Betting shop victory

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SEVEN full-time workers employ- picket lines were also supported ed by Racing Services Ltd, a chain by unemployed trade unionists, of seven Liverpool betting shops, mainly members of the TGWU picketed their shops in protest at 6/612 branch and from local management's refusal to pay extra unemployed centres.

Management had consistently of one week without pay and refused to recognise the TGWU, shop steward Andy Jameson to which all seven belong. The was suspended for a fortnight. money for extra work involved on By the Monday all workers National day. had been suspended for a period The dispute was soon made into an official strike with the owner, Vincent McNally, refusing to meet with the union and taking on part-timers to cover.

By the Friday, all seven shops were being successfully picketed with good support from most of the punters.

McNally had sent out letters to all the strikers asking them to report back to work as normal, and they would receive a final, written warning. By this time McNally was losing a lot of money and this was when he played his best card by serving, through his solicitor, injunctions against the seven strikers and the TGWU to stop them picketing his shops.

This greatly confused ourselves and the police as nobody was sure that MeNally was using Tebbit's law or if the police had the power of arrest. The police just took our names, asked us to keep the numbers down and went away.

However, later on the following Saturday, McNally agreed to meet with the union and on Tuesday night the strike was won with union recognition, rates of pay and withdrawal of the injunctions and linal warnings all agreed to.

There also be further negotiatio SI working condi1ions.

This victory was important not only because the management was anti-trade union but also because six of the seven strikers are women and all of them have had little experience of working in the trade union movement.

Because of the excellent solidarity shown by the unemployed, they were prepared to fight for their rights in a traditionally poorly-organised area of work.

They, and their supporters who: mounted the picket lines were prepared to go to jail if necessary, knowing that they had good support from the local union leadership.

So what are the lessons?

We have seen some of the most militant strength of the working class come from the most poorly organised and this has been untapped bythe traditional workers movement.

Legislation against secondary picketing will be used fully to the advantage of big and small employers alike, especially where trade union resistance is thought to be weak.

Finally, that the unemployed and the employed can unite successfully around the strike. The unemployed played a full part in the strike committee and without their physical presence on the picket line as secondary pickets, the strikers could not have covered all the shops. was to sack the whole workforce and bring in scabs.

The TGWU made the