"weighell Speaks Only for Himself

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Does Weighell reflect the NUR membership? He certainly fif the matter were allowed tions asking members to by lan Williams (NUR Executive; in personal capacity)

SID WEIGHELL is really speaking only for himself. He claims that the National Executive of the NUR have no jurisdiction over the matter, because he sees it as part of the annual conference which referred it all back to him. We dispute that.

rersonany 1 nave 10 Da doubt that the NUR Executive would make a substantial donation to ASIFF funds onto made £100 Our agenda. 18 of us • private donation of retween us last week.

lhe real test or trage unionism will be if the BRB implement the plans they're floating to train other drivers in place of those dismissed.

It will be very important for the NUR to act as a trade union then. If the NUR did cooperate in such a thing, it would stand the risk of being expelled from the TUC -and with every reason. But there is no suggestion at the moment inat would *1/0.14 tolerate any such thing.

Several NUR branches in LUILLO my area nave passeu Isolu- my area have nacced resolidonate the strike pay which they got for our two-day strike to the ASLEF strike fund. Liverpool no.5 branch raised a good few hundred pounds that way.

Feeling in this area, certainly among the activists, is that ASLEF are taking on the battle which we should have taken on.

Unilateral The dispute isn't really about flexible rostering. The dispute is about whether the management can unilaterally impose a substantial change in working practices on a group of workers.

The BRB are hitting ASLEF on flexible rostering, over which they have an annual conference decision. The issue they're hitting us on is one-man operation -over which we have a conference decision.

It would appear to me that what they're looking for is the gross humiliation of the unions. They've picked on our strong points points on which the unions can't give without a collapse of morale NUR A the possibility that today, despite our isolation within the TUC, and they would certainly have washed their hands of us after this, we could then have made an appeal, in the way that we have been making this appeal from Kings Cross doesn't reflect the elected Executive and Euston, to the trade union movement for support to make Wednesday a day on which other trade unionists would be taking strike action in defence of ASLEF. That would have been a tremendous boost to the development of the dispute.

As it is, Kings Cross has had to direct the way in which picketing was carried • out, and provide assistance and we have gained tremendous Iespect within ASLEF: on Joint Appeal of King's Cross and Euston Joint Strike Committee of ASLEF to the trade union movement.

"That the joint Euston/ King's Cross ASLEF strike committee firmly believes that the decision of the British Railways Board to sack our members is no longer over the issue of flexible rostering and is now ciearly an attempt to smash ASLEF and as such represents an attack on the whole trade union movement, speatheaded by the BRB and actively backed by the Tories.

The leadership of the trade union movement must respond to this attack with a clear and unwavering instruction for strike action in support of ASLEF. Nonetheless, it is necessary to build strike action now, unotficially, al local level, in preparation for more generalised action to follow.

This joint strike committee therefore appeals to all trade unionists to defend trade unionism and call for strike action on the Wednesday the sackings are implemented. In particular the Triple Alliance of the steel, rail and mineworkers must be swung into action with the full backing of the dockers.

This joint strike committee calls for ASLEF branches in the mining areas to approach the local NUM branches to obtain definite pledges of strike action in support of ASLEF on Wed. nesday 21st. Further that we call on the National Port Shop Stewards Committee to convene an emergency meeting to take strike action on that day.

That this appeal be circulated to all local cool" dinating committees in the Society with a view to obtaining endorsement of the above.

Defend ASLEF - Make Sack Day Strike Day."

Eddie Flattery, Branch Sec., Euston A. Johnson, King's Cross

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OFETIAL PICKET