officers of the Westminster branch to get the help of local members to support a similar call from the London The executive has opted out of the TUC's day of protest against the Tory pay laws on May 1.

The executive said after their weekend meeting that the union's two main aims were to work for improving the status of the teaching profession and for the advancement of the education system in the interests of children.

An NUT spokesman explained that the change was being made because 'no union wants a position where individual members call a strike whenever they like. appearance in the leadership the Provisionals. He told reporters:

I remain an unrepentant Republican separatist'.

Looking pale and drawn from his 59-day hunger strike, he refused to comment on his position within the Provisional movement.

On his release MacStiofain told reporters:

I would like to see an end to the fighting. Everyone in Ireland wants peace, but Republicans want peace that is going to last.

'A lasting peace will come when the British government accepts the terms that were put to them last summer — the right of the Irish people to determine their own destiny, amnesty for political prisoners and the withdrawal of troops?

'Trade union executives must always be readily accountable to the membership for their actions,' he said.

The vote on the rule change was declared as 602 in favour, 490 against, with 28 abstentions, and so was lost, not being a two-thirds majority. ' In the debate calling for the Council's resignation, Tom Kempınski repudiated a witch-hunting attack from André Morell on the Socialist Labour League and the Workers Press.

'Political affiliation is not the question. It is the failure of our union. We have put forward policies. These policies have not YOLNG SOCIALSTS MAY DAY DEMONSTRATE TUES. MAY {ST DEFEND_BASIC DEMOCRATIC RICHTS BUILD THE REVOLUTIONARY PARTY Watch this space for more details been carried out.

'It is clear to all of us that things are going badly for the industry and for actors. We cannot keep theatres open unless we have a policy. We need a Council that acknowledges the dangers of the present situation, explains them, and works out policies with the membership to take the union forward.' Corin Redgrave said that actors were turning to the union in this period of closing theatres, lost Arts Council grants, and wage cuts, but the General Counwas telling them that the union could not use its collective strength because of the Tory government's new laws. Tom Kempinski speaking from the platform on Sunday.

Speaking for the Council, Trevor Baxter said the Tory pay laws could not be fought because shows might be surcharged £400 each performance in fines and so lead to more closures. And other unions were not fighting Phase The motion: Driven by the world crisis of inflation, the Tory government has launched a determined attack on the democratic rights of every trade unionist in this country. First it has sought to destroy free trade unions with its Industrial Relations Act.

'Now it has introduced state control of wages, under which law, Equity became the first union to receive a wage cut.

"The Council has put forward no policies to fight these attacks and now actually stops the members from taking up this fight by ignoring their democratic decisions.

'Last year's AGM resolution calling for a fight to defeat the Industrial Relations Act in its entirety was ignored; and now a resolution, voted for at an official mass meeting on January 28 calling for strike action to win the full West End claim, immediate wage increases for all members, no wage-cuts, no state control of wages, de-registration under the Industrial Relations Act, and a fight with the whole trade union movement to force the Tories to resign, and elect a Labour government pledged to repeal all anti-union legislation; this also has been 'We have therefore no alternative but to instruct this Council to resign, and to call for an immediate election, so that the membership may elect an alternative leadership, responsible and answerable to the decisions of the members.' The motion was declared lost by 293 votes to 1,119.

LABOUR LEAGUE ViMIT LIS

PAGE & Workers Press, of British law that a man is innocent until proved it of a It presumes the guilt man immediately he is arrested, and sets out stringent conditions on which a judge must be satisfied before the granting of bail.

The Diplock Commission criticized the Northern Ireland courts for 'freely and indiscriminately' granting bail in comparison with English courts But no evidence was produced offences or of intimidation of witnesses by accused persons on bail.

Clause Two relies for its justification on such unsubstantiated assertions, including the alleged "serious effect on the morale of the troops to see a known terrorist at liberty on bail'-note the use of the phrase 'known terrorist' about men who have not even been convicted. This clause he the NCCL says, highlights 'the "conviction orientation" approach of the Diplock Commission, which appears to have the full approval of the government'.

Clause Four makes hearsay evidence admissible by allowing written statements to be used as evidence when for certain reasons the witness cannot be present in court.

In their criticisms of the proposals of the Criminal Lav revonnatee the Bar Council stated recently that such evidence was 'inherently unreliable, capable of being manufactured with east and that usually it cannot be tested satisfactorily by crossexamination'.

In Clause Five of the Bill, defendant is amade admissible written admission by mace in evidence unless the defendant can prove that it was obtained as a result of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment. But how is a man who has already been in jail some innocent persons. In future if a gun is discovered in a mises which the accused was the occupier or which he habitually used", it will be for him to disprove • that he was in possession of the gun - a proposition which would totally intolerable on this side of the Irish Sea in relation to the possession of firearms, drugs or stolen property.' How long ; this will be 'intolerable', if the Ulster Bill is passed, remains to be seen.

Clauses Nine and 10 give the Royal Ulster Constabulary powers of arrest, entry into property without warrant and seizure of property in relation to scheduled offences and other offences under the Bill. The powers given do not ditter significantly from those at present under the Special Powers Acts.

In relation to arrest, in English law a police officer is supposed to have reasonable ground for suspicion' as an objective test of his motives for arrest and a guarantee against wrongful arrest. No such protection is afforded in the Emergency Provisions Bill.

Clause Nine also increases the period from 48 to 72 hours during which a person can be held before being brought before a magistrates' court.

The same clause also gives the police powers to fingerprint an accused person by force if necessary—a provision which if legislated is bound to lead to a big increase in police intimidation and invasion of privacy.

Under Clause 11, the army is given sweeping powers of arrest and detention for up to four hours. And the Bill neither obliges troops to exercise this power on the basis of 'reasonable suspicion' nor to state the reason for The same applies to clauses