TUC move to delay rebels' expulsion

THE TUC's annual congress at Brighton will try to delay the expulsion of 35 unions who have registered under the Industrial Relations Act.

When the General Council meets tomorrow one of the items to be discussed is the recommendation which Victor Feather, on behalf of the Council, will put forward at Congress.

Congress meets from September 4 to September 8 with its policy of non-co-operation with the Act in complete disarray.

Not only have unions representing 10 per cent of the TUC membership registered, but Jack Johes, leader of the country's largest union, has paid tines to the National Industrial Relations Court and had his lawyers in attendance there.

In the final agenda for the Congress, released today, the engineering section of the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers asks congress to reaffirm its 'total opposition' to the Act and demands its repeal by the next Labour government.

The resolution 'endorses the instructions of the 1971 Congress to affiliated unions not to register under the Act and calls for the immediate operation of Rule 13 in the event of any union not complying with this decision'.

Rule 13 deals with the suspension of unions which disobey Congress policy and sets in motion the machinery for their eventual expulsion which can INB i 2m only be taken by Congress as a ment is ren only be taken by whole.

The crunch for Hugh Scanlon's AUEW will come when Victor Feather and the General Council attempt to postpone the expulsion of the 35 unions.

Feather will ask Congress to set yet another deadline for the recalcitrant unions to fall into line, probably December 31; this would mean expulsion could not take place until next September.

Scanlon and Jones must not be allowed to get away with this stunt.

The unions which co-operate with the Tories and help keep them in office have no place in the trade union movement. They must be flung out.

Just as Lincoln constituency Labour Party got rid of its pro-European, right-wing Labour MP, Dick Taverne, so the TUC must get rid of those in its own midst who cuddle up to the Tory government rather than fight it.

The most unequivocal resolution on the Act and the Tories comes from the Association of Cinematograph, Television and Allied Technicians (AC11), the union which represents film makers and television technicians.

Their resolution states: "This congress declares its total nonco-operation in the workings of the Industrial Relations Act and of any of its courts or committees.

'It further declares that it will take disciplinary action against any unions disregarding Congress policy in this matter. It resolves to organize financial or other necessary assistance to member unions whose funds are sequestered as a result of the application of the Act.

"The real source of these attacks is this Tory government and it is only when this governNOW OPEN Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs Fri 9 a.m.-7.30 p.m.

Sat 9 a.m.-5 p.m. ment is removed from office that workers' rights can be secured. 'Congress Counciinstructs the General organize nationwide campaign, including the necessary industrial action, to bring this government down and to fight for a return Labour government committed to (a) genuine socialist policies; (b) the repeal of the Industrial tions Act in its entirety; and (c) the restoration of previous trade union rights.' Section VIl of the agenda, 'Economic Policy and Organization', is the most abysmal.

In a total of 44 resolutions only one advocates nationalization as a means of freeing trade unionists from the spectre unemployment and wage-cutting.

The nationalization of land demanded by the National Union of Agricultural and Allied WorkThe resolution states: This Congress, recognizing that the present exploitation of land and people cannot be allowed to continue, calls on the next Labour government to introduce early legislation bring land into public ownership.' The Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians, on the other hand, wants only the public ownership of 'key sections of the building materials industry', which presumably leaves the big construction companies and the land developers to continue their profiteering.

UCATT's other demand is for better holiday payments and proper provision of industrial pensions. Building workers currently faced with a huge pay fight against some of the toughest employers in the country, will rightly wonder how these petty demands can possibly meet the problems of their industry.