For Sure. Pepses

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likely to be affected by the dispute.

The blacking of goods to Chile or South Africa would be outlawed. Workers' calls for support fo the PATCO air traffic controllers would be illegal, workers tike those at Massey Ferguson blacking parts from Ursus could be hauled before the courts.

Tebbit then attempts to hit pure solidarity action within the UK by stating that for a trade dispute to exist there must be a dispute between workers and their employer.

If workers at factories walked out to support the People's March or to demonstrate against Tebbit's Bill, the courts would find that they were not acting in pursuance of a trade dispute as there was no dispute between them and their employer.

If workers not on strike themselves asked for action from other workers, that action would be illegal.

Finally, the definition of a trade dispute will exclude disputes between workers and workers. Again the definition of this will be up to the judges. The type of things that they will go for will be demarcation disputes or disputes over the use of non-union labour. Situations like the Isle of Grain could now lead to legal action.

Pickets have always been open to criminal prosecution for obstruction of the highway, obstructing a policeman in the course of his duty, assault, intimidation or public nuisance. This is still the most important legal weapon against workers, as seen at Laurence Scott, Staffa or Hunterston.

In a series of judgements in the '60s and 70s, the courts held that if pickets stopped workers or vehicles against their will even for a short time they were guilty of obstructing the highway. If they did not move on when told to by the police they would be convicted.

Pickets

Prior's Act aimed at bringing the employer into the picture. It limited your already negligible right to picket to picketing at your own workplace. So when the Laurence Scott workers picketed their employers' main premises at Doncaster, Arthur Snipe was able to get a rivil injunction against the workers while the police were able to arrest others for criminal offences.

When Liverpool TGWU members picketed the docks to try to control the growth of cowboy road haulage companies, the judge. because of their mobile workplace, was uncertain whether they were covered by Prior's Act.

He therefore plucked another ball out of the air and issued an injunction banning the picketing on the grounds that the workers were committing a publi nuisance!

As big struggles

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neans THE TEBBIT Bill is currently in the House of Lords, FEAR having completed all its stages in the House of Commons. In October, any Lords' amendments that have been made will come back to the floor of the Commons for endorsement or rejection. The Bill will then receive the royal assent before the beginning of the new parliamentary session in November.

Labour MPs in the committee stage and others have put up a tough fight against the provisions of the Bill. Success can only be achieved by the trade union movement mobilising to take action to defeat the bill. • will also see more Durse to the Code of Prac: Prior published with his I limiting pickets to six the strikers first picketed Doncaster, when the strike was official, then Boyd and Duffy, to get off the hook, Why not make it clear to stewards and districts that they have no powers to initiate picketing or blacking covered by the closed shop in which 80% of those eligible to vote voted for a closed shop.

Even if the employer can show that he has done this he may still lose the case if the worker was an employee at the time of the ballot. In other words, this ludicrously rigged ballot is not binding on those who it covers. You can vote against, lose and then still opt out of the If the employee was not working at the workplace at the time of the ballot, he will not have an untrammelled right to opt out, but he will still win his case if he can show that he objected to membership of the union involved on genuine grounds of conscience or other deeply held personal convictions.

Those wishing to leave the union will therefore have an excellent chance of winning their case. But what is in it for them?

To make it worth their while, compensation is grotesquely inflated compared with awards for other forms of unfair dismissal in industrial tribunals. If blacklegs ask for a recommendation of reinstatement or reengagement to be made by the tribunal (and they will!), then if the tribunal decides not to make such a recommendation they will receive a special award between If a recommendation is REG RACE, MP for Wood Green Prior follaws made and refused then the will receive a minimum o £15,000 with no maximum.

On top of that, the!

will receive, as do all thos who win unfair dismissa cases, a basic award. 1{ months ago the Tories abol ished the minimum £200 basic award. In these closec shop cases the minimum it to be £2,000, ten times that amount!

Blacklegs

On top of that, blacklegs will receive an award compensating them for the actual loss they have suffered through the dismissal -loss of wage, loss of future earnings, pensions etc. Workers could easily take down £20-£25,000 under Tebbit's law. Many workers have been willing to sell their jobs for far less.

Here comes the final sting: if a steward or any trade unionist threatens industrial action to pressure the employer to sack the non-unionist, then that nonunionist can join the steward or the union to the action. Some or all of the compensation could then be awarded against the steward or the union who would have to fork out thousands of pounds.

In an attempt at evenhandedness and to try to cloak the assault on 100% membership, the Bill applies the new levels of compenrioneered, Tebbit sation to those dismissed for immu..ities and be open union membership and activ- legal action.

ities. It also provides a pro-. *The Prior Act drew cedure by which a worker ›ack at imposing compulsacked in a closed shop situ- sory secret ballots. It proation can get interim relief. vided gornment tunds for The aims are clear. Even secret ballots over industrial holding ballots raises the action and union elections if issue of non-membership. the unions wanted them.

Employers will be reluctant But even the EETPU and to maintain closed shops, the AUEW, despite making trade unionists will be scared noises, have not asked for off fighting to do so, scabs state funds. Now Tebbit is will be encouraged to leave talking of adding to his bill the unions. There will be a clause making secr haemorrhage of members allots compulsor and unions will be far *The Bill will change the weaker. law so that it will no longer If Tebbit becomes law it be unfair for an employer to will place a rich crop of dismiss workers on strike unfair industrial practices on while continuing to employ the statute book which can other workers Who have gradually be used against been on strike but who have trade unionists. already returned to work.

*Clauses in contracts Sack requiring the employment of trade unionists by subcon- At prusent employers tractors are to become unen- have to sack all workers who forceable in law. go on strike if they are to be *Discrimination through protected against unfair dislists of approved sub-con- missal proceedings. If they tractors who employ only take some workers back and trade unionists or inviting then later sack those remaintenders for the supply of ing on strike they will be goods or services only from open to legal action. union employers will The Tebbit proposals will become unlawful. allow employers to discriminate in such a way as to *Workers organising or weaken strike action. threatening industrial action Employers will be able to to put pressure on an give four days notice that employer to employ only any worker who has not trade unionists will be open returned by the end of that to legal action. period will be sacked.

*Workers who strike The result will be to because they are not pre- isolate and dismiss the pared to work with non- strongest sections and intimiunionists will lose their date the weaker.

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