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Join the picket line: Tam-4.30pm, Frogmore Depot, Dormay St, London SW18.

THE Can't Pay, Won't Pay' campaign was formed in February 1982 to find other methods of fighting for cheap fares if the official Greater London Council campaign was unable to Jan Wallgrave is coordinator of the fares fight in Haringey, and in April 1982 took part in the campaign of refusing to pay the 18 among the several thousand who took by the London Transport Police with fare undercut direct labour was by drastic understaffing. The council employed 35 full-time staff, plus extra summer casuals. Pritchards reckoned they could do the job with nine full-timers plus summer casuals.

Not surprisingly, they couldn't. After an initial penalty-free period, they clocked up £46,000 in fines; as complaints poured in about weed choked flower-beds, knee-high grass, and overgrown verges. Pritchards' response to this attack on their profits was predictable: off-load it on the workforce. They introduced a new piecework scheme which would have brought average wages down to £35/£45 a week, and meant less than £10 a week on some jobs. If the weather was bad, the workers would earn nothing!

Pritchards workers already had to put up with wages £30 a week below what the council paid, appalling work conditions (no protective clothing, no mess or wash facilities), and no contract of employment, so no holiSeptember 17, 10.30am-5pm University of London Union Malet Street, WC1 DESPITE the holiday period, sponsorships, requests for credentials, and inquiries are already coming in for the September 17 'How to Fight the Tories' conference prowhen they started that they would pay for any loss or damage to machines.

They tried to operate the new scheme. After two days it became clear that they would earn nothing. They walked out. All 38 NUPE members have now been on strike for four weeks.

The dispute escalated last week when the dust (employed by Grand Met) held a one-day strike, and whole depot which the Pritchards workers had been picketing was shut down. Fuel deliveries were turned away, and Pritchards strikers held demo outside Pritchards head office.

There has been a simmering dispute with Grand Met since the refuse collection workers won a £9 a week pay award from the Central Arbitration Council to bring them up to council rates. Grand Met decided to finance this by sackings, leaving the remaining workforce to take on 25% more work.

Since many of the dust carts are out for over 8 hours a day anyway, and most are down to a skeleton crew of two, it's hard to A workshop on the shop stewards' movement will discuss varying experienPritchards stewards met the management last Friday, but without positive result.

Meanwhile the Tory leader of Wandsworth council has gone on record as saying that however useless or costly the Pritchards contract turned out, the Tories were not prepared to go back to direct labour. They have put no pressure on Pritchards to settle, indeed they have suspended the fines during the dispute.

'Pritchards workers are keen to extend links with local tenants, both to get the message across about why the grass isn't being cut, and also to get feedback on whether scabs are out. (So far Pritchards have sent their managers from other sections out cutting grass - not very successfully). Local caretakers have agreed to notify the strike committee if they see any scabs working; and trade unionists in the job centres are blacking adverts for Pritchards jobs.

Money and requests for speakers to: Dave Benlow, Junction Resource Centre, Lavender Hill, SW11.

hope, be discussed in all the workshops, but there will also be a special one on women in the labour movement - looking at the fight for women's rights in the Labour Party, the recent victories in the TGWU, and how the battle can be spread to other unions. spread to other unions.

The CND workshop will discuss organising for the Youth CND lobby of Labour Party conference and the big CND demonstration on October 22, but also the politics of. ( CND, and the CND leadership's apparent shift from unilateral disarmament to the 'nuclear freeze' policy.

How should the trade unions respond to the Tory government's new Youth Training Scheme? prevent the fares rise taking place.

the fares increase.

She was one of part to be charged avoidance.

Why are you doing it, Jan? You're all on your own, all your friends seem to have deserted you. Some people would say that your gesture is just a little futile?

I consider it is worthwhile carrying on with this campaign because the battle for London Transport is entering a new and more significant phase with the government's new White Paper which proposes to remove London Transport from local democratic control.

Good, but do you feel, nonetheless, that the Can't Pay, Won't Pay Campaign has been failure? Why was that?

I think it was the inevitable result of the decision of the Law Lords which was seen by many to have been a travesty of justice and a politically "biased judgement by people who are supposed to interpret the law impartially. The Campaign found itself faced with the fact 104. that the trade unions' resistance did not appear to be sufficiently strong and there was no alternative as we saw it but to take 'direct action' Can you tell us what you have ¡achieved by taking this action?

A considerable amount of publicity. It drew the attention of the public to the unbelievable action of the Law Lords in flagrant breach of all that could be seen as reasonable and democratic, i.e. a cheap fares policy that benefitted the majority of Londoners of all ages which was undoubtedly both popular and successful.

What support did you get from the comrades at County Hall for your actions?

We had considerable backing from Dave Wetzel, Chair of the GLC's Transport Committee -and one of the defendants - as well as John McDonnel, chair of the GLC's Finance Committee, together with other Labour councillors and party members who both took part and actively helped us during the campaign itself and during the period of the court cases.

What would you say to those who feel that you would have been better advised to follow • the lead given by the transport The trade unions' action was unfortunately not very effective, and we felt that without further determined action in opposition to the Law Lords decision, resistance would have totally collapsed.

When we look back on the battles of the past to achieve the women's right to vote, or trade union recognition, etc., the law of the land was often broken. The suffragettes were also accused of being frivolous and childish. We feel we are trying to follow in that tradition, the tradition of challenging the law - where and when necessary. What now? What message have you for the London Labour Parties?

Get out and organise support in defence of the democratic control of London Transport, the accountability of local councis, and the policies that the GLO was elected on. The battle for the GLC is only just beginning, sitting around and passing resolutions is not sufficient to defeat the Tories' plan. Action is needed now!

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CONFERENCE September 17

Called by HOW

ent movem a to fight