First national dock strike since 1926 OFFICIAL- it's on! 48-32

we thrivel: CHEERS AND APPLAUSE from placard-waving national docks delegate conference at the General WorkAbove: Jubilant Royal dockers cheer delegates after yesterday's strike vote. Top: A placard carried outside Transport House.

DEP talks on oil sites strike NEGOTIATIONS between management and unions over the strike of 2,000 Kellogg International workers at three NW construction sites broke down yesterday after talks at the Department of Employment and Productivity's London offices.

Mass meetings will be held at the Stanlow and Burmah Oil Ellesmere Port sites this morning to decide on the strikers' next move.

Sites

All the engineering building workers from the Shell UK and Burmah Oil sites at Ellesmere Port and the Carrington •Shell Chémicals site near Manchester have joined forces behind demands for :

• A 15s-an-hour minimum with no strings.

• Prior consultation with stewards on all employment of labour. Ending of the 'blacklist'.

• Holiday pay related to gross earnings.

• Improved travelling and expense allowances.

• 80 hours severance pay to be paid after four weeks instead of 13 weeks.

Before yesterday's talks there had already been two meetings at local level and one at national, involving management and the unions— the engineers, the electricians in August 1968.

REPORTER 'Rude Pravo'. and plumbers, the construction engineers, the boilermakers and the NSSMH&D.

Austrian over I TWENTY ONE former members of the munist Party Austrian Committee • removed from the the invasion. leadership for their opposition to the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, and 15 former organizers, have issued a public statement against the Party's refusal to protest trade unions. against Dubcek's expulsion from the Czechoslovak Party.

'We feel compelled, they say, 'as Austrian Communists, to express our deep regret at the decision?

The Austrian Party was whipped into line behind Mos- French Party. Mass purges in Czech councils MORE THAN 15,000 elected municipal and district councillors have been purged or forced to resign from their posts in Czechoslovakia since the Soviet invasion Over 12,000 have been forced out by special purge commissions operating since the beginning of this year, according to the official paper No elections have been held since 1968. The purge committees can remove councillors from their posts and co-opt CP revolt -cow at its Congress at the beginning of June, reversing its previous position against Central Committee members wou dise ed ber of pardy oficers who opposed the new line still hold posts in the The purge last month followed the expulsion at the end of last year of the veteran Communist Ernst Fischer, who was subsequently accused of "Trotskyism' and slandered together with Roger Garaudy, recently expelled from the yesterday morning, anticipating the decision taken by the docks delegate conference to reject the employers' latest offer. BY A FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT others in their place without Before doing so, they consult with the National Front organizations in the area, which have, of course, been purged themselves.

Already, about 6 per cent of all Czech councillors have been , replaced by 'reliable' Husak supporters. But the purge is to continue, at least until early 1971.

"Too liberal'

The purge committees themselves are under fire for showing 'politically dangerous liberalism' in their work.

'Rude Pravo' also reports that the purge inside the Communist Party is nearing completion 'and many péople are leaving the Czechoslovak Once this stage of the purge is over, there are widespread fears that the authorities—who are being closely advised by Soviet 'experts' — will begin the preparation of legal amalgams to start a series of show trials.

men the collaboration and its Vic eath shackled Cardiff dockers voted to join the strike and 345 Ciccluldl talk men came out as ports at Hull, Southampton, Glasgow, Tilbury and London ways the employers' parlia Feelings were high among dockers over the last-minute better than the Labourites! deferment the national strike by Transport and General Workers' secretary, more of an At TILBURY, T&GWU divisional chairman Harry Battie complained of the 'complete chaos' caused by the nature of the decision but explained to a meeting of over in tne lories impartiality 1s 1,000 dockers that Jones was not breaking any rules.

Although only 500 turned up to Tuesday's meeting, he said, every gate was picketed despite the weather.

'Every delegate to the con- According ference today will have somehing to say to the platform, 'could again become told his audience of For have been comta T&GWU and 'Blue' union members.

Dockers on the floor of the meeting expressed themselves enough do (1) in stronger terms.

"Jones should be hanged,' mission could become said one angrily. 'He's turned an official dispute into an un- register their rules official dispute.' A T&GWU member told the first Registrar have called it off. The decision was originally taken by the lay delegate conference. If they accept an offer of 7 per are just and democratic. cent there'll be trouble' A proposal to stay out was role, said: overwhelmingly carried by the meeting and was supported by a separate meeting of clerks. under this 'Blue' union members reaffirmed their decision not to of the cross the picket lines.

A further meeting is taking union movement. SOCIALIST LABOUR LEAGUE AND YOUNG SOCIALISTS JULY 25- AUGUST 8 Situated in pleasant surroundings on the Essex coast.

MY LAI Appeal Fund reaches £124 1s 2d highest daily this readers are getting down to There is certainly no shortage of news these days. similar relation to the workTilbury dockers at their meeting yesterday. place this morning at 8 a.m.

'GLASGOW dockers will go on strike no matter what Jack Jones said, stated Mr John Gentles, T&GWU district branch secretary and over 1,300 dockers proved him right.

Although some union officials have been saying that the strike on the Glasgow docks is due to a technical hitch'-that is, lack of communication with London-the It is inevitable that with the dockers' branch committee had taken the view that only the delegate conference had the power to reverse the strike decision.

The officials have boasted that it is 23 years since there has been an official strike on Glasgow docks, but dockers pointed out that these were 23 years of growing anger and frustration.

Mr W. Patterson, a docker at Princes Dock, told Workers Press:

"This strike has not blown