Britain's answer to Jimmy Hoffa: Alan Law and 'The Rule of Law'

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Filling in thousands of members' union ballot their defence; and instruct ing members to scab on thi national drivers' strike in 1979 — those were some highlights of the career of Alan Law, TGWU full-time for road haulage drivers in one account of this. Bill The 5/35 Branch, a potential power base for class struggle, was cynicauy usea Dy Law as ine Dase Peters gives another.

STRIKE As lorry drivers walked out in the winter of discontent, Law opposed a national strike and sabotaged action in the Midlands by concluding a scandalous cieal.

But Law controlled the istered by staff paid by Full-time officers are daugher.

policies decided by the lay that the dual positions gave committees, including the Law power. But he puts it branch... Again, Law as rather differently. He says secretary controlled the it gave him the executive branch which was supposed authority he needed to do * Tony Corfield was formerly secretary of the TGWU political, research, and education departments; director ‹ the Workers' Education Association social studies centre and principal of Fircroft College, Birmingham. He is now Director of Industrial Relations Study Services. The book (R.Briery Publications, £5.00) can be obtained from IRSS 12 Welches Close, Birmingham B31 2XT.

the Midlands. TONY Corfield's 'The Rule of Law' is a more or less biographical account of the career of Alan Law, the Transport and General Workers' Union Birmingham road haulage secretary, from his appointment in 1958 to his controversial early retirement in 1979.

Although the book is presented as an important contribution to the history of trade unionism at grass roots level, it certainly does not live up to it. Neither does it live up to its selfdescription as "an important contribution to the study of industrial relations in Britain"

This is particularly true because Tony Corfield is dealing with an important subject, but ends up whitewashing some of the worst abuses of democracy seen in the TGWU in recent years. In so doing he offers nothing to those carrying out the crucial fight for democracy and accountability in the TGWU and elsewhere in the labour movement.

Tony Corfield projects a view of Alan Law as a tough no-nonsense organiser who made an outstandRegion Secretary. Brian Mathers: refused an inquiry into Law's ballot rigging. ing contribution to the trade union movement but made 'mistakes' and had "lapses' • This view must be challenged both for the sake of historical record, and for the sake of the struggle for democracy today.

It is true that Alan Law presided over a very important development of trade union organisation among haulage workers in the Midlands (in a period of a major general rise of trade unionism in the area. An evaluation, however, must be based on what kind of trade unionism he promoted, and how he used the power placed in his hands.

The inescapable fact is that Alan Law's trade union career stands as a monument to the cynical abuse of the considerable power vested in an appointed official by a major trade union like the TGWU.

-If Alan Law built an 'impressive' trade union structure, it must be judged in an all-round way, in relation to the principles he built it on. The fact is that any objective view shows it as a structure purposebuilt to facilitate his own personal power base, and everything which flowed from that.

American-style

It is undeniable that Ala Law projected America style 'business unionisn to a very developed degrer That it was from a region: base makes it no less dan‹ erous. He was, for exan -1- ..:191 - - 11-- pie, muntantly apontical, n was an open admirer ( former US Teamsters' leat er Jimmy Hoffa, and cor sequently he held dem cracy, and the democrati procedures of the union, i cotal contempt I tney cor flicted with his own plan and aspirations.

Tony Corfield's view of Alan Law is very different to mine. ne suvuues lat In "htidlan than book, 'A study in trade union organisation and method' - note the 'and method' Incredibly, while Corfield mentions some of Law's worst crimes, his overall assessment is that 'Alan Law's actions were never arbitrary"; that 'his hold over his members derived from mutual self-interest, not tyranny"; and that 'his exercise of power was ordered and rational"

He says that none of Law's failures can "dim the tactical brilliance of his role as a bargainer, or diminish the magnitude of the change he made in trade union attitudes and organisation"' • 'He personified trade union power and the artistry in using it"

Perhaps Corfield's most astounding statement - to those who knew Alan Law - is this: 'He succeeded in taking his members another long stride along the path of industrial democracy"

To challenge this view requires a detailed account of some of the major events Tony Corfield leaves out, giving more elaboration to those he has skimmed over, and correcting the sections where he has justified, in various ways, the indefensible actions of Alan Law.

This makes a review of the book quite difficult. In fact, it makes it somewhat of an alternative biography, since it is necessary to tell the other side of the story, to look at the real Alan Law.

To justify my case, therefore, let me begin with Alan Law's notorious-dual position as full-time official and also holder of the lay position of branch secretary for the 5/35 branch. This is diplomatically referred to by Tony' Corfield as 'constitutional anachronism' It was a set-up which gave Alan Law exactly what he wanted, absolute power over the members he was dealing with. Normally, if members have a complaint about an official, they go to the branch. branch as secretary.

supposed to carry out the to control him.

Branch secretary of a branch of 4,500 was also a very lucrative job, entitling Law to 15% of membership dues - well over £300 per week at today's dues levels, something like hait that when he was secretary.

This money is pala be- mi cause branch secretary is a lay, unpaid position. It is administration money, paid to volunteer secretaries to meet the expenses of a very considerable job. Law, of course, was a paid official, and the branch was adminCIAO the union - in this case, his Tony Corfield recognises the very good work ne was doing.

This is simply not the case. Any doubts about why Alan Law wanted absolute power, how he exercised it, and on whose behalt, can be dispelled by a few examples.

It can be shown by now L. Lahe reacted when that power was challenged, as at Autocar in 1974.

At Autocar there was what Law interpreted as a challenge to a small seg; ment of the network of personal supporters he had developed in the haulage firms in the Birmingham area. His reaction to it was incredible.

Tony Corfield ducks right out of the Autocar issue because, he explains, he is writing about Alan Law from the point of view of the 5/35 branch, which was his main base, and Autocar had its own separate branch.

But the general conclusions he has drawn are from Alan Law's role in the Midlands road haulage industry, which goes far beyond the 4,500 members in the 5/35 branch, important as that branch was and is. Law was responsible for 1400 other members covered by a number of branches.

Voted Sections like car transporters (such as Autocar) and tanker drivers were a major part of Law's involvement, although they were not in the 5/35.

The 'problem' arose at Autocar when the membership voted out of office the chairman and secretary of their branch. It was simple enough. The drivers were dissatisfied that nothing was being done about wages and conditions at Autocar, and they exercisea their aemocrauc nignts dam in an election.

Normal and democratic or not, this was totally unacceptable to Alan Law. The secretary voted out was Billy Birmingham, a member of the TGWU General Executive Council, and the chairman voted out was Stan Moore. Both were very important to Law's apparatus. Birmingham had controlled Autocar for Law for 15 years.

Law, therefore, was determined that the decision would be reversed.

The new officers took over during the oil crisis. on January 1 1974, and were immediately faced with lay otts. They called a branch committee meeting to discuss the situation.

That meeting never took place. As soon as Law learned of the lay-off situation, he intervened and arranged a meeting with Autocar managing director How the weekly Socialist Press depicted Alan Law's conflict with his members during the national road haulage strike of 1979. (Alex Kitson was at that time, before his rise to the Deputy General Secretary position, still speaking on behalf of Scottish lorry drivers).

Norman Parker, himself,, and the new branch officers.

Significantly, Parker was formally one of Law's men in the TGWU. Parker promptly said that he wanted 44 drivers laid off, and Law couldn't agree quick enough.

What the new branch officers, Phil Morris and Pat Healey, failed to grasp at that stage, was exactly why Law was so quick to accept the lay offs.

They got the message a few days later, when Parker announced that he wanted 22 of the 44 laid off drivers to be permanentlý switched to another depot. Morris and Healey were both in that 22. The other depot, needless to say, came under a different union branch.

If Morris and Healey did not sign papers agreeing to the transter by 7pm on January 11, said Parker, they would be sacked. When they turned to Alan Law for support, they were told, "Mr Parker is a clever man.. The management could be right"

Strike

On January 17 Law wrote to Phil Morris to say that Autocar management woulc ut consider reversing their aecision. so on Jan:

Monday January 21 Morris and Healey met the Autocar membership, and they voted for an all-out strike.

Already Law was intervening to stop the strikers gaining the support of the Birmingham Car Delivery Council, which covered the five branches for the car delivery industry. This body was crucial if the strike was to be spread throughout the Birmingham area.

On the day after the strike began, the strike committee wrote to invite the members of the Car Delivery Council to their meeting to be held at Transport House at 7.30pm that Thursday.

The room had been booked through Law's secretary/daughter, who confirmed that it would be available. At llam on Thursday: morning, an invitation was • delivered

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papers himself; helping get union branch officers who crossed him sacked, then breaking a strike in

Tony Corfield's book 'The Rule of Law'* gives