Ricky Houston previews POEU conference

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Holding the line • Greenings, Warrington: on strike against moves to abolish the annual wage claim, end negotiated holidays, reduce trade union facilities, and axe 89 jobs. Now facing redundancy notices. Gree inge is a subsidiary of Johnson Firth Brown. Messages/donation N Greening JSSC, c/o Len Blood, 26 St John St, Newton-le-Wil• Firth Derihon, Tingley, Sheffield: another subsidiary of JFB, occupied against redundancies. Messages/donations: Paul Mc• 'Lady at Lord John' ', Liverpool: TGWU picket to demand reinstatement of Audrey White, sacked for complaining against sexual harassment of women workers by the area manager. Messages etc TGWU, Transport House, Islington, Liverpool 3g. • Hodkin and Johes, Sheffield: on strike after being sacked for working to rule against a wage cut. Messages/donations: R.

• Arlington House hostel, Camden: still on strike for better wages and for reinstatement. Donations c/o the Labour Centre, 8 Camden spanning both businesses, the Post Office and BT.

There is also an exceptionally high number of propositions on union democracy to the Special Conference.

The annual conference agenda is dominated by the threat to jobs, but the first issue will be the leadership's proposed pay sell-out - 5% in July, followed by 1%, then 2% in December, for workers in BT, and a similar proposal for postal members.

BT last year made record profits of £450 million, and both BT and the Post Office are making huge profits out of the workforce this year.

There will undoubtedly be a number of emergency propositions on the pay deal, which was made known only on May 20.

The management offensive includes privatisation; driving down real wages; regrading proposals to break down demarcation lines in order that a "rationalised" workforce can carry out a wider range of jobs, including those of their redundant brothers and sisters; area, regional and trunk service reorganisation in order to break down the national organisation and solidarity of the unions; and tying the introduction of new technology to reducing the workforce, not the working week.

The offensive has only been spurred on by the softly, softly, approach of the present leadership. But this is being seriously challenged by the Broad Left and by branches.

Productivity

There are ten propositions calling for a 32 hour, four day week, some realistically calling for industrial action to achieve it. Other propositions call for future productivity payments to be converted into a reduction of the working week and increased annual leave.

North London Internal's proposition on regrading states what the POEU response should be: "that such a structure should represent the interests of POEU members, not the political and commercial interests of BT."

Propositions opposing the effects of reorganisation (and some opposing reorganisation DI