Dig Out a Donation! Defy the Courts. Defend Cheap St Mary's Demo: December 4 Christine Cadin
Socialist Organiser1981 1981-11-26Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 16 →
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But down here in London Socialist Organiser is dela in taking up issues facing at present it's more like a useful job to dig tau working people. We want forward to the hourly their pockets and send who creditor's hammering on they can - whether it! the door! We need a lot £50, 25, or 50р.
Nottingham's. We need aniser, 28 Middle Lane Dockers fought Heath's anti-union laws in 1972 London N8. Printed by East End Offset I.td.. London , not necessarily represent the views of the SOA.
Registered as a newspaper at the Post Office. Signed articles dr EVEN before Heseltine's local government finance Bill is finally put before Parliament, the power of the judiciary and Establishment has shown what they mean to do to any 'radical' manifesto that Labour produces.
Denning's judgment on the GLC fares policy and his incredible statements that a manifesto is not 'holy writ' show just what we are up against.
The GLC fares policy in itself is a modest matter; the levels of 'subsidy' for Londoners' fares are less than for other cities in Britain and far lower than almost any other European capital. The policy is a simple, tried and trusted way of making cities a little bit better to live in by THE Lords' verdict on the Labour Greater London Council's cheap fares will be announced by the time Socialist Organiser reaches its readers.
GLC councillors are still making no plans for action if the Lords declare the cheap fares illegal. But is it tolerable for a Labour council to cooperate with huge fare rises and the destruction of its main manifesto pledge by rightwing judges?
Socialist Organiser, together with some comrades of London Labour Briefing, has been campaigning for a encouraging the use of socially responsible public transport in alternative to wasteful private cars.
Every activist in the labour movement must ask a question from the Denning judgment.
If the legal Establishment tries to defeat this moderate policy, what are they going to do to a Labour government that nationaliscall to: • the GLC to defy the judges and instruct London Transport to keep the cheap fares, • LT unions to black any fare rises, • the London labour movement to start a mass campaign ef agitation, • all London Labour council groups to go into majority opposition if the Tories surcharge or sack the GLC councillors.
JEREMY CORBYN, a. member of the London Labour regional executive, explains the political implications.
es the barks, unilaterally disarms, and redistributes wealth?
Denning has posed the issues of power in a way that everybody can understand, and shows that the Tory establishment are quite prepared to use extraparliamentary means to defeat socialist measures.
They have done it before by investment strikes and A LABOUR movement conference on November 21 broadered the battle to save St Mary's Hospital, save London W9, and brought the fighi into the trade Over a hundred delegates from hospitals, schools, British Rail, and other public sector unions gathered to decide what action they could take in defence of the hospital.
Speakers from St Mary's outlined what closure of the wards. would mean, and how management had been reducing services even before the final decision on closure had been made by the Tory Health Minister, Gerard Vaughan.
Devastated Myrto Angelolou, a local GP, told us how the cuts would affect people in an area which is already devastated by unemployThe Nottingham Socialist Organiser group writes: "In view of the excellent standard of recent issues of Socialist Organiser, we feel Shlinad tn include a donaion of £58. "Keep up the good work. exporting capital to prevent Labour governments achieving their aims, and other financial measures. Nobody in any of the mass media then said that these over-priced lackeys were 'holding • the country to ransom'. That verbiage is left for workers fighting for decent living standards.
We must use this opportunity to tell people very clearly that there are two sorts of law in this country. One for the rich to preserve themselves, their privileges, their system and their domination; and one for the rest, which tries to smash Labour controlled councils from housing the homeless, providing decent education for all our kids, or social services that are deserved for the elderly.
System Our task is not to provide or search for some sort of legal balance that will somehow allow us to do what we want, and the rich to do what they want to preserve their inequality.
We must warn the whole Establishemt that if it is 'illegal' for democratically elected Councils to keep their pledges to the electorate, then it is their system that is at fault, and we must look outside the Courts, Parliament and council chambers for support to carry out our policies that have received such massive backing.
ment and bad housing.
26 general practitioners have made a public statement about their opposition to the closure of the wards.
Already, booked admissions are being cancelled and patients are discharged before they normally would be.
Mockery The Area Health Authority has made a mockery of the 'statutory' consultative procedure by asking GPs whether they would like a 'community hospital' in the area, but not giving any hint that this would be 'replacement' for St Mary's - a large acute general hospital.
Mick Woods, a T&G shop steward who was sacked for refusing to cooperate with the raiding of Ward 2, moved the resolution which called for: • A demonstration No other paper is as good more - lots more!
Contributions 'Forward to a daily Socialist Organiser!"
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ON MONDAY 23rd Norman. Tebbit announced the details of the new fetters he plans for the unions. Almost simultaneously Arthur Snipe threw the existing Tory laws at strikers fighting closure at his Manchester factory, getting a court order to stop them picketing his HQ at Mining Supplies in Doncaster (see page 14).
December 4. National executive committees and London regions of T&G, NUPE, CoHSE and ASTMS and other public sector unions were asked to support the demonstration by calling London-wide stoppages on December 4 in defence of St Mary's.
• Establishing regular Monday morning mass pickets from 7 to 10am at the hospital.
• Election of a coordinating committee to organise the defence of W9 and to link it with other struggles against victimisation, cuts and low pay campaigns in the NHS.
support Full time officials and NEC members from NUPE, T&G and CoHSE attended the conference. They stressed that the fight against closure has official support, but they were left more contributions like every reader who thinks 'Union labour only' contracts are to be outlawed. The definition of a 'trade dispute' will be narrowed still further, to straight employer/employee disputes. For example, blacking of a ship not paying union rates will not be a trade dispute' Under existing law, action which is not a 'trade dispute' is generally unlaw:_. dht that the merr in no doubt that the members want the officials to take the initiative for supporting action outside The conference was not prepared to listen to the officials' usual excuses of lack of militancy by the members and isolation.
Throughout the Health Service, activists and militants are being victimised, and the conference made it clear to officials that supporting strike action in defence of Mick Woods and any others who may be singled out is being called for. The steering committee will link struggles such as management's lock-out of porters at the London Hospital and the strike against victimisation of branch officials at Hammersmith Hospital, Continued, Send to: Socialist Ung London N8.
PENTONVILLE -ful because it 'breach of contract'. proposes that union as well as union o should be sued for of contract.
Ballots Closed shops will he be confirmed by b every three years. workers sacked for ref to join closed shops w able to claim mi damages.
Step by step, the are trying to restrict ! trade union action t mildest, meekest, ani limited forms.
The new Tory law used selectively - n ainst the massive BL lines, but against the tively small dispute Laurence Scotts. But by step, they can deadly as the all-s Industrial Relations 1972.
The SDP's Shirle!
iams said Tebbit 'did far enough' No proposals Labour and TUC have condemned 1 plan. They warned i 'create industrial m - but made no pr for themselves to o this mayhem' in stop Tebbit.
Not empty thri future chaos, but or action now, is what our movement neer our leaders.
• A campaign o mum obstruction a cooperation in Parli • Concerted strik to stop the propo coming law and to victims of the exist anti-union laws -ing with the Scott strikers.