[TO FIGHT TEDDIO LAME ... and at GKN…]
Socialist Organiser1983 1983-09-08Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 14 →
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TO FIGHT TEDDIO LAME
... and at GKN.. OLDHAM council for racial equality has produced a report on passport checking and Surveillance of black people by government offices.
The major point to come out of it is that DHSS staff in particular are being used as Immigration Police.
Surveys conducted by the C.R.E. in 1981 and 1983 show that there is widespread checking of the passports of black people mainly by government employees dealing with benefits.
Passports are usually asked for deceptively - for instance by saying that they are to 'check identity', , when they are really for Internal Immigration surveillance.
Passport checks are also known to occur in education authorities, hospitals and local authorities. Oldham CRE are calling for a campaign based on long and short term demands including; bUT THE 8-week strike at GKN Pistons in Northampton recently ended in success for the workers.
Management had started by insisting on a 7% wage cut. They ended by offering a 5% rise.
The reasons for the victory were probably the widespread local support for the dispute, and the promise of supporting industrial action from the sister GKN plant at Kings Lynn and blacking of GKN products elsewhere.
The strike committee wanted to continue the strike while the management were on the ropes in order to force concessions on new stewards, health and safety reps, and a new bonus scheme. But full-time union officials said the branch.
Post Office management have recognised his effectiveness in their own way, by running a longterm campaign to sack him, including a failed attempt based on the forging of his signature on absence sheets.
Picketing of the head Post Office has been heavy, resulting in a retreat by police. On Monday morning they half-heartedly tried to enforce the 'six pickets' rule, but abandoned the attempt when faced with the prospect of having to physically move a dense mass of pickets.
On that morning, a strongly attended mass meeting of the Postal section voted unanimously AQUESTION the strike committee was out of order. The original failure to agree was over money only, and that was that.
This attitude of " playing to Queensbury - or EEF - rules, is typical of the trade union bureaucracy, and could allow the management to hit back after a breather. However, the workers are now aware of their own strength and have set an example to others locally and nationally.
The support committee will now seek to publicise the lessons of this dispute, and to help GKN workers if the takeover of AE Engineering by GKN leads to threats of job losses.
ng to continue the action in favour of reinstatement. A strike bulietin has been established, and outside support, in the form of letters, money and delegations to the picket line is flowing well.
During Monday, delegations wére received from G&M Hospital workers, Young Socialists, Labour Councillors, and NGA members. Delegations from Trades Council, Labour Party, and more health service workers are planned for Tuesday.
high, tral picket in the a sers is impression of determination; and, as the first issue of the strike bulletin says, 'anything short of full reinstatement is ptotally unacceptable' Published by Socialist Forum for Southern Africa Solidarity.
Available (at 90p plus 20p post) c/o SO London N8. 90p Bob Fine
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