CLPD women ca for block vote

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ting on to Gwynneth Dunwoody used the block vote to steamroller feminist demands at Labour's annual conference WAC to campaign for the cern at the quarrelling establishment of la sound behaviour of the executive financial base for the of its parent body - the women's organisation, a Campaign for Labour Party base which would depend Democracy which on regular income from 'having decided to ballot its affiliation fees from those membership ... had jumpec attending Women's Con- the gun and recommendec terence. the AGM to register?

determined refusal to AGM to abide by the result conver to the Annual Cnn- of the ballot of mer bers. AT its Annual General Meeting held last Saturday at County Hall, in London, the Women's Action Committee of CUPD reaffirmed its major objectives - to strengthen the wumen' 's organisation and increase the representation of women at all levels of party life.

Huwever, in setting its campaigning priorities for the coming vear WAC determined on a strategy designed to win the confidence of trade unionists Gerry Byrne reports was to get the Women's Fightback trade union working party on a functioning footing.

Sexual politics

The other large workshop, reflecting an area of concern that is only just beginning to be debated, was sexual politics and the Labour Party. Cath Tate of London Labour Briefing, who has herself suffered at the hands of the witch-hunting gutter press after her husband wrote in Briefing about being a transvestite, opened the discussion by asserting that personal life cannot be divorced from politics, that the traditional preoccupation of men with public life and women with private life was politically damaging both to women and men.

Cath came in for a fair amount of criticism from the workshop for what was seen as her exclusive focus on heterosexual relationships. Lesbian women complained that their daily oppression was ignored by the labour movement and very often by heterosexual women within it. Too often the onus was put on lesbians to 'come out' rather than creating the sort of atmosphere in which that would be possible.

Unburdening

There was also a strong reaction against the idea that it should be women's responsibility to change men. One sister drew sympathetic laughter from everyone when she said how tired she was of 'arti-sexist' men who want to snend all their time unburdeni. their emotions at enormous length.

The plenary was very bricf, dominated by a rather unsatisfactory discussion on the Register. The conference resolved to oppose the Register and to campaign with other groups, and particularly Labour Against the Witchhunt, against expulsions. who at this year's Annual Conference overwhelmingly rejected WAC-sponsored proposals to give women a greater say in party policy and decision-making.

The meeting, attended by delegates from every Labour Party region bar Scotland and Wales kicked off with a report of WAC's successes in regional elections to the new National Labour Women's Committee.

Five new members of the committee were elected on manifestoes committed to WAC's demands. They are: Brenda Wilkinson (Southern Region), Dawn Primarolo (South West), Liz. Mercer (Eastern Region), Madeline Lung and Lynette Savings (London South and North respectively).

In the debate on strategy and priorities for the coming year a resolution from the Islington South Women's Section proved the most controversial.

Controversial

It called on the AGM to reaffirm one of its major commitments - the election of the Women's Section of the NEC by the Labour Women - but in National Conference doing so to campaign simultaneously for the introduction of the trade union block vote, based firmly on female membership, to that Conference.

The resolution had been amended by the WAC Committee to add the stipulation that each trade union delegation to Women's Conference should be elected and mandated by a Women's Conference of that union.

Gwynneth Dunwoody's ference this year decisions taken by the Women' Conference was the subject of a resolution moved by the WAC committee. This called on the General Secretary to clarify the procedures necessary to enable a decision by the NCLW to be conveyed to Annual Conference.

The meeting ended with a declaration of opposition to the Register of unaffiliated organisations. In doing so it expressed conInsouth Africa It called on the CLPI Ann Pettifol Lord Robertson's new anti-abortion bill has been defeated in the House of Lords. On Mon day December 6 it was voted down by 57 votes to 42.