Birth of a rank a file group

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LAST week there was by Ellen Taylor GROUP 81, the Broad Left grouping in COHSE, has emerged from its first year with a fine fighting record, and a growing list of about 200 supporters.

Our first campaigning issue was the NEC's decision to ignore last year's conference call for affiliation to the National Abortion Campaign.

Our motto - 'Campaigning for Democracy' - was immediately justified, and at conference next week we should win on the abortion rights issue.

Group 81 however would not have survived this past year without a lot of hard work by a small number of people elected to their position at Group 81's first national conference.

Organise within branches and spread th. word through the regions was our aim. Regional organisers ere elected at last year's conference but unfortunately it did not work out like that.

However Group 81 has lived through disappointments resulting from broken conference promises and we have gone from strength to strength. Mailing lists have grown, and responses to our bi-monthly newsletter have been coming in regularly.

Articles are now being sent in and published from people all over the country, with a wide range of views on the left.

With the number of articles now coming in, this will soon become a monthly newsletter, bigger and better every time.

We have to recognise that the way forward is through organising at the grass roots of the union, inyolving our branch members, displaying our fighting resolve and proclaiming our campaign issues at every opportunity.

Ours is not an overnight campaign with a swift and conclusive victory, but a methodical and deliberate fight to win for our members an effective, strong and democratic union organisation and to build COHSE into a socialist trade union.

Leicester