Few gain for NUT eft

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at THE Left seem to have made few concrete gains at this Easter's NUT conference in Jersey, apart from the considerable impact made on the gay rights question.

The President, Don Winters, ruled out of order key clauses in the first motion on disarmament. All references to Cruise, Trident and nuclear bases were ruled to be matters outside of the aims and objects of the union.

Last year's conference successfully challenged a similar ruling. But this year it was narrowly lost. After a further delay of three days, the gutted motion was eventually carried. An amendment to affiliate to CND was lost. The union has retreated from its disarmament policy of last year.

However, these and other issues which went the executive's way, did reflect a solid. opposition. Attempts to call for action to win this year's 15% claim and to call for a flat rate increase in next year's salaries, were only narrowly lost. The latter went to "THE union has really sold us out" commented a very emotional Pete Burton, a leading activist during the dispute by Daleside workers. The strike had lasted for over ten weeks after 63 workers werę sacked for refusing to work new continental shifts involving seven day working.

The firm, Daleside Hadden is typical of hosiery firms in the East Midlands and this defeat will echo throughout those firms with a traditional lack of militant fighting leadership in the Hosiery and Knitwear Union.

This defeat will unfortunately set a precedent for the introduca card. vote with 120,000 against and 100,000 for.

Only a couple of years ago the demand for a flat rate increase would not even have commanded enough votes to go to such a division.

The Executive's control of conference time and abuse of conference procedure eventually caused the conference to react against them later in the week. The Executive Memorandum on Two fringe meetings were organised, one by the Broad Left on peace and disarmament, and the other by women in the NUT which featured a speaker from Greenham Common, Susan Mann.

A packed meeting of about 300 on the Sunday evening heard how she had become involved in the peace camp, having marched with a Cardiff delegation the 150 miles to Greenham.

bring emergency matters to the conference were also rejected.

Conference passed a motion calling for an end to fixed term contracts, with some exceptions by 1984.

It also voted to suspend standing orders twice to debate left ly manoeuvrêd for a pay-off deal from Managing Diréctor Keith Fry.

They gladly jumped. into ACAS negotiations, selling out the jobs and then driving back to Leicester without telling: the strikers what had happened during the meeting! This leadership has now been exposed at the strikers' expense.

2) The failure of the Nottingham labour movement to mobilise sufficiently for the mass pickets -which when successful meant so much to the workurs on the LU VID VAL motions. Helen Flack, delegate these motions to back the May 24 wiese mouons to back tne May L Greenham Common day ol action. Although this was lost the mood in conferences was very strong.

During the conference the Socialist Teachers Alliance (STA) showed that it had become the major pole of opposition to the Executive, holding successful fringe meetings and its stand to make gay rights an issue at this conference has been fully vindi. cated.

Overall this conference reflects a stalemate: The left has not yet gained control of the conference, but it has enough power to act as a veto against the executive on several key issues.

The task for socialists is now to stand left candidațes against the national executive in as many areas of the country as possible, based on the policies of the STA. The election results in Inner London have encouraged many delegates in other parts of the country to seriously consider standing against NEC members, many of whom have often been returned unopposed.

The final STA meeting at conference, attended by over 100 delegates, launched its campaign to raise the question of the NUT's affiliation to the Labour Party. picket line.

The trades council strike support committee tried, and to a point was successful in bolstering up the dispute. However it must be said that the majority of trade unionists in Nottingham were not mobilised by branch and full time officials behind the dispute.

The strikers came to the Trades Council meetings and saw tub-thumping speeches by activists. But where were they on the picket line where it really mattered?

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education cuts was thrown out. The Executive's attempts to