NALGO sell-out no surprise

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and sport Dear S.0, We invite readers to send us their letters, up to a usual maximum length of 400 words.

Send to Socialist Organiser, c/o 28, Middle Lane, London n London N8.

ALAN Walker is correct to say that the elections for secretary and assistant secretary of Liverpool NALGO took place by ballot and not, as stated in my article (SO 66) "Typists go

Back to Work", , at the AGM.

We obviously support the ousted officers in their campaign for reelection against anti-strike candidates.

This does not mean that the old officers were not seriously in error on many issues during the typists' strike.

We also believe that these errors were a not unimportant factor in the election defeat. While we would not claim omniscience about all aspects of the dispute, we would claim the right to offer our view about where the officers mis-led the strike.

For example, in what sense does advocating arbitration (the abandonment of "class struggle") constitute the actions of a "class struggle" leadership?

The question is not only whether the strikers themselves wanted arbitration, as Peter Cresswell stated in his letter to SO 63. Nor is it just whether the national union leaders wanted arbitration. It is not even merely whether support was forthcoming from the national leaders or from local trade unionists.

MANY READERS of Socialist Organiser will have read about the present court case in which Billy Bremner, ex-captain of Leeds United Football Club (known to many in the period of the early '70s, when Leeds went through their arrogant phase, as the 'poison dwarf')

Is suing a national paper tor printing an article alleging that he tried to bribe a Wolverhampton Wanderers player in a first division championship match in 1971.

The article says that Bremner approached the player after half time, when the score was give you a grand' Whatever the outcome of the trial, the spectacle of wellrespected professional footballers giving evidence on either side epitomises the nature of the game. The driving force behind the game is profit.

In these conditions it is not possible to take professional football completely seriously as a game. It is big business.

To any experienced trade unionist (like Alan Walker, Peter Cresswell and branch chairperson Graham Burgess) it should be quite unsurprising a) that the national leaders should The massive transfer fees that put so much pressure on the players to play well often ruin the game for young players. They are sold for £300,000 plus at 17-19, and after one bad season they are on the scrap heap.

As well as taking up the main political issues, as Socialist Organiser does very well, I think we should comment more on sport. We should try to open a debate about the many issues that come up in sport, such as violence between rival fans, how we would see sport developing under a socialist society, would we encourage all sports (e.g. many socialists think that boxing is barbaric and should be banned).

I'm not saying that readers should send in reports of any matches they go to, just that we try to bring out the politics of sport in a lively way.

Let's have a good clean debate, no blows below the belt please!

MICK LIGGINS, London.

manthe annordino to dose. vu 100 to 200 rads las far as Carlisle| would cause N&V;

recovery for two weeks, and more N&V and loss of white blood cells for four weeks, but few deaths.

Under 100 rads would cause no symptoms except for sterility of maies as far as Glasgow.

This list does not include long-term effects of radiation.

These, as well as protective moncures and medical treatfuture articles. sell-out, b) that the inexperience of the women strikers should lead to confusion about the dangers of arbitration, and c) that local trade unionists should be slow to respond to women's strike.

The question we are asking of the branch officers is: Did they, at any point in the dispute seek to expose the dangers of going to arbitration, to the confused strikers? Or did they act as the national leadership's yes men?

Did they at any time actively oppose arbitration and challenge the strikers' misconceptions? Or did they advocate arbitration under pressure from the national leaders?.

Do the officers deny that the offer of arbitration got Jones off the hook at a time when the strike was biting, when the council were losing £ 400,000 a week in rents?

Was it really "factually incorrect" to speculate that the branch officers had allowed Jones to regain the initiative? And was it "factually incorrect" to suggest that the officers' tail-ending of the strikers on this question, had done little to inspire the more class conscious elements in the branch to vote for them in the branch Connected Was it "factually incorrect" to assert that the mass of the membership had been left "bewildered" about the dangers of arbitration, by the failure of the officers to expose these dangers?

On the question of disciplining of scabs, Alan Walker protests against my suggestion that the branch officers "gave . I do not accept his version of events.

Of course there was a mass meeting in which the branch officers advocated opposition to jones' attempts to re-write the union rule book. But even before this meeting the negotiators had apparently conceded on the crucial question.

Jones and Stephenson had promised all along that if any strikers came back to work, the Liberals would safe-guard their jobs, and this encouraged more scabs to do so. So it was crucial to keep this promise and extract an undertaking that the union would not endanger scabs jobs on the return to work by "victimisation"

Witch-hunts

The Liberals and scabs did not care a toss about expulsion from the union: that would just be a formality, a rap across the knuckles.

But Peter Cresswell , was reported in the Echo on 3 December, four days before the mass meeting (if he has been mis-reported he will doubtless inform us) as follows:

'Mr Cresswell said NALGO had promised there would be no blood bath or witch-hunts on a return to work-but agreeme: that no action be taken agai members, who had brok: union rules, ®would itself be breach of union rules. The me that could happen to anyc: would be expulsion from i! union-but they would not lo their jobs." (emphasis added).

How reassuring this mu have been for the scabs to re this in the Echo, particula: as they must have been no: little concerned about: attitude the union would ado: It basically meant that "dis pline" would merely be a tooi less formality, a rap across i knuckles.

When the final agreeme came a week later, the Ec reported for perhaps it: reported?) it as follows 1 December 1981):

"Under the new wordi it has been agreed that NAL will do nothing which u prejudice the job security job prospects of council staf. (emphasis added).

And as if the message not clear enough that the sci had little to fear, branch ch person Graham Burgess furt reassured them in the Echo 12 December.

Extracted

'No one [the scabs] will weeded out as a matter policy. • we want harmoni relationships .:. there will no witch-hunt by the bra committee, but it we reci complaints against some of members, they will have to investigated...

«We want a united brat but I can only say in all honi that there is likely to be a st number of cases."

Even if in practice there little the union could do to the scabs kicked out of t miserable jobs, there was need to concede defeat advance; to needlessly give Liberals the appearance having forced the union to al don its attempts to "victim the scabs.

To anyone reading ti statements to the press.

looked like Jones and Stepl son had got away with t promise to sateguard the sc jobs; had extracted the essel from the negotiations, and the NALGO officers with i empty formality, a meanin!

'union discipline"

promised in advance nor affect the scabs' jobs.

Since Alan Walker raised question in his letter, I given my view in more d than normally, and I hope clarifies why I made statement that the officers "given in" in my article.

Yours fratern CHRIS ERSWI Live: fight for a WORKERS Orgor PorT GOVERNMENT 40p plus postage from Socialist Org iser, 28 Middle Lai London N8

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one-all, and said, 'give a pen- alty away, wee man, and I'll

KICK OUT THE TOR Labour democrax