London colleges in grants

march Students from Imperial ollege and other London jolleges yesterday joined in a march and demonstration in support of higher grants for students. The rally culminated in a lobby outside the Department Education and Science at Waterloo. Though official stoppage not due for six days Gas depots continue pay action MORE THAN half of the gas depots in the North Thames Board area voted yesterday to continue with their unofficial strikes and work to rules.

Mass meetings held at each yard were enthusiastic for continuing the industrial action despite the lack of an immediate call for a national strike by the union's executive.

The depots will continue with their own action until next Wednesday, by which time the national campaign of official stoppages, work-to-rule and withdrawal of co-operation will have been worked out.

Yards which decided to continue their strikes were: Westminster, Goswell Road, Abingdon Road, Mill Hill, Battersea, Camden Town, Seven Sisters, Kilburn, Harlesden, Pinnel, Newington, Hackney,.

Barking, Mare Street, Gravs rouna lane ley, Hornsey and South Harrow.

Other depots, such as Wembley, Southend, Haggerston, were working to rule unomcially.

The shop stewards' meeting at the Stepney depot yesterday lecided to allow action to con tinue on a yard-by-yard basis but formed a special committee of stewards to visit those depots which were still working normallv try to get them to start industrial action.

There was some disappointfrom the militant stewards that a proposal was not put to the meeting for all-out unofficial area-wide basis.

Some of the most determined gasmen are from the Westminster depot David Shoesmith, Wally Sirett. Bob Wright. Ken Smith and Andrew Downey lobbied the stewards' meeting.

Their views were that the union had to be fought as much s the government and the Ga Corporation. David Shoesmit said: 'We want a massive strike Ken Smith said he had to work 88 hours last week and took £40.82. 'And with two kids ] don't pay much tax. Working TIC SON NU MILI Ht INDUSTRIAL to work next Monday and immediately start imposing the work to rule. The executive wants the sanctions to start next There were workers at the meeting from all the surrounding areas: Batley, Dewsbury, Castleford and Pontefract.

The Wakefield men have been on unofficial strike for three weeks. There will be a further mass meeting at Wakefield next Tuesday.

LONDON TEACHERS will stage a series of three-day strikes starting on February 20 in support of a special London allowance which the government is refusing to pay because of the state pay laws. They now join 290,000 civil servants who have called a one-day strike against the pay legislation on February 27. This is the first national industrial action ever taken by the civil service in defiance of the government.

MINERS' leaders yesterday rejected for the second time a £2.28 Phase Two pay offer-but asked the National Coal Board to reply next week to proposals for improving fringe benefits. The miners, who want increases of £5.50 to £7, hope for a "final offer' next Wednesday. A special executive meeting will take place the following day to decide its attitude to the offer. If the executive decides to ballot its members on the offer, the result could be known within a week. UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL JAMES LONE: ASTUDE Migher Phase THAMES G PLEASE KEEP THESE GATES CLEAT TOUR EMERGEN Some of the gas pickets outside the Mare Street depot, London US forces devaluation pace THE ONCE-mighty dollar was again on the floor in Europe and Japan yesterday and it is clear that devaluation can only be a matter of time.

The Nixon administration has indicated this must be accepted by its main trade rivals to allow the US to liquidate its overseas debts and gain advantages on foreign markets.

Heavy selling of dollars on the Tokyo market aggravated the international currency situation amid rumours that the yen might be revalued or allowed to float upward.

Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka had to make a public denial of the rumours, which were responsible for a major fall in share prices.

There was a similar run on the dollar when the Frankfurt foreign exchange opened yesterday morning. But there was a lull later in the day and the dollar was slightly above its parity "floor' without support from the Bundesbank.

The West German central bank has bought over $2,500m since purpose is to lend credibility to the monopoly conspiracy of the The deep unwillingness of these leaders to fight the Tories means that the campaign to defend democratic rights must be intensified. That is the purpose of the Pageant of History launched by the Socialist Labour League and the Young Socialists.

This Pageant will culminate in a mass rally at the Empire Pool, Wembley, on Sunday, March 11.

Over the next six weeks the preparation of the Pageant-now launched in Lancashire, South Wales, the north-east and London-will give political focus to the anger mounting throughout the working class at the Tory attacks.

JOHN SPENCER

Monday to prevent the dollar sinking through its parity 'floor' Rigid currency controls have been introduced to prevent foreign investors buying marks and West German shares.

But no capitalist country in Europe can stand up to the concentrated economic power of the so-called Euro-dollar pool-the $70,000m invested on the European money markets and now inconvertible into gold.

The dollar enjoys not the slightest confidence in Europe. The West German measures are LEADERS of the London docks tally clerks yesterday rejected a €2.80 pay offer, made in line with Phase Two of the Tories' statutory pay control. The 1,000 clerks, whose work is vital to the running of the docks, are claiming £10. Originally both the clerks and the 7,700 registered men in London's enclosed docks were offered f2.56. The dockers' negotiators rejected this offer on Tuesday. They want £5.

Not only professional actors but hundreds of local workers will be in the forefront of the work for this Pageant.

In addition to illustrating the history of the Chartists, the early miners' struggles, the conflicts of the unions with the state and Marx's political activities London, the Pageant will be the starting point of the campaign to forge working-class unity to force the Tories to resign.

The defence of democratic rights now requires this important step forward. All the struggles of the working class, flowing from its past history, must be brought together and the trade union leaders made to call a General Strike which will force the Tories to resign

FEBRUARY

FUND NOW WE STILL are a long way from reaching our £1,750 target. This month needs a special effort as February has only 28 days. Let's go Into action immediately and turn the situation around.

We have every confidence that this can and will be done. Everywhere workers are fighting back to defend their basic rights. The right to trade unions, the right to a decent living standard-all our basic democratic rights are being threatened by the Tory governOur Pageant of History on March 11 at the Empire Pool, we are sure, will receive enormous support. This history to be reenacted will be the history of struggle that won these rights.

Our paper must be right at the centre of this decisive struggle. Help us therefore raise extra amounts for our February Fund. Don't waste any time. Raise as much as you can and post immediately to:

February Appeal Fund 186a Clapham High Street London SW4 7UG.

TALKS collapsed yesterday between officials of the transport union in Birmingham_ and the management of British Road Services Limited. About 1,300 lorry drivers in the Midlands are refusing to drive heavy lorries unless they receive a £2.50 bonus already paid to more than 170 private hauliers in the area. BRS refuses saying it is illegal under the state pay laws.

THE BRS drivers' Mid- has stopped production lands car factories. It has also led to the laying off if more than 24,000 car workers a id empl ›yers in the car componel ts indus try.

simply a stop-gap and cannot maintain the mark at its present parity for any length of time.

The Americans are well aware of this and are doing all they can to inflame the crisis in West Germany and incite dollarholders to sell for international monetary agreement was swept away by the Nixon measures of August 15, 1971.

The international talks and gatherings held under various auspices—the IMF, GATT, Group of 20—since that time have only served to lay the basis for a giant trade war now developing rapidly between the capitalist powers.

THE LONG-awaited Tory White Paper on the steel industry will be published at 3.30 p.m. today. • See STEEL: centre pages.

REPRESENTATIVES of Clydebank council have been summoned to appear at the bar of the Court of Sessions in Edinburgh next Tuesday to explain why they have disobeyed a court order to implement the Tory rent Act.

and place office a Labour government committed to socialist policies.

Central to this is the forming and building of the Revolutionary Party, a task which the Socialist Labour League has pledged itself to carry out in 1973.

The resolution 'Perspectives for the Transformation of the SLI into a Revolutionary Party' (published in Saturday's Workers Press) is now being widely circulated.

We urge all workers to give this statement their urgent consideration, to participate wherever possible in the Pageant and to come to Wembley on March 11.

The Tories defeated.