Lothian Collapses Before Tory Axeman

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teachers are sacked auspicu would become quickly as possible to too big!! organise action in supRoad. urday 8th Al including one donation of elopments within the hos- are unhappy at this decis- ers. The importance of con- ing queues Organiser supporters. ON THURSDAY 13 August 17 Labour councillors obeying the Labour Group whip proposed cuts in Lothian's spending of £15.25 million. The Tories and Liberals immediately left the Council chamber, dropping their £26 million alternative to the Labour Group's pitiful crumble in the face of Tory Scottish Secretary George Younger.

Seven Labour coun

cillors defied the Group whip and voted against every cut proposed. And reaction in the Labour Party was immediate.

That evening, Edinburgh Central GMC passed an emergency resolution (see box). This will be sent to the Regional Labour Party, the Lothian Region Action Committee and all major national labour and trade union movement bodies, as well as the local press.

Lothian SO supporters believe that all Labour Party affiliated union branches and all CLPs and wards should pass resolutions to the Dass Regional Party demanding the disassociation of the Party from the ditions of the 17 and the withdrawal of their James from the panel for next year's Regional elections for flouting Party policy.

After coming so far, che action of these counvillors is nothing but a sell-out, In their panic to keep on the right side of the law, the Labour Group have actually agreed to three times the level of cuts Younger was demanding.

Hurried

A hurried decision to put a moratorium on council spending till the end of this financial year will mean the equivalent of £96 million cuts.

The council/is expected to be recalled to reverse this, but if legality is to remain the rule, then cuts equivalent to Younger's demand of £30 million will have to be found.

To a great extent the climbdown is due to the actions (or lack of them)

of the Lothian Region Committee (LRAC) and the Lothian Action Joint Trade Union Committee (LJTUC).

same time as the Labour Group took their cutting decision, a joint meeting of the LRAC and LJTUC spent its time ridiculing

THIS CLP condemns the cuts implemented by a majority of the members of

Lothian Region Labour Group. This attack on working class living standards will. not satisfy the Tory government who will demand that even more devastating cuts be made.

This CLP congratulates the seven group members who stood by party policy of no cuts, no job loss and no redundancy.

-Central Edinburgh CLP calls on the Labour Group to stand by party policy and to unite with the Joint Trade Union Committee of TGWU full-timer, Alistair McQueen ignored the decision of this year's TGWU Biennial Conference to back strike action against the cuts, and echoed the often heard cry. of the trade union bureaucrat in the won't take industrial action against the cuts, 1520,000 on a demonstration on the 30 June, and many more out on strike (including TGWU bus drivers), seems to be just an unhappy episode, easily forgotten.

Of course there isn't 100% support for action but 20,000 on the streets

Lothian and the Lothian Region Action Committee

to follow this strategy to defeat the Tories:

*No cuts; no compromises.

*A mass campaign for all out industrial action by regional employees and the wider trade union movement.

*Joint action with other councils threatened with the cuts.

*National co-ordination by STUC, TUC, Labour Party NEC and Scottish Council of the Labour Party.

*Full support for the 12 September demonstration.

these seven had planned put a no cuts after that ha voted to fal the lahour *lesser of proposal, At the ling of the LAC a re ated by SO their ward calling for the LRAC and CLPS mittee council meeting to press. their f26 million cuts, councillors firstly to motion and d been outin behind maioritv s two evils joint meetLITUC and RAC a resolution initi- Alatinn initisupporters in delegates to from wards was turned down. District countes willar Alex Wood argued that if adopted the action committee would become too big!!

SUPPORT is growing for SUPPORT is growing for the occupation at St. occupation at Mary's Hospital, Harrow Mary's Hospital, Harrow CH.

stop Polish Solidarity please note!

We need a broad committee to help plan, coordinate and campaign a successful campaign against the cuts.

Trade union branches, Labour Party branches and GMCs. shop stewards committees, tenants groups, etc, should keep on pushing for delegations to the LRAC and the LJTUC. Shop stewards' committees should force the reconvening of the Joint Shop Stewards Conference.

LRAC should convene a national conference as quickly as possible to organise action in support of any sections taking action against the implementation of the cuts, whoever is enforcing them.

Monitors will have to be set up throughout the Region's workplaces to record any cuts that are being put through.

Nationally, comrades should be putting resolutions to their union and Labour Party branches condemning the Labour Group decision and promising support for any fight taken against the cuts.

Contact: Lothian Region Action Committee, 12 Picardy Place. Edinburgh.

LAST MINUTE: Over the weekend East Edinburgh Constituency Labour Party called for the Regional Labour Party to reinterview all the councillors who voted for cuts. by Callum McRae (EIS representative, Firhill School, Edinburgh) NINE HUNDRED teachers and lecturers on short-term contract in Lothian Region were told, two days before the start of term on August 18th, that their contracts would not be renewed.

200 non-teaching jobs are to go as well.

Some of these teachers have been employed on successive short-term contracts for up to 15 years. Most of the rest are in jobs where, until recently, permanent contracts would have been given.* All have been timetabled for, and their pupils and students are turning up to find no-one to teach them.

Appalling

Leaders of the EIS, the major Scottish teachers' union, have threatened strike action. It is vital that this happens immediately.

Rank and file teachers are calling for a one-day national strike and all-out action in Lothian Region, supported by a national levy This appalling situation has arisen as a result of the "moratorium on new spending' agreed by Labour councillors in Lothian Region at the same meeting that the 'no cuts' policy was abandoned. The moratorium was introduced in addition to £15 million specific cuts when councillspecie curs ers. ors panicked after being told that unless they chop the full 230 million demanded by the Tories they will go into a position of 'illegality' It now seems that the moratorium, if maintained, will result in such sideeffects' as an inability to buy more bus fuel and food for school meals when current stocks run out.

The Labour Group on the Council, now in total disarray as they realise the extent of their actions, is talking of reversing • the moratorium. But unless they are willing to stand up and fight again (i.e. go into illegality, if necessary), they will have to implement the further £15 million demanded by Younger.

This would mean around 2400 redundancies in the Region, including over 1000 teachers.

In other words, most of those now sacked would be given their jobs back only many teachers on permanent contract.

For some 63 of these teachers, it would be the third time in as many months that they had been told their jobs were safe only to lose them again. Last time a threatened strike by Lothian Region teachers in defence of the 63 was called off after an assurance from the Labour Group that their jobs were safe CORRECTION: In last CORRECTIO week's SO we week's SO we stated that only one doc only one doctor was on duty at Casu duty at Casualty on Saturday 8th August, causing queues of up to 5

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Labor rods call for indecial drain

On the day before the council vote, and at the

act of selling out - "it's unrealistic, my members

Road. Donations and messages of support, MONA DO pu COU BRANCH

by Ann Evans by Ann Evans

to lose them again - this time, in company with