Teachers' union by Peter shifts to the lett

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DEMONSTRATE IN LONDON CLASS FETER { «clusive mntereem with the MENACE ON THE STREETS.

MAY BRITAIN OUT OF IRELAND MAYI 8th SELF DETERMINATION FOR THE IRISH PEOPLE 8th pay meets, a CPSA member in the Department of the Environment describes the OVER 20,000 civil service jobs have been lost since 1980, with the rate of job loss more than double that of other unions. The living standards of civil servants have been cut by some 19% over the last two years.

The 1981 pay campaign, for all the ridiculous bluster of our misleaders, resulted in complete defeat for the civi service unions.

Unfortunately the old gang of right wing incompetents continue to rule the union roost, and are absolutely determined to avoid a serious fight with the Tories this year.

Already the CPSA leadership has accepted a new technology agreement which will lead to further massive job losses.

It's against this background that the 1982 civil service pay claim has to be seen.

The union leaders in the Council of Civil Service Unions have completely ducked the need to fight for our 13% pay claim.

Refusing to offer any real lead to the rank and file, they have pinned all their hopes on arbitration and the Government complying with the decision of the Arbitration Court, which met on Monday April 19.

Forces

Yet the Government have made it clear that 'market forces' are the determining factor. They will not grant the award necessary to restore civil servants' living standards.

Their offer of zero to 54% is designed to split the unions and to ram home their 1981 victory. We must respond with equal determination.

The unions' claim can only be won by all out strike passenger transport, cutting off the Government's revenue and stopping the effective operation • of the state system.

That is the vital lesson of last year's defeated selective strike campaign.

We must fight for the whole claim, irrespective of the arbitration results. And this fight must be based on area strike committees, not the bluster of frightened bureaucrats. THIS year's National Union of Teachers (NUT) conference, at Easter, saw a considerable strengthening of the Left.

Since 1974, when the Executive pushed through the notorious Rule 8, banning locally initiated action, the Left has been isolated in the NUT.

In part, this isolation reflects, and is in turn no doubt reflected by, the politics of what was in 1974 the main left grouping in NUT, Rank and File Teacher. R&F's idealisation of 'unofficial action' as a panacea, coupled with their denunciatory posturing at conferences, has provided the Executive with an easy target for anti-red scare campaigns designed to stampede disaffected delegates back into line.

Shift

Not surprisingly, therefore, the shift to the left at this year's conference was accompanied not by a reemergence of Rank and File, but their almost total eclipse by another left grouping, the Socialist Teacher Alliance (STA). It was the STA which organised and 10p plus pr BM Box 52 3XX. stage from NLWYM, 77, London WCIN galvanised the opposition to the Executive's manoeuvres and hammered out the message that the NUT conference cannot and must not be allowed to avoid politics.

This was well summed up in the speech of newly elected Executive member Ken Jones in the disarmament debate when he pointed out that the logic of the position of those who argued against CND affiliation was opposition to all combination, including trade anions!

The vote on CND was only narrowly lost and unilateral disarmament was adopted, along with opposition to Cruise and Trident.

Equal

Delegates voted. to oppose corporal punishment, to oppose working for absent teachers at any time, and for equal opportunities, including improved maternity leave.

They threw out massively an attempt by the executive to introduce new conference procedures which would have all but gagged the membership.

In fact on all major issues taken to a card vote, the left was able to pull over THIS Tearjerkers mcluding Roddy Radustion centre pages Specials Clans Frotter Nr. 4 Ape:l 1982 10u I orres alan deal pith YOUTTA MeNn •END :entprence un 24 $ 25 "'.sco 6 NOINIdO LPYS 82 100,000 votes - and that included a vote on a move to suspend standing orders so that Fred Jarvis could answer questions on pay policy. A motion demanding preparation for strike action to win 12% was lost only because it narrowly failed to win a two-thirds majority.

Equally importantly the creaking bureaucratic machination of the NUT leadership throughout served not to stifle the opposition but to inject massive new forces into the campaign to democratise the union.

The attempt to rule out of order motion 18 and the period of 50 hours taken to produce the result of that vote, interspersed with lost ballot boxes, served only to incense the floor of conference. On the Tuesday ringe La tring meeting on Democracy in the NUT.

Galvanised

When the debate on disarmament finally came - the challenge to the chair having been carried by a mere 6,000 - the supporters of disarmament had been galvanised into standing firm, come what may. Even the attempt of CND member and Executive Broad Left spokesperson Jack Chambers to reject the disarmament motion at the last hurdle fell on deaf ears.

The vote for motion 18 on disarmament was a decisive victory. Most importantly it brought to an end the era in which politics was a dirty word in the NUT.

The NUT can no longer discreetly stand aside from the rest of the labour movement, dodging the political issues of the day, as the NUT leadership might wish.

The vote on unilateralism was a clear political declaration which will be re-echoed in debutes yet to come on Labour Party affiliation, the fight against racism and fascism and on abortion and women's rights.

The conference voti must, however, now be co solidated at local level. TI means fighting to comn local branches to support f the anti-Reagan demonst tions on June 6&7, to ma the disarmament vote living reality.

It means pressing ahe ad the democracy campaign in the union, particularly wi ith a view to changing t he union's rules and aims al nd objectives at next year's co ference.

It means building a ba ISE from which to challenge t he right wingers ensconced ‹ on the Executive.

And it means prepart now to confront the Exec tive on the issue they w most seek to avoid at ne year's conference in Jersey Gay rights.

Socialist teachers wl wish to take up this fig should begin now by joini the Socialist Teache Alliance to develop each • these campaigns.

Contact: STA, c/o Deri Eales, 8 Rest Shrubber Redland, Bristol 6.

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no.81 April 22

----- pull-quotes -----

action, closing the docks and airports, hitting trade and

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