What we learned from our strike

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Angry militants corner NUPE negotiator Ron Keating during the settlement talks some money out of workers in dispute, they we can keep it in the fund would have told us no way. and dole it out as and when Now, when someone we see fit to other causes or asked from the floor what whatever. The second are we going to do with the choice was decided unanstrike fund, I said we've got imously. There was no two alternatives. We can other, thought in their split it among ourselves or minds. WHAT'S the value of the settlement?

I don't know. Till you actually get your wage packet it's difficult to say. Somewhere in the region of 10 to 12%, but it varies. Of course it's over 16 months. It will mean more to me as a shift man than to a day man, and most people are day men.

What's the attitude of others at the depot?

W'ell, you've seen our resolution: firstly, an atticade of disgust at the way Le abole thing has been :ELEC XTCI] ====50 ISKE :7*- TE = =2 € DICT TTL TY SAI IA F : 0 TeL A TEr 47 IE i P IEDE =.ME D: S HE TATE de! Truki DO harE Dien able to call it off in two IAN DRAYTON (Sheffield GMBU) spoke to Rob Dawber about the water workers' strike weeks. By then we would have had a national stewards' committee, and could have organised a co-ordinated response to any new offer.

But the chances are that ¡bere will be some sort of cational body. Firstly to do sEething about the full i== sEcers. secondly to =c: te zar the Joint #EE Paris recomSEES 2 DE DO A 77 schemes, that is Water Industry Productivity Payment schemes. They're just a basic tightening up.

Not only do jobs go, but bonusses will fall. Under the old schemes you could earn more than a third, but under the WIPP schemes it's very difficult.

As to the Officers, they've given us no guidance, no leadership whatever. They've just um-ed and ah-ed.

What do you think you've learnt from the strike?

Firstly, there's no way you can win a strike on your own, you've got to have the support of the labour movement.

To that extent you've got to be prepared to use your own literature. talk to branch meetings. see correnors ai workplaces. address worksite meetings.

ger w pull cogether. It's no good saying "I'll just leave it to the other blokes to get on with it". And I think after about the first week that people did realise this, apart from an extreme minority who would have nothing whatever to do with the strike.

It's brought everyone closer together, and hopefully we can capitalise on that to maintain the turnout to the branch meetings, which has been running at something like 40-50%. Our branch covers more than just Blackburn Meadows, but there it's been 99%.

What's been your experiences of support from other workers and the official labour movement?

The vast majority. of workplaces we visited were extremely sympathetic and we chatted to them for about an hour, half an hour. It ras only the minority that took a rather cynical view that the only reason we'd got in contact with them was because we wanted them.

Last year, . if we'd approached the branch and asked them tor, say, a levy of 10p a woek to go into the strike fund, maybe to help • other groups ANDREW WIARD (REPORT)