Mass support for

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S. Yorks low fares READERS may remember the successful eleven • week occupation at Beal Street Play Centre in Highfields, Leicester, last year.

The occupation ended when the County Council agreed to keep the play centre open with two staff for a six month trial period.

The trial period is now over, and the review by the Social Services Committee has decided to keep Beal Street open permanently, to make it into a tamily centre and to halve the charges.

This is a real victory and is due in part to the positioning of the play centre-Highfields, where riots took place last summer and the council want to 'be seen' to be doing something for the area.

But the main strength comes directly from the fact that a struggle was waged through occupation to keep the play centre open in the first place.

The parents, having been involved in defending their provision, have maintained their involvement, holding regular meetings with staff and bringing in new parents.

The nursery operates much more democratically than usual, with parents being involved in decisions and this is evident from the way the centre has flourished.

The centre always seems to be teeming with people, parents (both men and women) and children of all ages.

by Helen Flack Groups that meet there and bring their childrenmothers and toddlers groups, Parents Anonymous, Outlook, Women's Aid, a handicapped group and the childminders intend to return to hold their meetings there.

It would have been a very different matter for . . the Council to try and close the œntre down this time. Support for the centre was now widespread: the parents had already shown their commitment to it staying open; and the staff would probably support an occupation in the event of closure.

Inis victory at Beal Street will be a strength to all those nursery campaigns which face cuts or closure. THE campaign against rises in bus fares has got underway in South Yorkshire.

A quarter of a million people have signed a petition calling on Parliament to take action defending the cheap fares. policy.

demonstration in defence of the policy of cheap fares was supported last week by 3,000 people.

Everywhere you go people are wearing stickers and badges supporting the low fares policy. For as little as 50p on the rates for the average family, people in South Yorkshire can travel 2'2 miles for 7p.

With the same subsidy, the people of West Yorkshire pay 36p for 2'2 miles.

Obviously the South Yorkshire policy is working because more people travel on the buses and the fares come in. Therefore we have a better and cheaper bus service.

The Law Lords and the employers don't seem to see things in the same light. Legal advisors have told the South Yorkshire County Council that in their opinion the fares policy is illegal because the buses have to be "viable" The fact that no bus service in the country is viable means very little in Great British Law.

Unfortunately, despite massive local support, it looks as though the Council has decided to put the fares up by 75% on legal advice and no decision has even been made against them yet.

Unless it is stopped by local campaigns, militant councillors and, of course, the bus workers themselves, the end result will inevitably be complete capitulation and the implementation of the proposed 500% increase in fares.

Left wing. councillors must fight the 75% increase which is likely to be implemented on March 3 and encourage trade unionists from the buses to fight for industrial action as the start of a bigger and more generalised campaign to defend services and jobs as well as low fares.

AYRTON date. The viticials claimed that fixing the strike date would make it the only aspect of the campaign that the press would focus on, as if that would be some disaster! : But now, thanks to the pressure of the meeting, the date has been fixed for March 10. And on March 1l, bus and tube workers will be asked to refuse to collect fares.

Support has to be built throughout London Transport not only to ensure that the day of action itself is a success but also that it becomes the start of a real fight to stop swingeing cuts, sackings and fare increases.

Groups like Fare Fight doing an enormous in building campaign amongst passengers will of organising public sup port for the strike, so it 1ST LAT isolated one-off event.

Despite Tebbit's loud complaints about the GLC and union leaders 'using fares football', the reality has