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500r 00 JOdAWN Individual copies, or saleNin or-return bundles, can be in GLC Labour councillor VALERIE WISE talked to Jo Thwaites about the GLC Women's Committee IT'S an enormous job we've set ourselves. We're going to cover all aspects of the GLC's activity.

One of the most important issues is employment. The GLC has set itself the target of creating jobs at the rate of 10,000 a year by the end of its four year term of office, and we have to make sure that women's jobs are a substantial proportion of that.

We'll have to make sure that there are adequate training opportunities, that child care facilities are available, that the hours and conditions of work are keyed into women's needs. We'll directly intervene where we can. In County Hall itself there is a staff committee with an Equal Opportunities adviser whom we'll work with very closely.

The GLC is oi course an Equal Opportunities Employer but we have to make sure that they put it into practice.

The GLC's Women's Committee consists of seven Labour members and one Alliance - the Tories are boycotting it.

We have provision for co-options, and we want up to eight people co-opted. But I think that the cooptions themselves aren't that important. Usually it's the work you do before or for the committee that is most important.

Also I don't think that simply co-opting • women from the Women's Liberation Movement is really Haising with the movement. Much more important is working with the campaigns and groups on the ground.

That's why the open meetings are so important. We held the first one last month 100 women turned up, there was a good response, and our next one is on July 9 at 7.30 at County Hall.

Maybe people will get fed up with big meetings, but i think they're really important at the beginning so there is a good flow of ideas into the committee.

There are problems with it becoming elitist as it can POLISH SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN bulletin: new issue out now.

obtained from Marion Pitman, 29 Hampton Road, Twickenham, Middlesex.

BACE BACO PATe comers rch SAh be a bit self-selecting. But we're advertising the next meeting as widely as possible with leaflets and adverts in the free magazines they hand out at the Tubes for office workers as well as Tribune, Labour Weekly, City Limits and so on.

We want the work of the committee to reach women for that by September. Some people are saying that that's a colossal job to be achieved by September, but I don't think so.

There are many groups and campaigns which have been working for a long time and have a general idea of what needs to be done. If we can't do that quickly, then I wonder what for women in the GLC; child care; transport for women; education; planning; housing and health. There are 16 working groups altogether.

It's important also that an eye is kept on us from the women in the movement in London. I've not come up with a structure yet, but hopefully someone will at the second open There has been a lot of talk about the huge amounts of money that the GLC Women's Committee has for giving out in grants to women's groups. Is this true?

Yes. We have been allocated $200,000 for grants to women's projects. That wasn't as much as we had asked for, but they've promised to review the situation after recess.

I'm hopeful that we'll get more money. I would encourage groups and organisations to submit applications.

The closing date is the end of July - and it won't be done on a first come, first served basis. Applications will all be studied and we can give advice on how to make your case most effectively.

Also I'd like to make the point that women's groups shouldn't just apply to the Women's Committee. Part of the Women's Committee's work is to make sure that the other committees face up to their responsibilities.

For instance, last week the Industry and Employment committee made a grant of £24,000 to a Lewisham Women's unemployment group. All the other committees have a lot more money than we do and we shouldn't find ourselves in the situation where because there is a women's committee that all the applications for grants then just come to us.

We have to make sure that the GLC as a whole spends money on women's rights.

Is there a campaigning aspect to the Women's Committee?

Yes. We want to support existing campaigns like the Action Committee for a Woman's Right to Work, and we can also be the launch pad for new campaigns.

Last week we agreed on a statement in support of the health workers' pay claim and some of us went down to the picket lines at hospitals to back the day of action.

We sent that proposal on to the full Council from the women's committee and hopefully it'll go through.

I think it's important that we don't just sit in County Hall, but give active support to the health workers in their fight against low

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