Workers Press no. 844

workers press

DOCKS STEWARDS

SAY - STRIKE

DOCKERS' shop stewards d official leadership yesterday by continue. The stay-out call came from the National Port Shop Stewards' Committee, which met after the docks delegates had decided to call the strike off. The stewards' decision covers London, Liverpool, Hull, Grimsby and Immingham, Goole, Manches- ter and Preston. from Southampton Dockers and Bristol, the two other large registered ports, were not pres- ent. They are continuing the strike for the four points which include abolition of the tem- porary unattached register, but important, the dockers' more exclusive right to stuff and strip containers and the registration of non-Scheme ports. Their decision is a vote of complete no confidence in the official leadership of the union.

It is a resounding defeat for Jones who has proved completely incapable of not only defending dockers' jobs but those of his entire membership. The biennial conference, the body, union's policymaking must be recalled immediately to reaffirm total opposition to the Industrial Relations Act and to oust the old leadership which has co-operated with the Act - paid its fines - and courted the Tories and the

CBI.

If the dockers are to win the whole strength of the trade union movement must be rallied in their support. Build Councils of Action in all areas so that the attacks of the policeand no doubt the British army-can be re- sisted by the working class.

These councils must prepare to force the Tories out. Earlier yesterday a furious confrontation erupted at Trans- port House after the news was given that the delegates had voted to call off the strike and the rehashed Jones- accept Aldington report. Huge contingents of police some of them mounted-tried to cordon off the union's head- quarters from the lobbyists who were insisting on the right to talk face-to-face with Jones and their delegates. Dockers invaded the building.

a press conference interrupted and abused Jones and Tim O'Leary, the national docks sec- retary.

INCORPORATING THE NEWSLET

DAILY ORGAN OF THE CENTRA

vards decided to defy their day by calling for the strike to One docker calmly filled tumbler with water and hurled it in Jones's face. (See full details of lobby on page 12.) The proposals accepted by the delegates are a rehash of the first Jones-Aldington report plus more promises. They provide for a further erosion of the Dock Labour Scheme by allowing unregistered depots to continue dock work and even the phoney concessions depend on the employers' good- will. On the key issue of the un- registered ports all Jones could offer was another inquiry.

In short the latest proposals offer no against guarantee a further swingeing cut-back in the dock labour force. The recommendations hinge on a feeble first clause which states the committee will 'con- tinue its efforts to guarantee groupage container and port-type work' for registered dockers.

They propose to approachin- dividual container firms and ask them to give preference to dock workers. Defined areas of work within the depots will then come under licensed port employers or port authorities. Dockers will be employed permanently or on temporary release from port employers. In other words the depots will be allowed to continue as un- registered operations. investigation' that is The promised will cover firms that have moved off the dock since Devlin Phase One in September 1967. By October, firms which satisfactory have not agreed reported to the terms will be committee which will discuss further action. A special committee of ship- authorities will pers and port lay down standards of employ- ment for depots and ways to bring them into line. But the report admits that all its recommendations - pre- suppose a willingness on the part of interests concerned to estab- lish clear lines on which these performed activities should be in the future without distur- bance'. was on this treacherous It basis that Jones got his majority from the delegates in his bid avoid an official showdown to with the Tory government. INCORPORATING THE NEWSLETTER • THURSDAY AUGUST 17, 1972 • No. 844 • 4p DAILY ORGAN OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE SOCIALIST LABOUR LEAGUE

LIVERPOOL

PuT 2,000

SHO

ON T.U.R

VERTSI

WHERE IS

THE_ W

GUARRI

With police assistance, Jack Jones escapes from his members' demands into yesterday's delegate conference Kremlin supports Amin's racialism THE Soviet Union has given simply ludicrous describe as an 'anti-im- Amin support to presi- perialist. This man dent Idi Amin's decision to trained by the British army at expel some 50,000 Asians its Mons academy and fought holding British passports.

enthusiastically as an army newspaper The official poral against the Mau Mau in Kenya. 'Izvestia' congratulated AMIn his stand British Amin's bloody military coup on against which showed which the 'blackmail' overthrew govern- Uganda was full of determi- ment of president Milton Obote take the path was instantly recognized by chooses and decide its internal Whitehall ind for months Britain the afterwards matters witnour any imperial Wds ist interference'. on v to acknowicage The article is the new dictator. flatter the Among the first acts of this attempt to crude anti-imperialist' was the Ugandan arctator wose racral-

SUS T

expulsion of the Asians is pension of parliament and the him cheap banning of all political parties designed to win with the trade unions. Africans and the DODUlaTIV and plunder for his henchmen.

The Soviet leaders' praise for ands into yesterday's delegate conference has nothing in com- Amin mon with a genuine struggle imperialism. Follow- against ing the Ugandan leader's evic- tion of Israeli military advisers some months ago they hope to get a toe in the door them- selves. The Kremlin already enjo excellent relations with Amin northern neighbour, the Sudanese anti-communist Gen Numeiry. The government announced yesterday that it would tol use the new arrangements for accepting Asians evicted from Uganda as an excuse for cut- ting back the normal annual quota of Commonwealth im- migrants.

workers press

DOCKS STEWARDS

SAY- STRIKE

DOCKERS'

shop official leadership yesterday by calling for the strike to continue. The call stay-out came from the National Port Shop Stewards' Committee, which met after the docks delegates had decided to call the strike off. The stewards' decision London, Liverpool, Hull, Grimsby and Immingham, Goole, Manches.

Ter tierreston. Dockers from Southampton and Bristol, the two other large ports, WeLC

HOLES

ent. They are con posthe strike which points abolition porary unattached register, but more the dockers' exclusive right stuff and strip registration comaners of non-Scheme ports Their decision is a vote of the official leadership of the union. Tones who has ploved completely resounding defeat dockers' jobs but those of his membership. entire The biennial conference, the body,

HEROIS

policymaking must be recalled immediately reaffirm total opposition Relations

ATHE

and to oust the old leadership which has pasco operated with the Act - fines Tories and the counter The

CBI.

If the dockers are to win the whole strength of the trade union must rallied in Movemen their Build Councils of Action in all. allacks policeand no doubt or The the British army-can be sisted the by prepare must to force the Tories out Earlier yesterday furious controntation erupted at Trans. port house alter ine news was given that the delegates call off voted to the strike and acceDl renasted ones- Aldington report. Huge contingents of police some of them -tried to mounted- Cordon Union S quarters from the lobbyists who insisting on the right were talk tace-to-face with jones and Ineir aelegates. Dockers invaded the building, interrupted press conference abused 11|1 O'Leary, the national docks sec- retary.

INCORPORATING THE NEWSLET

DAILY ORGAN OF THE CENTRA

wards decided to defy their day by calling for the strike to One docker calmly filled a tumbler "with water and hurled it in Jones's face. (See full details of lobby on page 12.) The proposals accepted by the delegates are a rehash of the first Jones-Aldington report plus more promises. They provide for a further of the Dock Labour erosion Scheme by allowing unregistered depots to continue dock work and even the phoney concessions depend on the employers' good- will. On the key issue of the un- registered ports all Jones could offer was another inquiry.

In short the latest proposals against a offer no dock labour force. The recommendations hinge on a feeble first clause which states the committee will "con- tinue its efforts to guarantee groupage container and port-type work' for registered dockers.

They propose to approach in- dividual container firms and ask them to give preference to dock workers. Defined areas of work within the depots will then come under licensed port employers or port be authorities. Dockers will employed permanently or on temporary release from port employers. In other words the depots will be allowed to continue as un- registered operations. The "investigation' that will cover firms that promised have moved off the dock since Devlin Phase One in September 1967. By October, firms which not agreed have satisfactory will be reported to the terms committee which will discuss further action. A special committee of ship- will pers and port authorities lay down standards of employ- and ways to ment for depots bring them into line. But the report admits that all its recommendations - pre- suppose a willingness on the part of interests concerned to estab- lish clear lines on which these activities should be performed in the future without distur- bance'. on this treacherous from the delegates in his bid to avoid an official showdown with the Tory government.

INCORPORATING THE NEWSLETTER • THURSDAY AUGUST 17, 1972 • No. 844 • 4p

DAILY ORGAN OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE SOCIALIST

LABOUR LEAGUE

LIVERPooL Pu 2,000

ON T.U.R

WESTSI

WHERE

THE

JUARA

With police assistance, Jack Jones escapes from his members' demands into yesterday's delegate conference Kremlin supports Amin's racialism THE Soviet Union has given simply tolcrous describe Amin as an 'anti-im- support to Ugandan presi- This man was dent Idi Amin's decision to perialist trained by the British 50,000 expel some Asians Mons academy and fought holding British passports.

poral against the Mau Mau in enthusiastically The official newspaper 'Izvestia' congratulated Amin his stand British Amin's bloody military coup against showed which which overthrew govern- 'blackmail of determi ment of president Milton Obote and mass nation take the path was instantly recognized by chooses and decide its internal Whitehall and for months Britain the matters Without any moeldl- allerwaras W d. ist interference'. country to acknowledge only The "Izvestia' article is the new dictator. flatter the Among the first acts of this to crude Concan dictator woose caca Was

SUS-

expulsion of the Asians is pension of parliament and the him cheap banning of all political parties win designed the and the trade popularity Africans Will. and plunder for his henchmen ine soviel leaders praise tol ands into yesterday's delegate conference Amin has nothing in com- mon with a genuine struggle against imperialism. Follow- ing the Ugandan leader's evic- tion of Israeli military advisers some months ago they hope to get a toe in the door them- selves. The Kremlin already enj: excellent relations with Amir: northern neighbour, the Sudanese anti-communist Gen Numeiry. The government announer s yesterday that it would l.: use the new arrangements for accepting Asians evicted from Uganda as an excuse for cut- ting back the normal annual quota of Commonwealth im- migrants.

PAGE 2 Workers Press, Thursday Aug

AROUND THE WORLD

BY JOHN SPENCER

FOREIGN policy adviser to US President Nixon, Henry Kissinger, talked in Saigon yester- day with South Viet- namase dirtatos Nguzan. Van Thieu. The talks followed secret discussions in Paris between Kissinger and Le Due Tho, the North Vietnamese polit- buro member. The two men have held three sets of secret talks since the offensive began in liberation Vietnam three months ago.

Neither the Americans nor the have given North Vietnamese details of the Paris discussions, though Le Duc Tho flew from Tuesday as Paris to Hanoi on Kissinger left for Saigon.

Viet- However, the North lamese nave made it clear that they will not accept a military settlement without discussion of the political issues involved in Vietnam-and their priority demand is the removal of Thieu from power in Saigon. It is not clear whether Kis- singer is in Saigon to give Thieu his marching orders or to reas- sure him that he will not be abandoned by the Us govern- ment. But Thieu has certainly showing all the signs of been acute nervousness about his posi- tion. series of decrees A new rushed through by his govern- earlier this month were ment aimed at destroying the last remnants of independence for the Saigon press, forcing them to pay huge deposits to the Interior Ministry or go out of business.

At the same time, the National guerrillas are Liberation Front closer capital, the moving to blowing up important ammuni- tion dumps and cutting vital sup- UNDETERRED by a anti - communist campaign Soviet and Chinese govern- ments are assiduously court- ing the Suharto dictatorship.

Army sources in Djakarta said yesterday that an army general and a number of offi- cers have been arrested in a purge of communist supporters in the armed forces. Among them is Maj-Gen Suratmo, accused of involvement in the abortive coup attempt of 1965. The coup-a desperate attempt to avert a right-wing takeover- suppressed with was great violence in which up to a million communists killed by were Suharto's murder gangs. of Indo- Many thousands nesian Communist Party milit- held in 'Devil's Island are still supporters concen- tration camps in the archipelago.

Army officers have claimed that communists are responsible for recent train accidents and fires in Central Java. They have accused Chinese financiers of hark-rolling the guerrilla opera- Asspite these allegations; how- the Suharto As indicated that it wants government to improve relations with Peking provided there is no attempt to interfere in Indonesia's 'internal affairs'. In a speech to mark the 27th anniversary of the country's inde- pendence from Holland, the dic- tator said Indonesia wanted to relations with friendly open China, reopening the embassies which were closed in 1967.

'Whether these relations [with rsday August 17, 1972 ply routes. Yesterday a squad of

NLF

saboteurs attacked the airport at Tan Son capital's Nhut. Nixon's intensive bombing campaign in Vietnam is arous- ing widespread protests in the United States which cannot help his prospects in the November election. ow and eking aver been pros have beet pres cow ana FOLLOWING the ejection of Soviet military experts and the decision to merge with Libya, the Egyptian govern- ment is taking sweeping powers to deal with internal unrest. left-wing nationalists in The Egypt have already voiced their fears that the merger proposal would lead to a new purge along the lines of the mass trials of pro-Soviet nationalists which followed Nasser's death. Under the new law on national unity, being discussed currently at a closed session of the National Assembly in Cairo, harsh presi- dential powers are being hastily rushed through. The law has already been approved by Col Muammar Gaddafi, president Sadat's partner in the Libya-Egypt merger plan. The law establishes the Arab Socialist Union the only legitimate in political party Egypt and forbids the establish- ment of any other political or popular organization. there are to be In addition, penalties for 'rumour- severe mongering' anyone who and spreads rumours 'without suffi- White Moscow and Peking court Suhar penned in camps like this China] will thaw or remain as • they are now depends on their attitude ; Suharto towards us, said. 'We want to open friendly relations and co-operate with all countries, irrespective of political and social systems. But certainly not with a country hostile or showing an unfriendly attitude towards us.

The desire must not come from us alone.' Suharto has every reason for optimism on this score. The Chinese Stalinists' support for Pakistan's butchery in Bangla Desh and their backing for Num- in the Sudan have shown elry that Peking is quite prepared to back counter-revolution. Nixon's visit to China has set the seal of imperialist approval on this extreme rightward turn in Peking's policy. sing the Vietnamese to accept a deal with the US. The bombardment and block- ade of the North has plainly not shaken the resolve of the Viet- namese people to fight to the end against US imperialism and lib- erate the South. Whatever the purpose of Kis- singer's diplomatic manoeuvres this resistance is the chief bar- cient thought for the con- sequences' will be liable to an indefinite period of imprison- ment. This could affect anyone who accidentally mentions facts con- sidered detrimental to the regime.

For those who 'deliberately pro- pagate false or biased news or rumours prejudicial to national unity' the penalty is supple- mented by a large fine. Hard labour will be meted out 'take to those whose rumours a sensational form directed to- wards the army. were done 'in And if this connivance with a hostile power' it would mean hard labour for life. Hafiz Badawi, the president of the National Assembly, has said 'per- that the legislation gives manent priority to the national liberation struggle and preference to the higher national interest element, sect or social grouping.

over the special interest of These measures are a necessary part of Sadat's preparations to come to terms with the United States and srael behind a smoke- screen of phrases about 'national liberation'. They are directly aimed at the left-wing nationalists and univer- sity students who have become increasingly vocal against Sadat's passive stance towards the Israeli occupation of Arab lands.

urt Suharto, Indonesian communists This has caused some concern in Moscow, which already has diplomatic relations with the Djakarta government. Soviet in The ambassador Indonesia, P. S. Kutznotsov has invited Suharto's Minister for Social Affairs, Mintaredja, to visit the USSR for talks. At the same time, he con- veyed an invitation from the USSR Supreme Soviet to the Indonesian 'parliament' for a dele- gation of Indonesian MPs to visit Moscow in October. These relations are not dis- turbed by Djakarta newspaper reports of Indonesian communist guerrillas training at secret bases in the USSR. Suharto, who has cynically estimated where the Stalinist leaders stand, rightly treats these reports with great scepticism.

yesterday

ENOCH

POWELL

embarked on his favourite diversion-the so-called menace of the coloured immigrant— with the enthusiasm hungry vulture descending on a rotting carcass. Speaking in Wolverhampton to a Tory women's luncheon, and no doubt encouraged by the shameless retreat of Jones and the majority of docks delegates, Powell evoked the spectre of thousands of hundreds of British Passport overseas ther British Isles. The Ugandan Asians he said are 'the thin end of a very thick wedge'. It only needed a local General Amin and another 1.5 million human beings from other parts of the Commonwealth would be subject to the same pres- sures, said Powell. If Powell did not resort to his about the favourite metaphor, "Tiber foaming with blood', no doubt it was because he did not want to embarrass the Tory Cabinet and, in particular, Geoffrey Rippon, who has been charged the task of with negotiating with Amin. If a Labour government had been in power Powell's job would have been made easier and his tone would be that much more strident. But with a Tory administration in Westminster has had to adopt a Powell somewhat different style.

Britain, he said, should not depart from her tradition of succour to the offering oppressed (1). I am sure that Britain should would not, decline not, and her due share, he went on.

'But it must also be said plainly that on any reasonable criteria that due share would be in- finitesimal.' other words they (the Tories) In can't say 'No' to Amin because the Indian minority are largely a business community and traditionally pro-British.

their But they can slash irreducible numbers to an minimum and keep their middle credibility with the class and the backward workers—not to mention some middle-class Indians. Borough of Ealing The London (Tory dominated) has already taken its cue from Powell and demanding the 'dispersal' of Ugandan Asians. Warming to his Neanderthal Powell then switched theme, from Uganda, Singapore, Aden

BY WORKERS PRESS

REPORTERS

AFTER a weekend summit meeting of Juan Peron and his supporters in Madrid, it is still unclear whether the 76-year-old ex-dictator will return to Argentina before August 25, the date by which all prospective candidates for the March 25 elections have to be resident in the country.

In a press conference in Madrid on Tuesday, Hector Campora, Peron's represen- tative_in Argentina, declared that Peron would return by the end of the year, provided he was guaranteed 'minimum conditions of safety'. Campora stated that recently the secretary-general of Peron's Justicialist Party had been im- prisoned and the party's head- quarters were raided and several executive council members were taken into custody. At the summit talks were lead- ers of the '62' Peronist unions and other unspecified havens of British passport-holders to the fighting in Liverpool.

On this question, the as on previous issue of immigration, Powell revealed his distorting and talent for exaggerating facts to suit his reactionary divisive ends.

The fighting and barricades in Liverpool, he said, had been endemic for months (!) in the city and had happened else- where in Lancashire. Incredible and fantastic as it ... flay soem to che Lirerpudlians in particular, these barricades and all these mysterious battles in Lancashire have-according to Powell anyway—been sup- pressed by the police and the press. As usual Powell was careful not to adduce any positive proof in the form of names, places, dates etc. Powell's propaganda technique is based on an appeal to fear, imagination ignorance rather than reason and intel- ligence. But the potency of his propaganda is in inverse proportion to the quality of leadership in working-class Britain today. If his reactionary ethnic theories and his economic quackery are taken seriously by sections of the middle class and backward workers, it is only because union, present trade Stalinist and Labour Party leaders, by their refusal to fight Toryism to a finish and their treachery to the working class, generate the agitation which insecurity and enables Powellism to continue.

The last Labour government helped enormously to create the menace of Powellism be- cause it failed to expropriate the monopolies and guarantee full employment and, at the same time, capitulated in the most cowardly fashion on the Kenyan Asians issue of the and the Immigration Act. the T&GWU leaders by Now refusing to fight for the right to work,_organize and strike under a Tory government are creating the conditions for a recrudescence of Powellism.

Liverpool is a warning to all trade unionists and socialists.

The only answer to Powellism is Marxist the creation of a leadership in the trade unions through the building of the All Trades Unions Alliance and the transformation of the Socialist Labour League into the revolutionary party of the British and immigrant workers.

which 3 million represent workers, including the unions of engineering workers and meat packers. They said they would commandos to protect create Peron after his return. Meanwhile in Buenos Aires, General Lopez Aufranc and Fer- nando Dubra have declared their opposition to Peron's return. Aufranc, an important Lopez general in charge of the armed forces in Cordoba, intends to 'head-on opposition to mount his return'. Weekend trips to Madrid by their union leaders and blithe statements by Campora like "The General has a blank cheque to solve present economic pro- blems' can give no satisfaction to Argentine trade unionists who face mass unemployment and big wage cuts. The whole issue of Peron's possible return is being used by the Peronist union leaders to break down the militancy of the working class and to cover up the preparations of the military to destroy trade unionism in Argentina. As a political com- mentator recently wrote in 'La Nacion', a Buenos Aires news- 'We need something of paper: the Brazilian style over here.'

BY PHILIP WADE

THE building pay claim is now at a critical stage.

Although over 100,000 are on strike, the union leadership has refused to call a national strike for the £30, 35-hour wer claim. Despite the leadership's retreat, thousands more building workers are now on strike for the claim. Dozens of sites in the Southampton area have been stopped in the last two days. On Monday alone, 32 sites came out and work stopped on the £l‡m Pirelli site at East- leigh. the North East yesterday In building workers struck on seven more private sites. Meetings were taking place on the others dur- ing the day. Over 3,000 workers have now stopped in Bristol, holding up the Roman Catholic work on cathedral, a tobacco factory and a newspaper office. At the same time however, the Communist Party is trying des- perately to cover up for the betrayals of the leadership and to hold back a fight against the Tory government. That is why yesterday's 'Morn- ing Star' came out behind Tues- day's decision by leaders union for a 'rapid intensification' by the regions and against a national strike. An editorial could only say 'there will be some disappoint- ment' that no national strike had been called. The 'Morning Star' was also confine careful to the very builders' fight to one with the employers, deliberately omitting the fight against the Tory govern- ment. The Communist Party stands for peaceful co-existence with the Tories and capitalism. From the very beginning they have been in favour of selective strikes. This line was agseed at the 'Charter' conference in Birm- ingham. When they were reminded of week's their position, at last mass meeting at the Conway Stalinist Jack Hall, leading Henry, UCATT regional secre- defended UCATT general tary, secretary George Smith. 'We want less bashing of the union leaders and more bashing of the employers instead, he retorted. To say the builders' battle is a with question wages employers-as the Stalinists do is to disarm builders by keeping them away from the real enemy and to prevent unity with other workers fighting the Tories.

The builders, pay fight is cru- cial not only for builders but for 28 Charlotte St

BOOKS • PERI

the entire trade union move- On an average building ment. workers' wages are some of the lowest in the country. With the craftsmen's basic at only £20 and £17 for labourers, they are forced . to work long hours of overtime to take home a decent The work is wage. highly dangerous, and deaths on 40% of sites represent deaths in jadustry. The "building umons are poorly organized, with membership just . 30% of those over employed in the industry. Over 150,000 builders are unemployed.

The claim is a just one. It is aimed at securing decent basic rates throughout the industry, so that every worker - however weak the organization on the sites—will get a living wage.

But the Tories are prepared to back the employers in resisting a £10 increase in the rate and a five-hour cut in the working week. The demand must be for a building national strike of workers, the recall of the TUC for the preparation of a General Strike to force the Tories to resign. All major sites in the Greenock including out, area are now Gilbert Ash at Larkfield Hospital, McAlpine at Inverkip and Mitchell in the New Town Centre. A picket of 200 at the direct labour site of Greenock Corpor- ation was out yesterday morning.

Paul Lafferty

BY IAN YEATS

LIVERPOOL joiner, Paul Lafferty (25), warned that the only threat to the success of the builders' pay and hours campaign lay in union leaders' efforts to keep the rank-and- file divided. Commenting Tuesday's on decision by union chiefs not to call for a national builders' strike, Mr Lafferty said: 'I don't think will have it. the membership Men are stopping work all over the country and once we are all out, that's it. There'll be no change until we get what we want.' Mr Lafferty has been on strike for several weeks after the Bovis

S • PERIODICALS • NEWSPAPERS

Preston bullding workers out on mass p The corporation workers agreed to strike for the day and will meet this morning. One of the local UCATT con- venors and strike committee spokesman said: "The latest offer is tempting but the ties and it have not been in snags publicised. "The offer is not £29 like the but £23 now and papers say, £25 in May 1973. We want a straight offer. 'The whole of the West of Scotland is now black, despite what union officials say.'

In the Midlands the strike committee is holding twice daily meetings to organize picketing throughout the area. They are particularly incensed about the employers' advertise- site where he works was among the first in Liverpool to be pulled out on selective strike. Married with two small children he and his family have been living on £10 Social Security. He told his Liverpool me at home, "This strike should have happened years ago. We have all been surprised to see all the lads coming out and the soli- darity. 'Up here in Liverpool it has always been the feeling that out- side Merseyside there's been no militancy but the fact that North Wales and Wigan have been lead- ing the fight and even the lump have come has made men out the lads feel terrific. 'UCATT had been losing mem- bership. Men just left the union because they were disheartened by being sold down the river for Now the mili- so many years. tants have forced the union into action and even the men who have been leaving the union are wholeheartedly behind us?

Mr Lafferty said local UCATT and T&GWU officials had shown little interest in the builders' campaign until an unofficial Mer-

NOW OPEN

Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Fri 9 a.m.-7.30 p.m. Sat 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Workers Press, Thu on mass picket ment in the 'Sun' which, they 'completely misrepresents say, the offer. A committee member told Workers Press: 'We are 100 per cent for a national strike.

We want every single site out.'

Over 600 workers are out in Plymouth. West Country builders are now aiming at stopping work in Bath. in Preston Building workers are angry with their leadership for not calling a national strike.

A strike committee member told Workers Press: "The leader- ship are not doing what the men want. It is clear they want an all-out national strike. On hearing news from London that the building workers' leaders had backed down, one seyside action committee was formed. He said, 'They told us we would never get a national strike among building workers but then they felt the feeling of the men decided to take over the fight." Now he says years of suspi- cion and even hatred of local union bureaucrats had been re- placed with the fear that their policies will divide and weaken the building workers. He specifically condemned

UCATT

regional secretary, Bill Crighton's statement at Liverpool stadium that workers on sites where employers concede the builders' claim should return to work. Mr Lafferty said nationaliza- tion was the only lasting answer to the building workers' demands.

'I want to see registration of building workers so you get a reasonable living wage and fall back pay like the dockers.'

The crux of builders' problems apart from the effect of inflation was that one week a man could be earning £40 at one site and the next week drop to £14 some- where else. Wage stability is what we want and that's why everyone's come out. 'Nationalization is the answer to this strike and in the docks as well. 'There were quite a few dock- ers on our march Tuesday. on The biggest thing is the T&G.

It's the same union for builders and dockers. 'If the T&G didn't discriminate between different sections of the union and used the power they had they'd win every strike.

'If the T&G leaders made the call to unite the building work- ers and the dockers all T&G members would definitely res- pond.' Mr Lafferty said the T&G biennial conference should be recalled not only to pledge oppo- sition to the government's anti- union laws but to call for a General Strike to force the Tories to resign and to return a Labour pledged to the government nationalization of the docks and building industries. At Tuesday's Stadium meeting Press, Thursday August 17, 1972 PAGE 3 large firm in Preston-Brown and Jackson — issued a press state- ment saying that the site was still working. 'Anyone wishing to work will get police protection from the company, it said. A picket from Marshall's was angry that the union leadership could not be recalled except after many years. 'It should be more often. We should change our own rules.'

Further support is coming in from the labour movement for the building workers. Apart from the dockers, Preston North Con- stituency Labour Party has come out in support and Preston South

CLP

• will be meeting soon and individual members think it will also give complete support.

UCATT officials refused to read out a unanimous resolution from 250 Skelmersdale builders cal- ling for a meeting of all Mersey- side shop stewards to plan sup- port for dockers and builders.

The resolution also called on the TUC to break off talks with Heath and the CBI and to organize a General Strike to force the return of a Labour govern- ment pledged to socialist policies including nationalization.

ALL TRADES UNIONS

ALLIANCE MEETINGS

VICTORY TO THE BUILDERS

AND DOCKERS!

TUC MUST BREAK_OFF ALL

TALKS WITH HEATH!

THE TORY GOVERN-

MAKE

MENT RESIGN!

EAST LONDON: Thurs, August 17, 8 p.m. The crisis of capitalism and the docks struggle Festival Inn, Market Square, Chrisp St, E.14.

CENTRAL LONDON:

Wed, August 23, 7.30 p.m. The builders' fight.

Small Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, Holborn.

NORTH

LONDON: Thursday August 17, 8 p.m. Co-op Hall, Seven Sisters Road, N4. LUTON: Thursday August 17, p.m. St. John Ambulance Hall, Lea Road. TOTTENHAM: Thursday August 17, 8 p.m. Railway Tavern, White Hart Lane. ACTON: Monday August 21, 8 p.m. Co-op Hall, Acton High St.

CROYDON: Monday August 21, 8 p.m. Ruskin House, Coombe GLASGOW: Wednesday August 23, 7.30 p.m. Partick Burgh Hall (nr Merkland St under- ground). UCS and the docks.

NEWCASTLE: Wednesday August 23, 7.30 p.m. Hotspur Hotel, Haymarket.

PAGE 4 Workers Press, Thursday Augus The hooded men of the Ulster Defence Associa- tion, the extremist Loyal- ist group, are engaging in selective terror attacks on known republicans and innocent members of the Catholic community. They have also carried out a number of executions in the past few weeks. But so far neither the army nor the police has been able to apprehend anyone con- with these incidents. nected Indeed, in some cases the so- security called forces have been seen to be aiding and abetting the vigilantes. The Association for Legal Justice in Belfast has been compiling a number of sworn affidavits which describe the UDA's methods. The first incident concerns Daniel Curran (23), of Twin- who was brook, Dunmurry, beaten up while walking along Clifton Crescent on July 2.

His wife, Mrs Curran, ex- plains what happened: We had just got off the bus and were walking along the crescent. My husband was carrying the baby. Suddenly a crowd of masked men charged down the street. They pointed out a Catholic house and then they proceeded to break down the door, burst in the windows and ransack the house. One of them stood at the corner with a gun pointed to the house.

We ran over to my mother- in-law's house and my husband handed the baby over to her.

I said: 'Do not leave the house again', but he said 'we need protection'. He ran to a neigh- bour's house to phone for help.

go into this They saw him house. He closed both doors as he entered, but they broke With almost pre-election fervour, the Tory Party and its supporting organizations are collecting large sums of money from backers in big business. Many of the donations go direct to the coffers at the Conservative Party's central office while others are fed into front organizations which sup- port the Tories, like Aims of Industry, the Economic League, Common Cause and British United Industrialists. are mainly These groups concerned with giving publicity to Tory policies and preparing dossiers for the employers on militants and left-wing tenden- cies in the trade union move- ment. Industrial Relations Act 0000 day August 17, 1972 down the doors, my husband panicked and rushed out to the back. My husband ran into the toilet and locked the door and they threatened to shoot him if he did not open the door. He opened the door and they took him out to the lane at the back of the house at the point of a gun. Outside there were more UDA men. They dragged my husband down the lane. He shouted to for help but they the army ignored him. They brought him to Roe Siree, and they asked someone to identify him, but they said they did not know him. They pointed a gun at him, but he knocked it out of their hands.

Then they blindfolded him and took him away in a Land- Rover. They took him to a hall, reblindfolded him again. They laid him on the floor and they beat him severely on the back, legs and chest. They then pro- ceeded to burn his back with matches. * They took him away in what he thought was a Viva car and dumped him in a back in Alloa entry • Street. He managed to take the blindfold off and made his way to the Star Taxis. He went to the Mater Hospital for treat- ment. He has severe bruising, nine stitches he has the back of his head, his right eye was badly bruised and required stitching. His feet were badly swollen, his face was walked on leaving heavy bruising.

Case No 2 concerns the shoot- ing of Francis Arthurs of Falls- water Street, Belfast, on July His brother, Edward, signed this sworn statement: My brother was leaving the Engineer's Club in Corpo- ration Street with his girl friend-taking her home. The taxi proceeded up the Crumlin Road and was stopped The following list was com- piled by Labour Research Department. It totals £169,365 and companies. covers There are, of course, private donations totalling many thousands of pounds which cannot be accounted for. A number of Cabinet ministers and Tory MPs are connected with the donors.

For instance, British Ropes Limited had Anthony Barber, the Chancellor of the Ex- chequer, as a director prior to his Cabinet appointment, while Minister Environment Peter Walker was the co-founder and partner in Slater Walker Securities which gave £15,000 to the Tory Party last financial year.

POOR

OLD

WILSON!

ANYONE

CAN

SEE

HE'S

JUST

OF

THE

TOOL.

People

SUPPLY

HIS

FUNDS

by UDA. patrol at a check point. They ordered everyone out of the taxi, searched them and told them they could go, then they told Francis to get out and the girl went on in the taxi with the rest of the pas- sengers. They went on to the barracks at Tennent Street and reported this. The police and the army just laughed at them 'Don't worry they and said [the UDA] will only question him and then release him.'

His girl friend and about four or five people then went to Musgrave Street station to report what happened as they seemed to have got nowhere in Tennent Street station, but the same attitude prevailed there.

Company Associated Biscuit Manufacturers Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers Automotive Products Associated Babcock & Wilcox • BBA Group C. T. Bowring & Co. British Ropes British Titan British Vita Co. Burmah Oil Co. Clarke Chapman-John Thompson Courage Eagle Star Insurance Co. W & C French Gill & Duffus Guardian Royal Exchange Assurance Phoenix Assurance Co. Royal Insurance Co. Rugby Portland Cement Co.

Slater Walker Securities Spillers Swan Hunter Group Tarmac Taylor Woodrow Unilever • Weir Group Wilmot Breeden (Holdings) I was told about the death of my brother by my other brother Robert on Saturday at noon. We went to Springfield Road police station to make inquiries. The police there dir- go to Tennent ected us to station. Street police The police there told us to go to the City Hospital to identify nd him. In case No 3 Kevin MacElkennon of Lisburn Road, Belfast, described how his home was broken into by UDA thugs. Kevin, who is 15 years old, describes what happened: (On Sunday night, July 9 at 12.10 a.m. we were watch- ing television when a crowd of UDA entered the house. Two of my friends got up to see Recipient British United Industrialists British United Industrialists Common Cause Aims of Industry British United Industrialists Economic League Aims of Industry Conservative Party Conservative Party Conservative Group for Europe Aims of Industry Economic League Common Cause South Yorkshire Industrial Council Economic League Aims of Industry

P.E.S.T.

British United Industrialists Conservative Party British United Industrialists Northern Industrialists Protection Association Economic League British United Industrialists Conservative Party Economic League Conservative Party Economic League Conservative Party British United Industrialists British United Industrialists British United Industrialists Conservative Party Economic League British United Industrialists Liverpool Conservative Associatior Economic League British United Industrialists Conservative Party Aims of Industry Economic League British United Industrialists North East Industrialists Protection Association Economic League Conservative Party Aims of Industry British United Industrialists Conservative Party British Council of the European Movement British United Industrialists what was happening and the

UDA

The UDA man saw us then ran into the sitting room They hit me and beat us sticks and with i batons on the side of my head, near my ear, and my legs, , back and arm. I went to hospital that night in which ambulance landlord had The police got. were there and they asked how it happened. We told them the story, they took our names.

My according the arm, to hospital, is badly bruised and sprained, my leg is also swol- len. Father Lowry is now going to try and get me a job. I have had to move out and live in. I have no parents and am welfare. supported by ending 31.12.71 31.12.7 31.12.7] 31.12.71 31.12.71 31.12.71 29.1.72 31.12.71 311271 31.12.71 31.12.71 1.12. 1.12. 3311172 31:2:71 31.12.71 31.12.71 311231

FOREIGN CAPITAL

POURS INTO YUGOSLAVIA

Tito: by relaxing the laws governing the inflow of foreign capital, Tito puts at risk the gains of the Yugoslav revolution By John Spencer Forty-four foreign capital- ist firms have invested more than £30m in Yugoslavia since the Tito government relaxed the control of foreign capital coming into the country. Among the first involved are some of the biggest European monopolies, including Fiat, Daimler - Benz, Volkswagen, Pechiney, Bayer, Dunlop and

SKF.

Though the bulk of foreign investment is concentrated in Slovenia and northern Croa- tia, close to the border with Austria and Italy, investment has penetrated into all but one of the six republics. Until five years ago, foreign capital could enter Yugoslavia only in the form of credit- that is loans at fixed interest raised on the money markets abroad. Much of this credit from the International came Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Washington.

'RISK'

CAPITAL

of raising This method capital overseas was strictly centralized and under close government control. But since 1967 the controls have been progressively relaxed opening up the country as an outlet for 'risk' capital. The Yugoslav bureaucracy sees the opening up of the country to foreign capital as a means of stimulating the eco- nomy and absorbing the hun- dreds of thousands of unem- ployed and underemployed workers. This is certainly one of the effects, but it is gained at a More and more heavy price. the nationalized economy must be subordinated to the require- ments of foreign capital in order both to attract invest- ment and ensure that it is not suddenly withdrawn by the foreign investors. In the first years of the new capitalists abroad system to take seemed reluctant advantage of the new terms, so Tito has made considerable concessions in order to attract them. The law has recently been changed to allow retransfer of invested cavital at the expiry or cancellation of a contract and the old requirement that part of the profits be rein- vested in Yugoslavia has been dropped. To facilitate the movement of capital into and out of the country, the entire banking has been reorganized system to establish, for the first time, an internal foreign currency market. This involves making the dinar a convertible currency of the and the operation foreign exchange market will fall to a considerable degree within the scope of semi- independent banks in the regions. The idea is to establish the dinar at a rate of 17 to the but in practice US dollar, nobody knows what the dinar's 'true' rate is. To maintain its currency within International Monetary Fund parities, the Yugoslav government will have to adopt the classic deflation- of holding down • tactics workers' living standards.

The working class in Yugo- slavia will have to foot the Tito: by relaxing the laws governing the bill for the encouragement being given to foreign capital.

And the gains of the Yugoslav revolution are increasingly put at risk by Tito's economic turn towards imperialism.

The Yugoslay government still maintains some controls over foreign investment, the most important of which is the stipulation that investors must take part as minority partners with established Yugoslav firms.

DICTATING

FIRMS

But even this is not a fool- proot protection. The toreign investor may not have control but he will certainly want to the way have a major say in the enterprise is run. And if the Yugoslav side of the 'partnership' is sufficiently desperate for new capital, the investor foreign can virtually dictate have There terms. erning the inflow of foreign capital, Tito puts at already been cases of British firms bringing their manage- ment consultants with them to up the operation of speed 'their' factories in Yugoslavia.

These moves also have very sweeping political implications.

Croat The resurgence nationalism and the reappear- ance of Ustachi fascist terror- ists in Croatia is symptomatic of growing national discontent, often taking • the most reac- tionary, restorationist form.

Tito's is not government interested in encouraging small investment in Yugoslavia. It is concerned with attracting the big European monopolies in industries like automobiles.

The official publication 'Yugoslav Life' states: It is really unnecessary for domes- enterprises to have as tic partners extremely small foreign investors who would not be able to offer up-to-date technology, organization or markets. 'Since it is not impossible that even such investors would Workers Press, Thur to puts at risk the gains of the Yugoslav revoluti find partners among Yugoslav enterprises, it has been decided that capital invested by a foreign firm must not be less than 1.5m new dinars [€38,000]..: 'Yugoslav Life' adds: 'It is not surprising that the first and largest investment with foreign firms was in the automobile industry. This is precisely the

TOP TEN FOREIGN INVESTO

Firm Yugoslav partner Fiat Crvena zastava Lacke & Farben Cinkarna

IFC (US)

Crvena zastava Daimler- Benz

FAP-FAMOS

Semperit Sava Crvena zastava Fiat

SKF

Konus Klockner HD

TAM

Volkswagen

UNIS

. IFC (US)

FAP-FAMOS

*Excluding investment from other ress, Thursday August 17, 1972 PAGE 5 av revolution field where, throughout the world, there is the most inten- sive linking of producers.'

manufacturers Automobile are also nobody's fools. Their readiness to invest in Yugo- slavia indicates that they have 'confidence' in the Tito bureau- cracy. The question is whether the Yugoslav working class can afford the same luxury.

INVESTORS IN YUGOSLAVIA*

Ratio of foreign to Firm's domestic investment capital 26:74 €5.3m 49:51 £3.5m £3.4m £2.9m 15.85 $£2.7m 30:70 €1.6m 11:89 £1.Im 49:51 £1.0m 13:87 23:77 £0.9m £0.9m rom other East European countries.

PAGE 6 Workers Press, Thursday August 17, 1972

BY IAN YEATS

1,700-strong labour force. An Ten when years ago, additional 700| avail- men are members of the Royal unattached able from the family arrived at register and average the on British Transport Docks Board Southampton bound for about 2,000 port works with Cowes, west of the Royal dockers. Pier they looked out The men fear that the South over hundreds of acres of Africa trade, the bulk of Union which is handled by largely tranquil marshes.

Castle Line's two-ships-a-week afternoons local On sunny be con- service, is about to people could be seen watching tainerized. their children playing at the the moment 700 At take 14 days to load and un- water's edge. Up half a mile load one ship. If the trade was to away across the tough, sparse, river a ship of com- containerized grass the great pa enger linios could be tonnage parable P&O and Union turned round in days Castle prepared for voyages to using one seventh of the men.

America, South Africa and the Last year 114,000 container West Indies. units passed through the port, 1965 black, red and the entire By but by 1974, when white surveyors' markers sud- Far East trade will be centred and shortly on Southampton, management denly appeared afterwards the pile drivers, hope the number of daily con- bulldozers and dredgers moved will be tainer movements stepped up to a thousand.

in. of course, is Southampton, reclaimed port in the in marsh have old sense an and three container berths deal is applied to which the term per cent of the 28 with 50 Liverpool and Hull. In fact its of cargo go back to 1620 when million tons which roots pass annually across the quays.

the Pilgrim Fathers used its berth sail Another container to America quays to will be ready January to the 'Mayflower'. by complete the facilities for the The Town Quay and the East service trans- Royal Pier were built as early Far ferred there from Liverpool.

as 1833, but as the industrial stride revolution got into its and British goods were being sold nearly every corner of the world, new inner docks (now the and outer 30-ton Princess Alexandra Dock) were The existing two added in 1867. 35-tonners three portainers, At the outbreak of World 40-ton crane and the work tof 84 traditional one War I the Empress and Ocean Docks completed and cranes with an average lifting were capacity of 24 tons each.

four dry docks. Aside also as a mili- Many Southampton dockers from its reputation tary port, by 1914 Southamp- thought the opening up of con- tainer berths could mean new ton had become the gateway to America, the Orient and the jobs. In fact not only has the Cape, berthing the largest pas- West Docks expansion new senger liners then afloat.

not created any extra jobs, but the berths are working so far It was the increase in pas- below capacity that they could senger traffic which prompted the massive one and a half mile deal with a considerable in- development westwards traffic before an crease in quay expansion of the labour force along the river Test where the world's greatest liners, includ- need even be contemplated.

ing Cunard's Queens were to Dockers' optimism, based on the phenomenon of trade won tie up 1950, 30,000 passengers from ports like London, Liver- pool and Hull, is quickly turn- passed through the port enough ing particularly annually - a modest sour, Clare compared with last containerization now stands to figure the year's 2,087,293. threaten even existing The bulk of them took the relatively short haul to Europe -France, Spain and Portugal -followed closely by Austral- asia. The Atlantic trade has now dropped to fifth place.

But Southampton's pas- declining şenger trade is year 11,877 generally. Last ewer people passed over the quays. The main reason is that a sea voyage to New York still takes five days compared with a few hours by air. Cunard and P&O have already slashed their services and, without the compensating growth of container traffic, heavy redundancies would have followed. The labour margin to pro- men for the new con- vide tainer and roll-on, roll-off ser- vices has come jointly from the fall in passenger shipping and the unattached pool. will Containerization not save clerical staff and workers at P&O offices are worried that the cut-backs will eventually bring the jobs axe down on their heads. and management Dockers have grasped at containeriza- tion as a means of staving off disaster. As 1965, early as that Southampton realizing would lose out unless a major expansion and modernization was undertaken, government approval was obtained for 30 hundreds of new berths on of unclaimed land at a acres cost of £60m. The first container terminal was opened in 1968 with 30-ton and one 40-ton portainer cranes and a linkspan for roll-on. roll-off. Thorenson opened the first roll-off service roll-on, 1964 and now these have mushroomed to five, including Normandy, Southern, Swedish Lloyd and now Seagull Ferries.

Each ship is worked by gangs of up to 30 men. the real expansion has Runt come this year with a £14m proiect for the reclamation of 58 of providing acres land 2.100 ft of quay space and marshalling container One of the berths is already AnAn There was to have been a further E6m extension this vear and the second over berth opening in 1973-part of the £14m development - but the sponsors of a scheme New Zea- tho land claimed it was un. trade Top: loading common-user berth at profitable and pulled out.

dockers at a mass meeting during the 1970 dock stri With existing container facilities at the common user berths underused, the spur for this development has come the exclusivelv from decision to transfer the whole of the Far East trade to the port.

The full service will operate from 1974 and handle 2 mil- lion til of cargo a rade.

Until trade has nOW been split between Mid- dilesborough, Hull, London and Liverpool. Of the 16 five will be operated by OCL, three by Ben Lines, three by Hapag Lloyd, three by Nippon Yusen Kaisha Mitsui and two

OSK.

The companies are grouped into three: OCL and Ben-UK; Hapag West

NYK

and Germany; The Japan. consortium is Trio Lines. known as The first ship the new Maru, 'Kamakuru service 1.800 carrying containers, 29 Soutwas docked Southampton on Tanuary given 24-hour turn-round. Cargoes on this run are bound for Tokyo, Hong Kong.

Korea, Singapore and Taiwan

OCL

berth is operated The by 21 men from a central con- trol tower linked to Crane drives carrier, tugmaster and overseers by radio. ' the 1970 Sock stre Southampton dock. Above: Southampton The dockers have insisted shipworking ten-strong on and men on the gangs two straddle carriers, but manage- ment wants to eliminate the shipworking gangs altogether and reduce the carrier crews to one man. The men work three eight- hour shifts. There is no extra pay for nightwork - average weekly pay £48 - and all dockers are interchangeable.

Shipworking gangs, straddle tugmaster carrier crews, drivers, fork-lift operators and light-duty men bring the total workforce at the berth to just 100, rising to 200 when the service is in operation. There was already one twin- track British Rail freightliner terminal at the dock, but a new deepsea duplicate installa- tion at Millbrook opened this year and deals with 800 con- tainers a week destined for depots at Stratford, London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Man- Coat- chester. Leeds and bridge. In common with all con- tainer ports, the emphasis is turn-round and rapid on new six-storey, £500,000 radar radio-control centre has and just been built to co-ordinate shipping movements. Some of the feel men modernization is being taken to extremes - especially the Workers Press, Thuradu fully-automatic, coin-operated which seats 70. canteen Despite all the moderniza- the turning of tion and into £949,000 1970 loss a slender £502,186 1971 profit, the future is by no means rosy.

More of the remaining con- ventional cargoes will almost certainly be containerized to keep the port's books in the black — especially since last year recession knocked 70,000 tons the total tonnage handled annually. As important as the falls in tonnage and passengers is of the phenomenon over- crowding on certain container routes which has already led the US-based Seatrain-run by ACL and DART-to pull out of Southampton, accounting for of the surplus much capacity on the common-user berths. The whole point of contain- erization would be lost if the same number of ships as before were employed to carry cargo under circumstances where the only difference between the two systems was the method of packing. kors Press, Thursday Auguel 17, 1972 PAGE 7 The berths common-user without the kind of operate detailed radio-control system used by OCL which they claim would enable them to dispense completely with ship- working gangs. But if OCL gets its way and the British Trans- port Docks Board introduces the system at its berths, con- siderable redundancies could be on the cards. already been There have redundancies and voluntary early retirements and there are container depots around по Southampton to soak up sur- plus labour, even if this proved feasible. Stripping and stuff- ing is carried on already by dockers within the dock pre- cincts. Only last week it was to 100 announced that up dockworkers will lose their jobs when British Rail axes its Lambeth - to • Southampton freight The service. new freightliner trains will handle this traffic. Two hundred Lon- don men will lose their jobs.

Southampton dockers feel the jobs uncertainties the future almost certainly holds and they have thrown their behind the national weight dock strike. As one man said: 'We never know when we might need the other dock- ers to back us up.'

From the Dockers' Tanner Strike 1889 to Devlin 1967. An historical series on the organization of the dockers by Jack Gale

DOCKERS WIN THE TANNER

PAGE 8 Workers Press, Thursday Augu From the Dockers' Tanner Str

PART 1

The London docks in 1889 showed Victorian at its most capitalism glorious. Improvements in shipbuilding, together with the greater size and speed of steamships and the opening of the Suez Canal route led to in- creased tonnage, intensi- fied competition for car- goes and ruthless speed- up in discharging. Sub-contractors ('sweaters') would call in hundreds of casual labourers-contempt- uously referred to as 'dock- rats'—to unload a ship in a few feverish hours. They might then wait weeks for more work. The minority of long-stand- ng, skilled dockers-knowr 'Royals'-would have to as bribe the sub-contractors to ensure regular work. But the host of 'casuals' was made up of Irish peasants rack- rented out of their homes, agri- cultural labourers driven from the English villages and even unemployed skilled workers.

All lived in squalid poverty in the richest port in the world -East London. Union leader Ben Tillett des- cribed the scene at the 'call-on' where the employer's represen- tative was protected by an iron- barred shed as he picked out the men he wanted: 'Coats, flesh and even ears were torn off. The strong liter- ally threw themselves over the heads of their fellows and bat- through the kicking, tled punching, cursing crowds to the rails of the cage which held them like rats—mad, human rats who saw food in the ticket.' 1 All this for perhaps one— or at the most, four-hours' work at 4d or 5d per hour! Once on the dock the men were terrorized by gangs of thugs: 'Bullies hounded and whipped the men. Young men were put old and weaker men to run down either carrying loads or running trucks. Dreadful furies were let loose on the docks.

I have often heard the curse "Kill the old sod"' 2 The first attempt to organize the unskilled on the London Ben Tillett's Tea docks was Coopers' and General Labour- ers' Association set up in 1887.

It was broken up by the em- ployers' hired thugs. The fol- lowing year a Tilbury strike to raise the hourly rate from 4d to 5d was defeated. But a start had been made -for previously men like the 'dock-rats' had been excluded from the unions which clung tightly to craft consciousness, exclusive membership, high dues and high benefits. The dock-rats were to be a new type of trade unionist. But, right from the start, the more far-sighted representatives of the ruling class saw the need to come to terms with these new forces. Tillett recounts in Indeed, his autobiography how he spe- cifically appealed to Liberal MPs to support his union as 'an organization that will aim at disciplining our forces and allaying irritation and prevent conflict with our employers.' 3 (My emphasis JG) One unexpected source of support for Tillett was Car- dinal Manning, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster.

Manning, who was a son of a former Governor of the Bank of England and a brother of a one-time chairman of the dir- ectors of the London docks, day August 17, 1972 nner Strike 1889 to Devlin 1967. An

MOINGGRS & CONTRACTORS

Top: Dockers march through London In 1 was greatly influenced by Lujo Brentano, Karl Marx's implac- cable foe. Brentano had argued British trade that unions should be developed as instru- ments of social peace. Manning quoted Brentano with approval: 'His book took out of my mind entirely the erroneous conception that such associa- tions have anything about them which is not perfectly innocu- ous if they are rightly con- ducted.' And he vigorously proclaimed against Marxist terminology, for instance the word 'prole- tariat': 'I have no doubt you have all heard it and read it. It is pagan- ism; it is false; and it is an indignity to the working man.'

During the massive working- class demonstrations of 1886 and 1887, Manning warned of the dangers of alliance an between 'the outcast popula- tion and socialism'. In a letter to 'The Times' he declared: 967. An historical series on the orga ondon In 1889. Above: Ben Tillett 'All parties, political and reli- gious, are broken up. If the landholders, householders and "engineer capitalists will slope" we may avert disastrous collisions. If they will not, 1 am afraid you will see a rough time. Millions are living in an inhuman state.' s When the Pope condemned Knights of the American Labour, Manning intervened and got the ban reversed as 'a bid to retain civilized labour for the Church'. And Manning was the influ- ence behind the Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII which sanc- tioned trade unions and strikes, but which condemned socialism. The Great Dock Strike began on August 14, 1889. The de- mands a basic rate of were: od per hour, 8d per hour over- time, no calls for less than four hours, and the abolition of subcontracting. Marches 100,000 workers took place through the East End. Early on, He he organization of the dockers by J craft stevedoring unions the (whose members were getting 8d per hour basic and Is over- time) joined the strike in soli- darity. From the start the socialists John Burns (an executive mem- ber of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers) and Tom Mann were prominent in the leader- ship of the strike. Karl Marx's daughter, Eleanor Aveling, was also active on the strike com- mittee. When the strike began, the union's funds totalled 7s 6d.

Nevertheless, it organized strike pay of Is 6d a day for over 4,000 of the most needy men.

15,000 pickets covered 50 miles of dockland. And the foundation congress of the Second International persuaded Antwerp dockers to refuse to allow anyone to go to London to break the strike. In the Commercial Road area of East London, dockers' wives organized a rent strike. They hung banners across the streets which declared: 'No rent in the East End of London till the docker gets his tanner.' 'As we are on strike, land- lords need not call.' and: 'Our husbands are on strike, to the wives it is not honey.

And we all think it right not to pay the landlord's money.

Everyone is on strike; so land- lords, do not be offended. The rent that's due we'll pay, you when the strike is ended.

But the leaders, despite their socialist convictions, kept the movement within bounds, as from newspapers extracts the time (like 'Reynolds' and 'Star') clearly show. the For example, a councillor on the London County Council declared that John Burns was a straightforward, honest man 'because' he was as often found on the Conservative side as the other. Had it not been for Mr Burns' influence, London would have been in a state of turmoil ; before this.' And again: know, this is better than barri- cades" remarked a Conservative City man, as he watched the procession in Leadenhall Street.'

Ben Tillett was also hesitant.

He opposed Tom Mann's pro- rs by Jack Gale posal for an all-London General Strike on the grounds that it alienate public sym- would pathy. And other union leaders pre- ferred gestures to action. The executive of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers donated £670—but refused with- to draw their members from work on the docks. But that was a lot better than the Trades Union Con- Those worthies took a gress. collection at their 1889 Con- raised f10! But gress-and throughout Britain support for the dockers was growing among the ranks of the working class.

And not only in Britain. Aus- tralian workers sent £30,000.

As support grew, the threat of an all-London strike-even though opposed by the dock- ers' leaders-terrified the em- ployers. decisive The man-once Cardinal Manning. morewas An Arbitration Committee con- sisting of himself, the Lord the Bishop Mayor of London, of London, the Chairman of the London Chamber of Com- merce, several MPs and similar upright such gentlemen was hastily established. The more recalcitrant employers were kicked into line. As partial concessions proved unavailing, Manning insisted that further concessions were to be preferred to 'riot and revolution' Finally, on September 16, 1889, the strike ended in vic- tory. The main gains were 6d an hour and 8d for overtime; fixed overtime hours, men cal- led not to be discharged with less than 2s.; and piecework to replace sub-contracting. A great victory had been achieved. A new level of work- ing-class solidarity had been established. And a new type of trade unionism had proved its strength. But the employers were not finished. They were to come again.

CONTINUED TOMORROW

T Ben Tillett 'A Brief History of the Dockers' Union' p. 12.

= Quoted in Dona Torr 'Tom Mann and His Times' p. 282.

3 Ben Tillett 'Memories' p. 99.

* See Dona Torr op cit. p. 285.

5 Dona Torr op cit. p. 286.

X WITH TAE IN

INFLATION

WAR

UNEMPLOYMENT

PARTY

AL

ABOR

STATEMENT FROM THE POLITIC

The central requirement of the American working class is the construction of a revolu- tionary leadership to meet the tasks posed by the deepening crisis of world capitalism. It was to fulfil this task that the Workers League was founded in 1966. From our origins, we have proceeded from the under- standing that the construc- tion of a revolutionary leader- ship necessitated above all the development of a press to fight for socialist policies within the working class itself. Only with such a press can we expose exactly what it is the capitalist class is seeking to do to the working class, how the working class can answer each attack, and how through this struggle a cons- cious leadership can . be con- structed within the working class. It was with this understand- ing that we first launched the 'Bulletin' as a fortnightly mimeographed paper and dev- eloped it to its present fre- quency and size. Now, however, the sharp change in the objective situa- facing workers following tion President Nixon's August 15, 1971, decisions requires that the fight to develop the 'Bulle- tin' be seen in a new light.

In the immediate period, American workers face wage limitations, soaring inflation, rising unemployment, the con- tinuation of the Vietnam war, and the preparation of new anti-strike legislation. nast

*LABORE

14NJ7

POLITICAL COMMITTEE OF THE WOR

At the same time, Nixon's policies have solved nothing fundamentally for capitalism as the soaring price of gold so graphically illustrates. We must therefore develop the 'Bulletin' to fight politically in the work- ing class to arm the working class against the present attacks of the bosses while at the same time preparing ourselves for a whole new stage of the struggle ahead. Recent developments in England and Ulster give us an indication of what lies ahead in America. We plan to develop the weekly 'Bulletin' around the following lines in 1973 and after. Expand the 'Bulletin' to 24 pages to include a regular weekly section in Span- ish and more extensive cover- age of the trade union move- ment. To develop the Young Socialist section of the 'Bulletin' into a regular monthly separate newspaper.

To publish the 'Bulletin' in regional editions car- rying both national and inter- national news as well as more specialized treatment of dev- elopments in the particular area. Through the development of the weekly 'Bulletin' in 1973 and the deepening of our work in the trade unions through the campaign for the labour party we plan to lay the basis for the launching of the 'Bulletin' as a daily paper in the period after 1973.

WINDOPS

OF ALL US

HE WORKERS LEAGUE

This last spring's 'Bulletin' Expansion Fund Drive raised $43,254.13 to complete an important stage in this work.

All the equipment has been purchased and staff trained for the production through photo- composition up to and in- camera work of cluding a paper or papers including a daily paper. What lies before us now is raising sufficient funds to pur- a web offset chase press capable not only of producing an expanded weekly 'Bulletin' and a youth paper, but also a daily We newspaper. are launching a two-stage drive for $100,000 for this purpose.

This fall we will be raising $50,000 between September 15 and December 15. Next spring we will raise an additional $50,000 between March 15 and June 15 and will install the new press by that date. We know that the resources critically important for this task can be raised from • the working class because of the role the 'Bulletin' now plays working in defence of the class. We call on all our readers to help us in this campaign. We can only raise funds of this order with broad support.

We must raise these funds if we to meet current are responsibilities and prepare for the period ahead. We will require your help.

For our part we will continue to develop and strengthen the 'Bulletin' and its fight for a America and socialist a socialist world Workers Press, Thursday August 17, 1972 PAGE 9

WORKERS

NOTEBOOK

INSTANT

JUSTICE

'Sausage machine justice' is the that is, on the Scottish up shotguns at the ready way described moors, Willesden Magistrates' Court. to pulverize any to be Willesden CritiCiSm foolish enough be in the Ine Court is described in a new country that day. book, 'Police Power and Black Unfortunately for our noble People' •Sunday Times' white-hunters, few of the birds by reporter Derek Humphry. Wil- put in an appearance. Shooting Lesten Londo th says the book, is the was cancelled the Drum. of the court lawyers dread lanrig Duke of _Colale Buccleuch and tew

110S LI

parties Many of the accused the Ayrshire are on

WELC

oul either black Irish and 'ghetto justice' "harsh and The best had to be made of primitive' a bad situation. the end One incident in particular is fresh grouse on the appeared Savoy London Creda • notel menu in the following Monday at £5 a Donovan Bartlett, 18- an black year-old youth, was portion. brought from the

KENYATTA

up cells before the court at 1.20 p.m. He was charged with assault- ing a policeman. was officially lunchtime, but the magistrates decided to clear all the and ther Case finish for the day. Bartlett pleaded not guilty and said he had a witness.

shouted into DOLICe the corridor but witness no appearea. As ll was lunchume and the decision to hear the a last-minute Case Was it was a decision, reasonable supposition that the witness might have gone out for a bite to cut, intending to return in Jomo Kenyatta the afternoon. The real truth be magistrates decided,

SHOW

told about the recent story of however, to continue with the an attempted assassination on case anyway. of Kenya's Bartlett the ite president, was neither asked Jomo Kenyatta, in which one if he wanted a remand so his be found, man was killed witness could Nairobi home service gave offered legal aid so he could the following 'explanation' on get a solicitor. August 12: It then emerged that the 'Reports reaching the Voice charge arose from an incident of from Kenya with a policeman on the court Nakuru say that during Presi- premises within the past hour dent Kenyatta's visit to Eger- Bartlett maintained he had ton college yesterday. ..there the while SUrUCK Doncem ur isolated incident, trying to defend himself after Was which deranged person attempted to had poncellan first. wedge his way through the crowd and sit near He was sentenced to two months in jail 1.30 p.m.- the President. at 'In the same incident, his ten minutes after he had first brother was mistakenly stoned appeared in court. You can't death (sic) by the large say they waste time in Willes- crowd which had turned out to witness the opening by the

ON STRIKE

President. He had attempted to gel The British ruling class has to the scene almost immedi- just been hit by a strike of an ately, and inform the to try hits Character authorities of his brother's them where it hurts. abnormal state of mind As every trade unionist will Neither tell you, August 12 was the carrying any type weapon Glorious Day when the grouse 'Reports regarding the season opened. incident, as reported bv the There they were, the land-

BBC,

appear to be exaggerated owners and Tory politicians. and have no foundation.

BOOKS

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PAGE 10 Workers Press, Thursday August 17, 1972

BY INDUSTRIAL CORRESPONDENT

ENGINEERING

union which Scanion and other leaders of the Confederation of Ship- leader Hugh Scanlon has building and Engineering Unions decided to eat his words will now sell to their executives offers increases of £3 and €2.50 over the national pay in the skilled and unskilled rates claim. After condemning and the same again in 12 now months' time. the 8 per cent shipbuild- Nothing at all has been gained ing settlement in May, hours and the claim for on 35-hour of the week (instead Scanlon is now recom- present 40), which is vital in this mending a similar deal trade and period declining increasing redundancies, has been affecting 2.5 million abandoned. workers. Nothing has been achieved on the claim for all-round in- 'We have not achieved all an crease on top of the rise in basic but cer- that we set out to, rates, and instead of an extra of tainly the establishment week's holiday, two days have rates of these new minimum been conceded — one this year realistic pay gives more and and a further day next year.

situation,' the he aspect to The other parts of the original

CSEU

commented at the conclusion claim for equal pay and for improved of two days of talks with the immediately have shift premiums also not engineering employers. - with Scanlon's been met The 'reasonable agreement' approval. the biggest sell-out of all But is the decision to accept a two- year deal despite all the promises that it would be a 12-month deal or nothing. Scanlon is now trying to make the second out that as of the deal is paid stage August 25 next year, the unions will be free to put in a further claim immediately. But it is clear that the Engineering Employers' Federa- tion will regard the settlement as running for two years, just shipbuilding and like the deal, will 'No' immedi- say just as ately. McGarvey The shipbuilding agreement I would like information about Fill in the form below and send to NATIONAL

SECRETARY,

SOCIALIST

LABOUR

LEAGUE,

186A CLAPHAM HIGH ST, LONDON, SW4 7UG.

Name Address The dally paper that leads the fight against the Tories. £20.28 for 12 months (312 issues) £10.14 for 6 months (156 issues) £5.07 for 3 months (78 Issues) If you want to take Workers Press twice a week the rates are: £1.56 for 3 months (24 issues) £6.24 for 12 months (96 issues) Fill in the form below NOW and senid to: 186a Clapham High St., Circulation Depf., Workers Press, London, SW4 7UG. I would like to take out a subscription to Workers Press.

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Amount enclosed £ Scanion Interrupts an amployers' presi for £2.75 in each of two stages plus three extra days' holiday— worth slightly more than the engineering offer - was scorned by Scanlon and voted against by his Amalgamated Union of En- gineering Workers at the CSEU executive in May. Len Edmondson, a member of Scanlon's executive, told the CSEU conference in June that the agreement fell far short of needed, breached what was several important principles, and would not be followed by •the engineers. Ten weeks later they are preparing to sign a slightly worse deal. The EEF say the rise in basic rates will increase the industry's wage bill by 5 to 6 per cent in a yeal. some increments nego- With tiated locally, it means that nearly 3 million engineering workers are only going to get an average 8 per cent wage rise in a 20-month period. The last national pay agree- ment expired December 31, 1971.

By August 1973 inflation, with food and included, will rents have risen by 15 to 20 per cent.

To meet this, the pay packets of most engineering workers will have gone up by 8 to 10 per BLASTFURNACEMEN at the Stanton ironworks, at Ilkeston, Derbyshire, will strike on September 14 if British Steel with Corporation goes ahead plans to close the plant.

Support for the strike has been pledged by representatives pipes from the Stanton spun plant. That means the site will be completely halted by strike action. The decision to oppose the closure with strikes was taken on Tuesday. A mass meeting of 500 National Union of Blast- furnacemen's members voted unanimously tor the proposal from their action committee.

Action • committee spokesman Len Winfield was cheered as he put the proposals to the meeting. But a section of the meeting Union promise to rent rebels THE National Union of Public has taken steps to Employees protect its 410,000 members who for 'rent rebel' local work councils. The executive council has decided that any member em- ployed by a council which refuses to operate the Housing Finance Act will receive the backing of they support the the union if policies of the council in the course of their work duties.

In a number of areas NUPE members are employed as rent collectors by local councils who have said that they will not in- crease rents as required by the Housing Finance Act. comb ara' press briefing during last D cent only. Then will come the second £2.50 to £3 rise, which as a percentage increase will be even smaller - 7 to 8 per cent- because rates will then be higher, to meet the inflation of the following 12 months to August 1974—an unknown quantity.

The way the Tory government is deliberately stoking up infla- tion at the present time in their attack on the level of real wages, anything could be happening in 12 months' time. For the AUEW leaders to mortgage subsequent wage bar- gaining in this way is to play a dangerous game with their mem- bers' future. This retreat follows a long line of retreats during the course of these national pay negotiations, starting with the original decision to go for plant bargaining.

and the subsequent dropping of the hours claim. The seven months of isolated local struggles around the coun- try have completely fragmented determination trade unionists to maintain their living standards in the face of the Tory onslaught. Now the mem- bers are being delivered to the engineering employers on a plate.

was dissatisfied that none of the NUB full-time officials put in an appearance. Support for the strike has also come from Scunthorpe steel workers. A 20 PER CENT decline in young soldier and adult recruits into the army was reported in Ministry of Defence figures for the quarter ending June 30. The report, issued this week, shows that last year 20 per cent enlisted at 15 of all recruits years of age and a further 14 per cent at 16 years. A further decline in these figures is expected as a result of the raising of the school-leaving age. Army Chiefs of Staff, in fact, have been trying to get a boy's first year in the army counted as compulsory year of the extra education. Not even growing unemploy- ment is driving youth into the army in sufficient numbers to satisfy the brass-hats. The possi- bility of troops being used against strikers, and also the knowledge of what soldiers are required to do in Northern Ireland, are powerful deterrants to working- class youth. Most of them see no point in risking their lives in Northern Ireland in the service of British capitalism. As Brig W. F. K. Thompson, ber'a talks THERE WAS an uneasy calm at Dublin's Mountjoy Prison yester- day following a night of rioting.

More than 50 rioting prisoners armed with hatchets, sticks and scrambled onto the top stones of the jail in a full scale rebellion.

Squads of police were quickly on the scene armed with riot gear.

The trouble apparently began during a recreation period. The prisoners broke into stores shed and armed themselves with gardening and building tools.

The prison authorities have refused to comment on the incident. up again THE MAIN Liverpool newspaper group has recorded a leap in profits. In its interim report for the six months to June 24, the 'Daily Post' and 'Echo' Ltd showed a net profit of £1.2m. This compares with a fl.lm profit for the corresponding period last year. To maintain this high profit- ability the company increased the price of its papers by Ip in July.

The papers are consistent sup- porters of the policies of the port employers. Many of their direc- tors are also shipping firm chiefs.

the 'Daily Telegraph's' military correspondent, complains: 'Last year it [Northern Ire- land] was thought to have had a stimulating effect but recent questioning of a batch of recruits has cast doubts on this.'

even the glossy TV Not adverts can overcome the stark reality shown in news shots of Northern Ireland! THE GOVERNMENT is being asked to intervene to stop a South Wales council selling valu- able housing land to developers 'for a song'. In a move to stop the signing of the sale contract next Mon- day, Councillor Ted Merriman, the only Welsh Nationalist coun- cillor on Ogmore and Garw Urban Council has written to the Secretary of State for Wales, Peter Thomas. Merriman said today that the council intended to sell 25 acres to Bryngarw (Garden Estate Co Ltd) for private housing develop- ment for £75,000. He contends that on current market value the price should be £200,000, and is seeking an inquiry into the cir- cumstances of the proposed sale.

BBC 1

ITV

11.30 York golf festival. 12.25 9.45 Along the trail. 10.00 Flash- 10.25 If you were me. ing blade. Women today. 12.50 Common 10.50 Noggin and the omruds. Market cook book. 1.15 Bellbird.

11.00 Cricket. 1.00 Disc a dawn.

1.30 Herbs. 1.45 News and 1.30 Zingalong. 1.40 Arthur. 2.00 weather. 1.53 Show jumping and Castle haven. 2.25 Racing from cricket. 4.15 Play school. 4.40 Deputy 4.45 Jackanory. dawg. York. 3.45 Marcus Welby MD.

5.00 Harlem globetrotters. 5.20 Barrier reef. 4.40 Nuts and bones. 4.55 Atom 5.44 Sir Prancelot. 5.50 News and weather. ant. 5.20 How. 5.50 News.

6.00 NATIONWIDE.

6.00 TODAY.

6.55 HE SAID, SHE SAID.

7.25 TOP OF THE POPS.

6.30 CROSSROADS.

8.00 THE DICK EMERY SHOW.

'The VIPs'. Eliza- beth Bur- Clement Freud .. ton. Airplane passengers wicket. must wait 24 hours to take off. 9.00 NINE O'CLOCK NEWS anc weather.

9.00 MAX BYGRAVES AT THI

ROYALTY

9.25 PLAY.

FOR

TODAY.

'Michael Regan. David

9.30 THIS WEEK.

Burke. 10.35 THEM. James Booth, Cyril 10.00 NEWS AT TEN.

Cusack.

10.30 CINEMA.

11.05 UP THE ORGANIZATION.

Robert Townsend.

11.00 YORK GOLF FESTIVAL.

1.30 NEWS

1.35 Weather

11.45 DOCTORS' DILEMMAS.

BBC 2

Play 11.00-11.25 school. 4.15

8.30 EMMA.

Cricket and show jumping. 5.35 9.15

INDUSTRIAL

GRAND

Open University. TOUR. Higher Mill. NIGHT CLUB. Cabaret. 9.25

7.00 CRICKET.

NEWS ON 2 and weather. 10.10 7.30 NEWSROOM and weather.

10.15 FILM: 'The girl Rosemarie'.

8.00 SONS OF THE BLOOD.

Tiller, Peter Van Nadia beg pardon, Eyck. German film about a thought you were dead... Frankfurt call girl.

BY OUR OWN REPORTER

CRAFT workers at the Local

BSC

management re- jected it. The craft unions. were British Steel Corpor- told that under the terms of the Manpower ation's giant Port Talbot, Productivity Agree-

(MPA)

ment existing in the South Wales, works are works there was increase no now in the third week of coming to the unions. This was because the MPA, an overtime ban. Book' known or klue as it is They are trying to speed locally, only had provision for four yearly revisions or increases up pay negotiations which in rates and this ended in WaDe have been going on since the May 1971. end of May. The JNCC then decided to In May the Joint Craft alter their claim and go Negotiating

(UNCC)

Committee forward on the basis of anomolies the works put forward a 6 in the wage-grade structure which of the MPA. per cent minimum wage claim.

was part The 10 contains structure grades of steelworker which of Grade 7. all craftsmen • Are in However because the crafts- men were the first to sign MPA they were told that any other union which signed would be paid according to the rates of laid out in the grade pay as THE STRIKE of engineering structure. Scott-Lithgow's workers at This has not come about, and shipyards, Greenock, now in subsequently production its ninth week still goes on.

-ISTC, transport workers unions 750 are strike and the blastfurnacemen- -have nen on at got different rates of Scott-Lithgow's and 250 at pay from Kincaid contained Engineering. that mass in the grade Kincaid of meeting workers structure, brousht about the decided This yesterday to morning back the strike. Only the boiler- of 21 anomaly shift craftsmen on £45.90 paid up to £6 or £7 makers remain working. Sean Fisher, a member of the less than production workers in strike committee, told us: the same grade. Like 'What we're being offered the original claim. how- the ever, that based on the anomalies same as the nationally is Confederation offered us locally was also rejected by local man- and was rejected even by the agement. all the said that for foremen. They He said that if they restrictive practices and accepted strings the proposed the craft national pay offer hey had signed awar were only fl.57 better o then the Scott-Lithgow unions men than if they would be no better off than they had retained all these and carried were before the strike began. practices on with MPA as before Since the beginning the of dispute 49 pickets including Sean The craft unions then asked Fisher

BSC

have been charged with for a meeting with group of the Most will from Cardiff. and, breach peace. management appear in court by the end of there delay as was some in October. over- setting up an a meeting. was imposed. The pickets' banners were torn time ban During the ban local manage- up by the management. Intensive threatened surveil- close picketing under police ment Finally, however, it was lance continues at all gates.

works. Liz Taylor and Richard Burton In The VI

REGIONAL TV

CHANNEL: 11.30

London. 4.05 Nuts and bones. 4.20 Puffin. 4.22 Dick Van Dyke. 4.50 Skippy. 5.20 News. How. 5.50 London. 6.00 6.10 Hogan's heroes. 6.35 Cross- roads. 7.00 Film: 'The Russians Are Coming'. 9.00 London. 11.45 weather in French. News and Weather. WESTWARD. As Channel except: 3.35 Gus Honeybun. 4.20 News.

News and 6.00 Diary. 11.42 weather. 11.45 Epilogue. SOUTHERN: 11.30 Sports. 12.55 News. 1.00 Afloat. 1.25 Hogan.

1.50 Sport. 4.40 Houseparty. 4.15 Dithers. 4.30 Crossroads. 4.55 Stingray. 5.20 How. 5.50 London.

6.00. Day by day. 6.45 On the 7.15 Film: 'Against the buses. Wind'. 9.00 London. 11.45 News. Hov Port Talbot steelworks at night arranged that the craft unions with their full-time officers would meet BSC group manage- ment. But when the meeting took place on August 1, it was local management who turned up and they repeated exactly what they had said before. craft union Next day . the negotiating committee decided that if group management did not meet them within seven days then all craftsmen would work as prior to signing the MPA, 1.e. no interchangeability of cratts, • flexibility between craft and no non-craft and no mobility in certain departments. On Monday, August 7, man- agement called a meeting and offered a shift differential award of £1.00, to which the craftsmen were already entitled, and said that craftsmen on the 8 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. shift would only work to 4.00 p.m. This was already in the MPA but had never been implemented.

The offer was thrown out and the overtime ban was continued.

During the next two days, the craft unions were told that un- less the sanctions were lifted the works would be shut. On August 14, the engineers' shop stewards' union called a meeting to discuss a letter from BSC divisional industrial relations manager M. W. Ballin. Workers Press, Thi In The Vis', ITV 6.55 р.m.

HARLECH: 11.30 Sports. 3.20 Common Market cook book. 3.45 Simon Locke. 4.15 Tinkertain- ment. 4.30 Crossroads. 4.55 Joe 90. 5.20 How. 5.50 London. 6.01 Report West. 6.18 Report Wales.

6.35 Dick Van Dyke. 7.10 Film: 'Dangerous Moonlight'. 9.00 Lon- don. 10.30 An old way to the new world. 11.00 London. 11.45 Spyforce. 12.45 Weather. HTV Wales and HTV Cymru/ Wales as above except: 4.15-4.30 Miri mawr. HTV West as above except: 6.18- 6.35 Sport West. ANGLIA: 11.30 Sports. 1.35 Re- member. 2.00 Joe 90. 2.25 Sport.

4.00 News. 4.15 Jimmy Stewart.

4.40 Paulus. 4.55 Skippy. 5.20 How. 5.50 London. 6.00 • About Anglia. 6.20 Arena. 6.35 Cross- roads. 7.00 Sale. 7.30 Film: 'Dangerous Voyage'. 9.00 London.

ATV MIDLANDS: 11.30 Sports.

3.35 Horoscope. 3.45 Women today. 4.10 Family affair. 4.35 4.50 Pretenders. London. 5.20 tha How. 5.50 London. 6.00 ATV to- Ear the previous This reiterated proposals and said that craftsmen could only expect further pay with 'measur- increases in line able improvements' in productiv.

ity. Negotiations are still continu- ing. Press, Thursday August 17, 1972 PAGE 11 day. 6.35 Crossroads. 7.00 Sale.

7.30 Film: 'Ring of Fire'. 9.00 London. 11.45 Stories.

ULSTER:

11.30 London. 4.10 Gourmet. 4.30 Romper room. 4.50 News. 5.55 Rovers. 5.20 How. 5.50 London. 6.00 UTV news. 6.10 Partners. 6.35 Cross- roads. 7.00 Their kind of music.

7.30 Film: "Don't Ever Leave Me'.

9.00 London. YORKSHIRE: 11.30 London. 4.10 Calendar news. 4.15 Crossroads. 4.40 London. 4.55 Funky phan- tom. 5.20 How. 5.50 London. 6.00 Calendar news. 6.05 It takes a 7.00 Cartoon Film: 'The Defector'. 9.00 Lon- 11.45 Something to about. 12.15 Weather. GRANADA: 11.30 London. 3.40 Scotland yard. 4.10 News.

Pey- ton Place. 4.40 London. 4.55 Lids- ville. 5.15 How. 5.50 London.

6.00 News. 6.05 Amazing world of Kreskin. 6.30 UFO. 7.25 Film: 'The Reluctant Heroes'. 8.50 Sylvester. 9.00 London. 11.45 Police file. 11.50 Branded.

SCOTTISH: 11.30 London. 3.35 Horoscope. 3.40 Women today.

4.10 Animal land. 4.15 Cross- roads. 4.40 London. 4.55 Funky phantom. 5.20 How. 5.50 London.

6.00 STV news. 6.15 Randall and Hopkirk. 7.10 Film: 'Beyond This Place'. 9.00 London. 11.45 Late call. 11.50 As others see us.

GRAMPIAN: 11.30 London. 3.31 News. 3.35 Job look. 3.40 Women today. 4.10 Yoga. 4.40 London. 4.55 Pippi longstocking. 5.20 How. 5.50 London. 6.00 News. 6.10 Top team. 6.35 Crossroads.

'Foreign Exchange'. 6.55 Film: 8.10 Canadian view. 8.30 Shut that door. 9.00 • London. 11.45 Earth and mankind. The BSC's aim is believed to be an inter-union system of job evaluation which can smash all craft divisions. Their intransigence at Port Talbot is part of a national strategy. Moscow Trials Anthology Paperback, 62½р

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PAGE 12 Workers Press, Thursday Augus

BY STEPHEN JOHNS

ANGRY DOCKERS

invaded Transport House yesterday, cornered their leaders and accused them of selling out the national strike. The confrontation came minutes after delegates had decided by 53 votes to 30 to call off official action.

A 30-strong delegation entered Room 3 on the third floor of the building and halted a press con- ference given by Jack Jones and secretary, Tim docks national O'Leary. I watched while a white-faced and trembling Jack Jones faced and file for the first his rank time in this dispute. One docker seized a tumbler of water and threw it into Jones's face. Another flung his trade union card contemptuously at his leader. The scene was unprecedented in the history of the T&GWU.

It typified the intense embitter- ment dockers felt after yester- day's decision. verbally In the chaos men attacked Jones for talking with and associating the employers with the Tory government. You should resign Jones. You're noth- ing but a Tory servant, shouted one man. Another threw down this chal- lenge: 'Will you come down and boys outside? Are to the talk you a man or are you a mouse?"

'He's a mouse,' another docker Put some cheese interrupted. down there in front of him and watch him go squeak, squeak.'

An older docker from London accused Jones of betrayal. He at Jones and O'Leary pointed and said: 'You have betrayed me, Jones, and you have betrayed my father who was a docker. And he betrayed me for bringing me up to respect people like you' Tony Merrick, one of the Pen- : to the tonville Five, appealed pressmen to print the truth. 'We capitalist press. can't trust the It never puts the facts down on paper. papers 'Only these left wing put down the truth and we have to look to them,' he said. 'Why can't we have a national paper that fights for the working class.'

continued, turning to He Jones: 'I don't want severance money or the golden carrot Registered as a newspaper at the Post Press. Office. Published by Workers 186a Clapham High London, PrinCe mouth Press dondo High Street, London. Clapham

SWA 7UG.

day August 17, 1812 because nothing can buy me. can't buy a man. We are You fighting for our livelihoods and the livelihoods of our kids.'

One docker summed up what incident when he the meant said to me: 'You are seeing his- tory being made because never before in the history of Trans- port House and this union have people been able to get through and talk to their general secre- tary.' The confrontation came after lobby that flashed out to the news was the delegates had voted after three hours of dis- cussion to call off the strike.

Immediately police cordons were formed to let the delegates out. Those who voted for con- action came out the tinuing front way to cheers. But the others attempted to the side exit. Dockers use chased around Smith them Square and they were followed by a protective guard of 14 mounted police. Dockers gathered round the 'Sieg Heil', and horses chanting '. A little later fighting 'fascists'. broke out when police attempted to keep dockers from talking to delegates. Dockers began calling out for Jack Jones and O'Leary to come and speak to them. Jones, how- ever, was starting his press con- ference inside Transport House Tony Marrick, one of the Pantor.

ville Fire, yesterday: 'You can't buy a man with severance' Liverpool steward Paddy Doherty: 'Carry this fight forward'

WEATHER

A TROUGH of low pressure over Scotland and Northern Ireland South-East will move across England and Wales. Most of Scotland will have bright periods with scattered Eastern and southern showers. Scotland, northern England and Ireland and North Northern at first will be cloudy Wales with some rain mostly light, but brighter weather with scattered showers will spread gradually South. South Wales and the remain- ing parts of England will start cloudy and mainly dry but bright or sunny periods are expected later in day. Temperatures will be near normal. Outlook for Friday and Saturday: Southern and most eastern areas will be dry with sunny intervals, but the North and West will be cloudy with a little rain at times especially in North-West Scot- land. Temperatures near normal in South but rather cool in the North and West. Police-acting on 'higher authority'-mor where the noise from the dele- gates could be heard. 1,000-strong Police threw a carder ara Did to stop dockers cordon from lobbying their delegates.

When the first contingent of dockers arrived from Merseyside were stopped at 8 a.m. they from getting into tne street before the T&GWU headquarters.

Only delegates were allowed inspector through and an checked their credentials.

He said he was acting on 'higher authority'. After protests delegates decided that the meeting would not go on unless dockers' shop stewards were allowed to lobby. Eventually a group of dockers forced their through the way police lines and gathered round the entrance the building. to Others were held back on the opposite side of the road.

Police also had to protect Jack jones from angry dockers call- ing for the rejection of his latest proposals. At first Jones smiled, but then he lost his temper. 'I am doing my best for you, ' he shouted. don't join 'Why the you police, Jack?' one docker asked. impromptu At meeting an dockers' leaders called for the strike to continue. Pat Doherty, a shop steward from Liverpool, told the crowd: 'Carry fight this forward. It remain official until the must four points are conceded.

BY ALEX MITCHELL

THE MAVERICK engineer- ing firm Ernest Scragg and Sons faces bitter opposition to the sudden decision to close down its Oldham-based plant throwing 670 workers onto the dole. Yesterday G. E. Buckley the company's managing director, published a letter in which he seeks to defend his decision.

The closure was not a 'hastily prepared exercise' , he says. It was the result of careful planning in a highly specialized market sub- ject to severe fluctuations.

He 'totally rejected' allegations of non-consultation with the unions. And he added: 'In the light of the current trading situation we conceive of possible can no grounds for an approach to gov- ernment sources to secure tem- porary assistance.' There was no possible alternative to the one already announced, he concluded.

Scragg's has been in a running the unions battle with Michael Oldham Labour MP Meacher since the shut down was announced. Meacher sent a letter to the Tory Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, John Davies, com- ority'-move to break up yesterday's lobby allar "There is nothing in this report but more present severance money.' From Hull, leading steward Roy Garmston warned that if strike dockers the went on would have to appeal to other trade unions. 'We must look at the way we are going in this country under the Tory government, he said. 'Our lads have been facing police and violence, kangaroo courts fines of up to £100. We can't win unless struggle we together with the other unions.

forward on the shop stewards' four points. Accept no less than this. And fight in the ports to defend the spirit of this strike' Goole docker Les Broadley said: We have not had stoppage for 26 years in Goole, and yet our labour force has gone down by one-third in the four years since Devlin. 'The unregistered ports are just snatching away our liveli- hoods. Everyone must back us up in this struggle, because if not we are completely on our own.?

Jim Nolan Liverpool steward waved a copy of the latest proposals and said: "These are just the same as in the original report. 'There is nothing in it for us!

He said that if the delegates tried to sell out the strike the shop stewards would have to organize unofficial action. plaining about the decision to shut Scragg subsidiary William Bodden and Sons (1959) Ltd in September. He pointed out that Oldham would face the worst unemploy- ment since the war and the effect on the town's economy would be 'disastrous'. 'The Times' said yesterday that 'continuing the shake-out of labour in the cotton and allied industry of Lancashire textile stems from a fundamental change now in progress in the structure of the man-made fibres industry.'

During the North-West en- gineering pay battle, Scragg's was the company that settled at an amount above that being dictated by the local Engineering Em- ployers' Federation. For their pains they were expelled from the Federation. Dissatisfied I with the company's interpretation of its own finances profits £118,000 --interim are compared with flm for the pre- vious year-the work force is in to accept the board- no mood room decision easily. there has been dis- Already cussion of a sit-down strike or occupation. obby altor news of the strike calt-ofl

AUGUST FUND

£594.95 - 15

DAYS TO GO

PROGRESS

Yesterday's post brought £32.66 leaving still £1,155.05 to raise by the end of this month. We greater effort need a much to clear our £1,750 target in tlme. Anger is growing amongst dockers and bullders as their union leaders retreat more and more from tackling this Tory government. Our paper Is vital now to show the way forward and to defeat the Tories.

So make a start today. Help us wage a big struggle to pull our August Fund up. Everything you can raise is needed for all ahead. Post fight the donations Immediately to: Workers Press August Appeal Fund, 186a Clapham High Street, • London SW4 7UG Socialist Labour League

PUBLIC MEETINGS

End TUC talks with Heath!

Stop Jones-Aldington collaboration ! Victory to the dockers! Nationalize the docks and transport Industries / Make the Torles resign 1

MANCHESTER

FRIDAY AUGUST 18

7.30 p.m. Milton Hall Deansgate Speakers: LARRY CAVANAGH (Liverpool dock worker) ALAN STANLEY (Vauxhall Ellesmere Port shop steward) | Both th a personal capacity

HULL

MONDAY AUGUST 21

7.30 p.m. Co-op Hall, Kingston Square, opp New Theatre 1 Speakers: (SLL national

G. HEALY

secretary) LARRY CAVANAGH (Liverpool dock worker)

JOHN NOLAN

(T&GWU con- venor, Hollis Brothers) Both in a personal capacity 01-622 7029 01-720 2000