British workers prepared to fight
Over 250,000 workers demonstrated in support of the
Trades Union Congress for action in support of the health- throughout the country. The largest demonstration in London attracted around 100,000.
and of exposing the manoeuvres of the Tories will really start to sweat!
Millions of workers in Britain responded workers on September 22.
The workers in the National Health Service have been taking
The action called by the TUC was in defiance of the new action over the last five months in support of their demand for a
Employment Act of the present Tory government which makes higher wage increase than that offered by the government. The
'sympathy strikes' illegal. Previous action by the electricians on vast majority of the ancillary workers in the Health Service earn
Fleet Street, the main centre of national newspapers, resulted in less than the official poverty line. But even the latest offer gives prosecution of the union branch secretary. However, with such them only 4% now and 3.5% later. Their demand is for a hunge response to the TUC's call the Confederation of British
Industry, the employers federation, decided that discretion was
The shabby treatment of the healthworkers has won them the better part of valour and advised their members not to take wide public sympathy. Among the health service workers anger any action against their employees.
and bitterness has been widespread. Even the Royal College of
Nursing, a non-trade union professional body, has bitterly criti-
The TUC have now called for further days of action, on a the government, and discussed abandoning their rule regional basis. But given the intransigence of the government the against strike action. Some ambulance crews ignored the TUC only hope for the healthworkers is to turn the widespread guidelines and withdrew emergency cover on September 22 as a sympathy for them into a national organised 24-hour general signal of their anger and determination.
strike. The increasing readiness to take actions hown by the
Support for the healthworkers was strongest in Scotland increasing number of strikes this year, already up 60 per cent on where 750,000 workers took some form of action.
the 1981 figures before the healthworkers action started, indi-
Throughout Britain the mines, buses and docks were strong cate that this perspective is not impossible. But, as the editorial areas of support. No national newspapers were published. Other from Socialist Challenge explains, the leadership of the union public sector workers were prominent in their support for the movement is not prepared to go that far. Socialist Challenge is a healthworkers. Schools and local government were closed for all weekly socialist newspaper supported by the International or part of the day. The type of action taken ranged from sup-
Marxist Group, British section of the Fourth International.
porting healthworkers on their picket lines to complete 24
The results of last week's Trade Union
Congress reveal two striking features of the labour movement today. The first is that there is a tremendous fire below in the ranks of the trade unions — a burning desire to see a fight with the Tories and to score some victories. Only one trade union leader, Frank Chapple, leader of the electricians' union and this year's
TUC president, went against the overwhelming desire of the trade union movement, including his own union's, to back the healthworkers' struggle through his dumb insolence from the Congress plat-
The second cardinal feature there is a rumbling crisis of leadership of the unions. The vote to change the composition of the General Council to favour the right wing; then the vote to support the September 22 Day of Action in support of the healthworkers; the rejection of an incomes policy, followed the same day by the acceptance of the TUC/
Labour Party plan which implies that very policy - all show that the trade union leadership is being forced to face both ways on nearly every single aspect of its policy. It is caught between an embittered membership and a ferocious
Tory government.
Only one trade union leader - Arthur
Scargill of the National Union of Mineworkers - who dominated the platform of the TUC, came near to approaching the type of strategy needed against the
Scargill, however, represents a tinv minority of the trade union leadership who is prepared to fight Thatcher.
And the odds are that over the next period this section will become even smaller.
The changes in the General Council mean that many of the potential allies for a 'broad left' on the leadership of the TUC have been eliminated. A strategy which relies on gradually increasing the influence of the left in the high command of the union movement is at the very least an impractical one for the foreseeable future.
No. The eyes have to be on the ranks. The only way in which the threats made by Scargill against the Tory government can be translated into reality is through the systematic organisation and mobilisation of those forces in the unions willing
The potential for such a fight was by the 2500-strong Labour Movement Conference against the Witchhunt in the Labour Party, called by the
Tendency in their defence. Unfortunately, Militant, both by inclination and incapacity, were unable to translate the occasion into anything more than an impressive showing of verbal opposition to the witch-hunt against the left in
Both Arthur Scargill and Tony Benn do have the ability to call a congress of the left, both to fight the Tories and the right wing of the labour movement who are acting to obstruct the fight. This is the next step for the Bennite movement. At the TUC conference, Tony Benn unveiled his strategy of not challenging Michael Foot for the leadership of the Party before the next general election, right wing to dump Foot for Peter Shore.
The question that should be asked on the left of the Party is not whether this tactical ploy is correct, but rather how has the left become so weakened that its leadership is forced to support the man who leads the witch-hunt against it.
Similar considerations apply as in the trade unions. Benn's influence is growing weaker and weaker in the leadership of the party — in line, albeit after a lag, with changes taking place in the trade unions. But Benn's support inside the rank and file of the party remains undiminished.
An intransigent attitude towards the inevitable introduction of the register -namely a refusal to tolerate expulsions on the basis of the register can only be backed up by organisation of the left, starting at the rank and file basis, both in the Labour Party and in the unions. Refusal to organise on this basis has meant that Benn has been forced to
Both the Militant Conference and the conference initiated Hackney Constituency Labour Party to discuss action against the register steps in the right direction. But as isolated events, they cannot start to turn the tide in the labour movement. Joint trade union and Labour Party action to force dream, as support for the healthworkers' action shows. But the principle of joint action between both arms of the labour movement must be extended towards the principle of organising the left's.
The the fire below will start to take on an organised expression. And then the
9
----- pull-quotes on this page -----
PETER GRAHAM, MEMORIAL LIBRARI to the call by the health workers