Enthusiastic start to pageant plays

A scene from the Merthy pageal paign in the area Clydebank rebels defiant as IAN HOUR before a High Court order a inst ga them expired, Clydebank's 13 rebel councillors reaffirmed their decision not to implement the Tory rent Act.

After a special meeting on Monday night, yesterday they were standing by for further action from the Court of Sessions or from Tory Secretary of State Mr Gordon Campbell.

The 13 are now in contempt of an order instructing them to implement the Act and they could be eligible for fines, imprisonment or debarment from public office.

They half expect that their fate will be taken out of the court's hands by the last-minute T&GWU drop dock charges THE LONDON regional committee of the Transport and General Workers' Union has decided against disciplining five London dockers in connection with a mass lobby of the union's headquarters last August.

"A meeting of the T&GWU executive next month will hear a report from the committee, saying that the dockers have no charges to answer under union rules.

The five men - Con Clancy, Hatton, Ray Halsey, John Ray Holmes and Tony Merrick-have already been informed by the regional office that the threat of disciplinary action has been lifted.

Con Clancy All five had to appear before a regional subcommittee on January 10 to see if there was any evidence of misconduct under rule. If there had been, they could have faced expulsion.

The inquiry was instituted by the executive after T&GWU leaders had to face dockers hostile to their callingarted court order expires intervention State.

He could order them to be surcharged and appoint a commissioner to administer the Act.

But Clir Mrs Betty Brown told me yesterday that whatever happened they would do everything possible to make the operation of the Act in Clydebank impossible.

She said: 'We are determined that this Act will not be implemented in the town.

'If a housing commissioner is appointed and was successful, 1 think we would have to ask our 8,000 tenants not to pay.

'We can't pay. The increases would be near enough fl and that comes at a time of rising prices that people cant cope with anyway.

'This Act is designed to create poverty. We reject it completely.' If a commissioner is appointed by the Tory government, the Ray Halsey off of the national strike.

Although Jack Jones, inion secretary, talked larkly at a special Press conference of "photographs' and other 'evidence' against the men whose conduct was to be investigated, no such evidence was cited during the hearing and no witnesses were called.

Had the leadership IN atmosphere of AN intense excitement-and not a little anxiety!-the first rehearsals for the pageant, Road to Work. ers' Power, have held.

In Merthyr Tydfil last night an enthusiastic group of trade unionists, housewives and youth attended a rehearsal called by the local pageant committee.

The draft scripts were read and discussed. The Merthyr pageant is based on the Taff Vale judgement of 1901 which levelled a fine of £23,000 on the railway union. counciliors are pinning their hopes on town officials refusing to co-operate, thus rendering his job impossible.

But they have no answer for how to deal with further legal action by the Court of Sessions.

The group has called on the STUC and on tenants' associations for backing, but if the Clydebank fight is to be won, financial and moral support will need to be concretized in industrial action.

The possibility of mass backing in Glasgow increases daily. Despite the surrender of LabourTenants no means dead.

Glasgow tenants' committee chairman Mr John Lyons told me that associations throughout the metropolitan are • were urging their members not ant Apripay rent increases due —the first date on which rises NREO Tony Merrick decided to expel anyone, dockers would certainly have continued to work with these five men even without union cards.

The results of the Jones - Aldington severance scheme, which has slashed the docks labour force nationally by 20 per cent in six months, has increased rank-and-file hostility to the leadership's policies. Housewives, youth, trade unionists read scripts Taff Vale and the other legal attacks on the unions at the turn of the century forced the labour and trade union movement to seek political solutions to defend their rights. The unions turned from their traditional support of the Liberal Party and built their own Labour Party.

The campaign gain support for the pageant under the rent Act take effect.

He said: 'All the housing schemes are being organized and tenants DaV. happens. won't pay, whatever The associations, representing 150,000 tenants, will ask Glasgow Corporation to throw its weight behind Clydebank in a last bid to persuade the Labour reformists to reverse their climb down.

BOOK YOUR TICKET FOR EMPIRE POOL NOW DEFEND ALL DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS Defend trade unionism and basic living standards Unite in action to make this Tory government resign to power is through the building of the revolutionary SUNDAY MARCH 11th 3pmPAGEAnT • RALLY • CABARET I would like to take part the Pageant/ Please send me further itails.

NAME.

ADDRESS of tickets r equired..

plet e form and return t Bant Office, 34 Hamilton has been immensely successful. At the first public meeting/ cabaret the pageant organizers filled the Pentrebach Labour Club. Then, last Sunday night, another very successful cabaret was staged at the nearby Dowlais Labour Club.

There were some intriguing interventions. In both audiences, for instance, there were members of the Welsh nationalists, Plaid Cymru. They had earlier expressed hostility to the pageant work, but following the Dowlais meeting, one nationalist supporter said:

"The only reason I'm in Plaid is the complete failure Labour Party to give us any leadership.' IN LONDON yesterday an inaugural rehearsal was staged of the historic contributions made by Marx and Engels to the development of the workers' movement in Britain and internationally.

The pageant will contain a series of sketches showing their lifelong struggle for socialism and the founding in 1864 of the First International.

The meeting was well-attended and the organizing committee took the opportunity of also reading through the draft scripts of the other episodes of history to be re-enacted at the Empire Pool, Wembley on March 11 (see advert below).

From today Workers Press will present a daily diary • of the pageant events from all the areas where the teams are working. Two other groups are also in Middleton, near Manchester, and at Jarrow and South Shields on Tyneside.

Reports from these areas will keep readers and supporters informed from day-to-day of the pageant activities as we prepare our biggest-ever rally.

YOUNG SOCIALISTS AND SOCIALIST LABOUR LEAGUE APAGEANT OF HISTORY-THE ROAD TO WORKERS POWER EMPIRE POOL, WEMBLEY. SUNDAY MARCH 11 3 P.M Used