'Captive' tenants face giant rises

UNDER THE BILL:

estate agent thinks a property is worth. • AVERAGE RENTS own estimate. In rates) will rise to £50 fine.

LOCAL AUTHORITIES are raising rents on October 1, Increase of £1 this year and of up to £400.

every six months.

HOUSING REVENUE accounts will move surplus and half of this will be taken by government. In three or four years tenants be paying an extra {500 million in rents. PRIVATE TENANTS—1.3 In controlled propertles: next January and their 'fair' levels.

Lords. NW engineers the troops' in the fight for pay DAVIES and Metcalfe is one of the smaller factories in the greater Manchester engineering pay battle.

But despite their numbers and despite short time and redundancies, • these 130 Stockport workers were among the first to occupy. They took action a week before others in Manchester, in solidarity with the men at Bredbury steel works who were forced into a sit-in strike when mahagement attempted to lock them out.

Eric Woldridge (29) has been the Metcalfe convenof for a year. He served his time at the firm. He talked to me about the progress of the "The lads have held up very well here. You have to consider how we have been hammered in the past with short time. We even had a nine-day stoppage just to establish the principle of work-sharing rather than let the load fall on certain departments. Since the New Year we've had a four-day week.

"The one danger with this kind of battle is that there is insufficient information. You depend on handouts and rumours. You l hear about deals being signed, some good, some bad. It has a confusing effect.

I myself would have been in favour of a district-wide stoppage. It may seem a bit pedantic now, but at least with a stoppage you would have got 75 per cent support. We could have maintained a strike here knowing that others were out. will double on government's ver 07 (plus rat E3.50 (plus obliged to begin with a compulsory 75p next year. will million of them/iving Decontrol begins from rents will be raised to Eric Woldridge: Convenor "To be truthful I action that has fancy because you don't what is happening the district.' Was he critical therefore of the AUEW executive's decision to abandon the national claim? 'No. I think we in the NW are the troops for this claim, whatever way you look at it. We have the worst basic rates. Nationally I think what you would have found is that some of the lads in the S would have put the pressure on for accepting an don't like frills on it know just throughout IN 1959 tenants on the Regents Park housing estate in Camden, N London, were involved in a massive battle against the then Tory council over the introduction of higher rents and rebate schemes.

Police were called in from neighbouring districts and at least two families were evicted by the council after court orders for possession were made out.

Now the 1,800 families on the estate are entering a new battle- with the Tories and the 'fair rents' Bill.

I spoke to the chairman of the tenants' association, Richard Collins, who is also a Labour councillor, sitting for Camden council and the GLC.

"The Housing Finance Bill is an attack on the conditions of the working class in the same way as the Industrial Relations Act and unemployment.

"The Tories have got a system going here where they'll be taking off the poor and giving to the rich. I estimate that in this borough one third of the tenants might be no crease that wa: no good to us and then going back in to negotiate their own domestic agreement. This has always been the pattern.

If we fight it nationally or locally we are the troops and we have got to do the fighting. 'The position in the S is not the same.

I know you do have some militant blokes in the where there is more money. But they tend to go for domestic agreements whereas we have got to fight for a decent rate throughout the area. Then it's up to others to follow our example. I'm happy with this.' What about the big retreat on the claim in Sheffield? 'Well I understand that originally there was a strong possibility of a district-wide action with us. Now they have more or less accepted the plant-byplant fights decided on by the national commite pantome: 'I think the lads at Sheffield should have taken action. They still have the chance to stick together. Of course a great deal depends on the district leadership and I think this is lacking in Sheffield, whereas we have a very good one here. 'In our claim a big threat has been redundancies. My answer to this is that we just can't consider them. 'These employers are making money now. They want to make more and shed surplus labour-that's why they are so much against the 35-hour demand. "The whole drive for dundancy began back in 1966 when the Labour government brought in the Redundancy Payments Act. 'This was the start of the streamlining—as they call it— for the Common Market. We have to put a stop to it now. The trouble is even our union in many ways encouraged this with productivity and Measured-Day Work, we are literally at a stage now where we have nothing left to sell.' worse off because of the Bill, but two-thirds definitely will suffer worse conditions.

I think the Tories reckon if they can sell off enough houses they can kill the basis of council housing. They have shown in the past they were prepared to sell: off whole estates to housing associations and such people. But of course, it is "be easy as enormous opposition.

'Most tenants" are captives on their estates and would never be able to afford a mortgage. In any case they say properties are going up in price to a day.

•If the Tories get their way, our council will find it very difficult to rehouse those people living in slums,' said Mr Collins....

Although Camden council has one of the best housing records of the London boroughs there are still over 11,000 on the housing waiting list.

'When it's a 'social service you might do something about it. But look at some of the flats we're building now. Thes land is costing us £200,000 «an acre. And the at about f2s rent will work out week. The maximum rebate the Tories will allow is £8, so the minimum rent will be £17 a week. Who can afford that?' ~Mr Collins' Labour colleagues on Camden council, which they control, have taken a decision to refuse to implement the Bill if it becomes law. The council itself will soon have to make a decision and Mr what's 'fair' about £10-£12 a week CAMDEN Association treasurer Robert Edwards is a member of SOGAT, one of the printing unions, and works in Fleet St.

•Many tenants have been lulled into a false sense of security about what's going to happen with this Bill. The Tories have come on and made all the so-called good points, saying you won't have to pay the higher rents if you can't afford them.

*The Tories know tenants are virtually compelled to live where hey do. They know we've got 10 Chance of owning our owr houses and that we're in some sort of a trap.

'So they come along and say why shouldn't we pay economic rents. Already we've got some tenants paying £10, £ll and £12 a week in the new tower blocks. Terribleconsequences for working class MAURICE ABRAHAMS, the Camden Tenants' Association's vice-chairman, said the consequences of the Bill would be terrible for the working class and very good for the big landlord.

'As the council rents go up, private landlords will put their rents up. It'll be vicious circle. Regents Park Estate Collins thinks they same way again.

It's a very well sewn-up Billnobody really knows what the end product could be. The district auditor could obey the Tories and then many Labour councillors could be in trouble.

'I think the fight could be won, if the majority of Labour councils stuck together. Just one or two of them will be picked off one by one.

'Can the Tories be forced out? I don't know. It would take a lot to do that. The trade union leaders kick up a lot of fuss about things, but they do little about it.

"The men who run the unions are like glorified business executives. They lead such a different life that they don't think the same as the ordinary working class,' said Mr Collins.

I don't what's that.

'This whole Bill is certainly part of the general Tory approach to the working class. I think the confrontation will come between the trade unions and the government.

'With the fining of the Transport and General Workers' Union the Industrial Relations Act is coming to a head.

"Tenants, on the other hand, stand a chance of being fragmented. They have some power, like withholding the rent, but it's not the same as the unions.

• 'Although the trade unions are becoming more political, the basic funation is the betterment of wages and conditions.

'Of course I'd like to see the Tories go-but I don't know if a General Strike is the answer.

I was hoping something would come out of the Common Market fight. But the Labour Party veered away from that, said Mr Edwards.

I think the rents will g;

so nuch that people won be able to afford to pay them,' said Mr Abrahams, who already pays £6.36 a week for his flat.

'Tenants must fight with the Labour council against the Bill.

But the Tories won't drop this Bill. I suppose the only thing is for a General Strike. Tenants need the backing of the trade unions.'

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