NALGO- the gap between policy and practice

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Fighting the cuts: NALGO is often militant on paper but meek Time and again women trade unionists have come forward to fight the Tory onslaught on their rights and living standards. And each time they have run up against the limitations or outright treachery of the existing bureaucratic And they have found a movement which has for decades ignored the issues and problems faced by women.

The March 27 Trade Union conference called by Women's Fightback is designed as a focus for a movement to change the unions and challenge their present leadership.

The conference is open to women either as individuals or as delegates from any group, workplace organisation, branch or women's group at local, regional or national There will be an all-day creche. Workshops on various topics under main groups: Pay; public sector and the cuts; jobs; fighting sexism; racism and the Third World.

The conference fee is £3.50 (£2 for low-waged or unwaged non-delegates). Credentials from 41 Ellington creasingly militant. Members of NALGO, among the least militant of white collar workers, have had their eyes opened by the onslaught on their jobs and the services they provide.

The 1980 NALGO conference passed a motion calling for support for councils that confronted the government, even when it meant breaking the law.

But progressive conference motions do not translate into action automatically, especially where members are not involved and are ill-prepared.

The fight against the cuts highlights especially the need for greater democracy, as well . as a leadership prepared to support and extend struggles by its members.

The most miltant branches over recent years have been those that have developed a shop steward system of organisation in the branch, as opposed to the archaic, bureaucratic system of departmental representatives which still exists in many branches.

These reps have no powers to represent their members directly to management and often have to cover a number of different workplaces. The branch executive, consisting of all the different departmental reps runs the branch, and although some branches do have regular meetings, the statutory obligation is only one branch meeting a year!

Staff The body responsible for negotiating with management is called staff side and is elected by the branch executive-in theory, and very often in practice, a member of one department could be representing members in another depCOUNCIL Other VIOL artment about which they are totally ignorant.

In addition, staff side responsible not just union members but also non-union members.

It has been a national "recommendation' for some years now that branches develop shop steward systems, where members can be represented in their workplace by someone able to negotiate directly on their behalf, and where members can have greater feed-in to and feed-back from the branch.

However, it has been left very much up to the local branches to organise and campaign for such a system -and in those branches where there is a well entrenched local bureaucracy, it is going to be a hard fight.

It is a lesson that women in the union especially, are learning. On paper, NALGO is a very progressive union on women's issues, with excellent policies on maternity and paternity provisions, workplace nurseries, etc.

It has also promoted local equal opportunities committees to take up issues relating to women, ethnic minorities and disabled people.

In practice it has done little to fight for its policies nationally.

During the recent Liverpool typists' strike the NEC gave backing to the dispute but failed to develop action in other branches, and so the typists in Liverpool were isolated and weakened.

The EOC are often not effective: the experience of many branches is that the problems and issues of women, ethnic minorities and disabled are different.

At the last national equal opportunities conference in Leeds many women felt that it was necessary to meet and organise separately in the branches, in order also to involve more women actively in one union.

In Haringey we have had a women's committee now for two years. We have been able to take up women's issues more effectively, and many women are now more actively involved in the union and have been in the forefront of pushing for more democracy in the branch.

50% of NALGO members: to some other unions 20% women may seem like quite a good proportion, but very small numbers of women attend annual conference, hold positions in the branch locally or attend branch meetings.

Babysitters

Fundamental to attendance at branch meetings is the time they are held. In our branch most women felt the best time would be in the morning. Creche facilities are not always the most convenient method of childcare for late afternoon meetings. If the child is with a childminder or likely to be alone at home, then paying a babysitter or childminder out of union funds is better than the mother having to go all the way home to pick up the child and return to the Positive discrimination not as a panacea but as an encouragement to women, is also important. In Haringey we now have a policy that at least half of the delegation to annual conference should be women.

When this was passed last year it was also agreed that no member should attend conference more than twice in four years.

This changed the composition of our conference delegation. Women were encouraged to stand, and generally more members felt confident to be put forward—i.e. it didn't have to be the same old people who went year in, year out.

Once you challenge entrenched positions, it becomes much more important what people have to say, rather than how many years they have been secretary or whatever.

This year the debate on whether NALGO should affiliate to the Labour Party can begin to challenge some of the entrenched attitudes in the union -the 'keep politics out of the union' approach. Somehow because our employers are members of different political parties, NALGO members are expected to be 'nonpolitical' and concentrate On such non-political issues as wages and i conditions of work.

The debate and ballot of members has come at a time when it is more and more apparent to members that the threat to jobs and services is a very political issue. By remaining unaffiliated to the Labour Party we are weakening vur ability to fight, and isolate ourselves from the rest of the trade union movement. by Jar

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