NUJ puts down a marker

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THE battle between at least part of the trade union movement and the government over anti-union laws reached red-alert this week.

The battle was called off at the last minute when ten journalists at the Stockport Messenger refused to obey an instruction from their own union.

The instruction - from the National Executive Committee of the National Union of Journalists - was to carry on supporting a strike _by the NGA and thus defy a High Court injunction.

Despite the backdown by the chapel, the NUJ has put down an important marker in the fight against the Tebbit laws and set an example to the trade union movement. The most relieved people in the labour movement were the TUC leadership.

An NUJ appeal to the TUC for support was to be considered. this week by the Employment and Organisation Committee, the very body now responsible for opening talks with Tebbit.

As reported in last week's Socialist Organiser, Manchester High Court issued an interim injunction against the union under the 1982 Employment Act, in favour of the owner of the Messenger group, Mr. Selim Shah.

The injunction. showed the laws in all their barbarity. Journalists on the Stockport Messenger were taking the most simple forn of solidarity action: refusing to break a strike by another union.

There is nothing secondary about such support except in the twisted logic of Tory legislation, which seeks to reduce each union to an isolated rump of atomised individuals.

The Tebbit laws compel those who obey them to break strikes. They compel TGWU members to bresk strikes by AUFW members in the same factory. clerical workers to break blue collar strikes, industrial workers to scab on office workers. They turn the word union inside out and the word solidarity into inpenctrable Polish, incapable of translation.

As it prepared to fight, the NUJ took soundings at the Trade Union Congress. It was immediately made clear to them that the General Council would not support any motion brought onto the conference floor.

Worse, the TUC passed a resolution which spelled out in advance that the NUJ and other unions would fight alone.

Congress empowered the General Council to give financial support to unions attacked under Tebbit's laws, if and only if the General Council had first given permission to defy the courts.

In the weck following the TUC, the NUJ again came under pressure to back down but Bill Keys of SOGAT 83 and . Tony Dubbins of the NGA both promised some form of support.

In the light of this pressure, the NUJ Executive last Saturday took a historic decision to fight. An ill-day meeting voted 11-7 to defy the courts and turn to the whole trade union movement for support. The Exceutive also said that it was prepared to reconvene the NUJ conference in its defence.

It was a battle with some unlikely heroes. The left could not have won alone. But general secretary Ken Ashton and Scottish Executive member Harry Conroy both urged defiance and swung the centre-right to support a resolution from Provincial Newspapers representative Bob Keogh and Book member Simon Collins.

A right wing resolution from Fleet Street and TV was defeated. Typically it linked pious expressions of support for solidarity action to a clear cali to climb down.

The Stockport chapel had challenged the Executive to reissue its instruction and show it was scrious about defending the union. But after deciding to comply with the instruction, the chapel caved in under pressure from the employer.

The Stockport chapel gave as its excusé for backing off exactly the reasons for fighting.. FoC Simon Howarth said "We were ten journalists supporting eight members of the National Graphical Association but as a result our whole union faced bankruptcy."

The chapel's decision is not so important as the Executive's decision to fight. The NUJ has put down the marker. Which union will pick it up?

The way in which a small dispute blew into a test case against the Tebbit laws on secondary action shows that the law is bound to be put to the test soon. 214 Sickert London

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SEL OFFENCE NEWHAM