Stephen Johns reports from Merseyside... Liverpool stewards retreat over blacking on docks

another transport firm, Howitt Brothers, was lifted • after a cash payment to two Howitt's drivers who, the dockers said, had been victimized. But Craddock's presents a bigger problem.

Craddock Brothers was the firm involved in the recent case at Liverpool Crown Court where two dock shop stewards and T&GWU official Harold Verrinder were acquitted of demanding money with menaces.

Craddock's road manager, John Rycroft, claimed Verrinder had asked for t200 to be paid into dockers' fund as the price of lifting the black on the firm.

Mr Verrinder said Rycroft made the suggestion and on the evidence the jury believed Mr Verrinder and the stewards.

The incident led to great bitterness on the docks. Rycroft's performance in the witness box was a particular source of anger and as retribution the firm was blacked 'for ever' - a decision endorsed by the national ports shop stewards' committee.

There are those shop stewards, however, with a more conciliatory attitude. After the case was closed last Thursday, Jimmy Symes, chairman of the Liverpool docks stewards' committee commented:

'If Craddock's want to talk to to us then we are prepared to talk about it.' And the way • the Howitt's issue was disposed is another pointer that prospects for Craddock's may be improving.

The lifting of the Howitt's black split the stewards down the middle. They key decision was carried at meeting of about 70 stewards, by only two votes.

The original aim of the action, to get Howitt's stewards reinstated, has failed. Instead union officials claim that the men, James Jones and Brian Dean, have accepted £300 each "blood money' as one dock steward described it.

Two sacked Trouble at Howitt's began back in August when the two men were sacked. They treated it as a case of victimizationthe issue that had particularly annoyed the firm was the strike action the men took when the NIRC jailed five London dockers.

An appeal to the Howitt's drivers to support them failed. Then the two drivers approached dockers working at ACE Containers, a depot run by Ocean Port Services employing registered dock workers.

The black went on and was extended throughout the port.

The slow burn towards crisis then began. Howitt's went to the NIRC, which decided that any decision should be postponed pending talks between the firm's lawyers and the T&GWU's legal advisor A. C. Blyghton-fast becoming the unions number one mouthpiece at the NIRC.

On October 14 the case was again adjourned for more talks. These were not successful and four days later the NIRC found the union was responsible for the action (indeed Mr Verrinder had supported it) and told the officials to get the black called off.

More desperate talks began. But again they were unsuccessful. On October 24 they broke down. The T&GWU, urge I on by the stewards, was still : tempting to get the two drivers reinstated.

On October 30 the court gave the union a time limit to get the black off-the case was beginning to look like the battle with Heatons Transport when the union paid out a cool £55,000 in fines.

Finally the T&GWU was forced to make its first open appeal to get its members to stop what in the days before the Industrial Relations Act was normal trade union activity in defence of members.

Lift black'

On Monday October 31 the T&GWU's finance and general purposes committee instructed the dockers to lift the black. General secretary Jack Jones made a personal intervention and called for acceptance of 'reasonable terms of settlement.

It was at this stage that the officials began to cook up the formula that saved the union from another clash with the law. This involved a compensation payment to the drivers.

But at first they were unsuccessful. With four days to go before the court deadline, talks between Howitt's and the officials broke down. Managing director Olive Howitt said that re-employing the men was out of the question.

The stage was now set for last Wednesday's stewards', * meeting— held three days before the deadline.

What happened on that day has all the marks of a carefullyplanned move to get the decision to lift the black through the stewards' meeting.

The Howitt's issue was placed on the agenda by Jack Collins, a steward and Labour councillor for Bootle. But many stewards were either unaware it would be raised or unaware that there would be a move to litt the black. PAPERBACKS ECENTRE 28 Charlotte St London W1 TRANSPORT HOWIET IVAREHOUSING By 1 p.m. about 20 stewards had drifted away from the meeting to attend to other matters. A key group of 'six who would not have supported lifting the black (therefore destroying the two-vote majority) went away to attend to a dispute.

Howitt's came up when Jack Collins asked Lew Lloyd, the fulltime docks official sitting in at the meeting, about the rumours over the possible payment of compensation to the drivers.

According to shop stewards, Lloyd then confirmed that £300 had been offered and the men were ready to take it. He then went on to lay out the case for lifting the action.

His main argument was that the dockers were once more the tall guys-the Howitt's drivers were working normally and would not support Jones and Dean.

It was the typical divide-andrule agreement that the T&GWU in theory is supposed to be against. But Lloyd could not have warned about the possibility of more NIRC fines-this would have not impressed the dockers, who despise the court.

The attitude of the Communist Party stewards-led by the Stalinist Pat Docherty-was, one docker told me, rather diplomatic': They called for a tween • dockers and transport stewards could meet to investigate Lloyd's claims.

Premeditated

But despite strong opposition the issue was pushed to a vote which was carried, with the Communist Party faction in opposiOne can only speculate as to how premeditated. Wednesday's events were. Certainly when dockers who had left the meeting BOOKS • PERIODICALS • NEWSPAPERS heard of the vote they were surprised and, for the most part, angry.

'When we left we had no idea it would come up; one told me. 'Our meetings are informal and anyone can put an item down on the agenda. But you would have thought someone would have told us that the Howitt's move was coming up.' The lift-the-black lobby' had also been • strengthened by the morning's discussions. These involved a series of requests from other workers for support and blacking action by dockers.

On one issue—a request from the CAV occupation committee at Fazakerley, Liverpool, .to black CAV-Lucas goods-CPer Pat Docherty had used Lloyd's argument. He opposed the black because, he said, the CAV meh should put their own house in order first and get support from workers within the Lucas combine.

Strategy

The lifting of the Howitt's black, following on the decision to end action against Heatons means the strategy of Jack Jones and the top T&GWL leadership is nearing total success.

The pockets of resistance to the employers are now small and isolated.

Craddock's still face sanctions and the London dockers are Midland Cold Storage, part of the Vestey empire. But there is the threat of anonnet court anot can coxpect that he and nere and sure from the union to lift the action will grow greater every day.

The employers, in other words, have ended up with all the aces.

Action to prevent the drift of jobs away from dockland has NOW OPEN Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs 9 aim.-6 p.m.

Fri 9 a.m.-7.30 p.m.

Sat 9 a.m.-5 p.m. concessions made to 'abolish' the unattached registers have turned out to be their opposite.

In practice employers have tion' of dockers because of the thousands who have taken severance pay and left the industry. The Jones-Aldington settlement in fact has aided the employers' plans to get rid of the immediate 10,000 surplus they say they have on the docks.

Meanwhile, despite the trenendous struggle put up against the court by dockers, in most centres the union is falling into line and acting on the dictates of the NIRC.

And the court is duly grateful. Dockers should reflect on the words of Sir John *This case [Howitt's] illustrates that it is in the interests of all parties, and indeed, of justice generally, that in the case of this kind all parties should attend and put all the facts before the court.

The T&GWU has at all stages kept us fully informed of what has been going on, and we are very much obliged to them for having done so.' MARXISM AND RANK-ANDFILE-ISM An analysis the tactics and strategy of the International Socialists As the Tories seek to impr a corporate state and sma down the living conditions of the working class, the: Labour and trade union leadersassisted by the Communist Party-refuse to lead any struggle. The cent task, therefore, remains the building of a revolutionary leadership in the working class. This raises the key question of the fight for Marxism in the trade unions.

Political tendencies such as the International Socialism group oppose the developmen of Marxist consciousness in the unions and instead substitute a worship of spontaneous rank-and-file militancy. In practice they lin up behind the Communist Party to keep revolutionary politics out of the unions. STARTING TOMORROW A vital series of Workers Press articles, Mike Banda, member of the Socialist Labour League Central Committee, examines the ta and strategy of the Internat Be sure of your by telephoning CIRCULATION

PAGE 4 Worker: 17, 1972