Fighting nurses put malı bureaucrats on the spot BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS TO WOMEN IN THE

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Siobhan Lanigan, the sacked shop steward at the centre of the unionisation fight at Foyles book- I can offer/I will need somewhere shop in London, will be among those speaking at The conference is designed as a focus for organising women to change the unions on many fronts I enclose £3.50 conference fee (£2 if low and challenge their present leadership. It is open to women either as individuals or as waged or unwaged non-delegate) delegates from any group, workplace organisation, branch or women's group at local, regional or al or Send to: TU Conference, 41 Ellington UNIONISE Street, London N7. Credentials will be various topics under main groups: Pay; public There will be an all-day creche. Workshops on ublic sent out in early March, but please help sector and the cuts; jobs; fighting sexism; racism 27 WOMENS racism by registering early.

The conference fee is £3.50 (£2 for low-waged or unwaged non-delegates). Credentials from 41, Coming to the conference: Siobhan sacked by Foyles bookshop for trad activity. Women fight tremendous b the right to a union; now let's fight

in

THERE are now 3½ million women in trade unions. That's nearly one-third of the TUC's membership.

Over the past ten years, women have joined unions much faster than men, though this is now levelling off thanks to the recession and the fact that women are losing their jobs faster than men.

Obviously great strides have been made by women in the unions since last century. But, as many older women militants would tell you it's a long, hard struggle which is by no means over yet.

Despite women playing an enormous, and heroic, part in the fight for our unions just think of the movement the match-girls spearheaded) the trade union movement has always to an extent been organised to exclude women.

Initially the trade unions' official aim was to secure a family wage for a man - to keep his wife and family.

COin

the conference.. national level.

and the Third World.

Ellington Street, London N7. This clearly meant that women did not have the same right to work as men.. Women were expected to be dependent on men and to earn lower wages if they did have a job.

Stay at home

Obviously this was not an attitude held solely by the trade unions. It was a generally held belief that women should stay at home. But the structures of the trade union movement that reflected these attitudes haven't changed very much.

This month's Labour Research highlights the recent changes in the unions over the past few years.

• Some unions - GMWU, AUEW, TASS - produce Shops on w-waged om 41, Name:

Phone ON Thi sday March 4, over 20 hos ital . V orkers from Herefor shire, Oxford London came to lobb: , the COHSE NEC about our current claim, to special pamphlets on fighting for equality. Other unions, notably NUPE, have had campaigns specifically aimed at encouraging women to be active in the union, with reserved places on their Executive for women.

More unions are sending women to the Women's TUC. And more unions are holding courses for women in their unions.

However all this is relatively recent, and no one would say that the prejudices against women, sexism and discrmination have been overcome. Indeed all that has been gained in the unions has been fought for by women over many years.

We still run into the most backward attitudes, reminiscent of the days when REGISTRATION FORM Address Union ..Branch secretary or contact: on Friday 26th/Saturday 27th demand that our leaders call action from April 1 - the Review Date.

We were invited in two people were allowe d to present our views!

Jo Thwaites women were excluded from unions or reckoned not to be radical enough to have the vote (yes, many social: ists used to argue that!).

It is still common to hear male trade unionists saying women should stay at home, that women are only working for pin money or that women should be sacked first.

Yet often if you object, or try to organise women together to take on these attitudes, you get the age-old complaint that you're being divisive, you're splitting the movement or you're ghettoising women. Taking up sexism is 'trivial' or 'middle class' Faced with this barrage of non-arguments and downright sexism, we have to The two spokespeople were chosen - both women. This was quite appropriate, speaking to an NEC composed - with just one exception - entirely of men organise • as women to provide the chalienge to existing structures and attitudes. We have to make quite clear that there is no division created by women fighting for their jobs and their rights in the unions, that fighting sexism is part and parcel of the fight for a woman's right to work.

This applies to all sections of the unions. It's not just the union bureaucrats or executives that have backward attitudes towards winmen hut that the fight Trol our unions. (COHSE's membership is 75% women).

These spokespeople read out a statement from all lobbyists and presented our case - our inability to live needs to be taken up in the local branches, where you can often find some of the most entrenched chauvinists.

This is what the Fightback trade union conference is going to discuss on March 27 with some 25 workshops on subjects ranging from sexual harassment to fighting Tebbit's Bill and health service cuts.

In the afternoon there are workshops for all the major unions - with discussion on how best to organise ourselves in the unions, hopefully ending up with women's caucuses.

Lanigan, e union attles for to conton our wages, our determination to stick together, and for nurses not to be bought off separately from other NHS workers; our anger at our leaders' apathy and inaction over our pay claim.

We told them that mere demonstrations separated from any action would demoralise the membership. We should learn from ASLEF's lesson in how to win by striking, even in the teeth of opposition from the media.

Strike action was the only way to win against this government.

The General Secretary, Albert Spanswick, replied in person. He said that a ballot on industrial action would be sent out as soon as the management side made an offer. However, until management had made an offer, no ballot would be held at all.

He also made it cleat there would be no recommendation from the leadership on what, if any, indus. trial action should be taken. We should remember, he said, that we were not trying to defeat the government as such.

Snail's The NEC's tactics would be to woo the media and give a resounding lead by calling ... a lobby of Parlia ment, followed, in a month by... a demonstration!

We left with the impres sion that the leadership wa: set on a snail's pace race t see if the membership could be demoralised before the! had to be mobilised.

But they are also wary of us, the membership - war! enough to be afraid of then image in the present situa tion if they turned us lobby ists away, wary enough ic open up a closed NEC meet. ing for us to present our views - for the first time ir COHSE's history that I am aware of!

For years we have had te watch while our health ser vice is dismantled and ou wages driven down.

Low-paid, often pat time and women workers ir this situation, we don* realise . our own strength We cannot win a pa!

battle against the Thatche government without taking strike action. This will entai providing essential patien cover. Although our ow!

union leaders try to hide i trom us, we do have thi strength, joining together, "

win this battle.

WHEN the USDAW Execi tive Committee meets nex Monday 15 March, th sacked workers at foyle bookshop will be hoping fo official support.

16 have so far bee sacked for being members c the union, and are picketin the shop. Many custome!

have turned back, an workers at Heinemanı Murray, and Edward Arnol publishers have blacke deliveries, but withol official support the sacke members are in a weak po:

tion.

Mass pickets are he!

every Saturday, and don tions and messages of su port should be sent c Colletts International Boo shop, Charing Cross Roa London WC2.

Scan page 7

Socialist Organiser no. 76 March 11, 1983 Page "

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FIGH 34CK rade union If a delegate, name & address of branch ference

FOYLES BOOK SALE or'y