Stockport: the birth of a test

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Spread the fight. just NGA members from all around, but also TGWU and unemployed from Liverpool, students trom Manchester, and groups from London SOGAT, NUJ, NUPE, the seamen's union, NALGO, ASTMS, EETPU, and others.

NGA branches round the country are organising coaches.

There was also a group from the local ward Labour Party in Warrington - though we're still waiting for the national leaders of the Labour Party, or even of the Labour Left, to come out in support of the NGA on this.

Despite hundreds of police, and a level of violence that left one policeman and two pickets hospitalised, we stopped Shah bringing out his papers at 2am. He got them out only after bam, when a reduced picket line of 150 or so was easily outnumbered by police.

In the last week there have been many arrests on the picket This struggle could be decisive for the Tories' anti-union laws. So far they, and the employers, have been cautious. Instead of the blockbuster approach of the 1971-2 Industrial Relations Act, the Tories have gone for a series of partial measures, and up until recently employers had not used the 1980 Tony Boyie spoke to Social. ist Organiser on the picket line on Wednesday, 23rd.

TUC's Len Murray Prior Act or the 1982 Tebbit Act much.

The Tories' May election victory and the TUC's September decision to talk to the Tories on further anti-union laws - thus implicitly accepting the 1980 and 1982 laws - emboldened employers for an offensive.

The Post Office Engineering Union knuckled under to the court injunction obtained by British Telecom. But the NGA has stood firm.

Shah publishes four freesheets - the Stockport, Bury, like the port shop stewards committee.

We contacted the TGWU 6/541 commercial transport branch, and got an instruction from them to stop any of their members crossing this picket Mobilise We've had tremendous support from the unemployed centres on Merseyside.

Now we're trying to mobilise support nationally by contacting Trades Councils throughout Britain, from the Merseyside Anti-Tebbit Committee.

The Merseyside Anti-Tebbit Committee is now hoping to build links nationally.

It was set up by rank and file shop stewards, some trade union officials, and Liverpool Trades Council, to educate the rank and file and fight the trade union legislation. It was also involved in organising the demonstration in Liverpool on November 19.

Its terms of reference have been widened in the last two weeks to bring in the unemployed centres C bordinating shop agreement with the NGA, but carefully recruited anti-union labour for his new Warrington works.

He has now sacked six NGA members at his Stockport office who took action against the scab printing, and (with the NUJ blacking the work) is running the freesheets as a non-union operation.

In talks at the government arbitration service ACAS, Shab offered (and the NGA leaders accepted) a post-entry closed shop at Warrington. That means that the present scabs would continue, but any new labour would be NGA.

The union refused to settle because Shah would not reinstate the six sacked members.

The 'post entry closed shop' is a dangerous formula, too: it means a non-union operation here and now, and once the NGA has demobilised there's nothing to stop Shah going back on the agreement later.

The central issue now, however, is the right of trade unions to operate as trade unions without being crippled by the law. The Tories and the employers obviously reckon that they won't get a response this time like the mass strike movement that freed the Pentonville Five dockers and crippled the Industrial Relations Act in July 1972. committee and community organisations throughout Merseyside.

As far as blacking is concerned - Shah could be buying paper through another company. As far as we know, his last shipment of paper came through Blyth, in Northumberland. We've contacted the Liverpool port shop stewards' committee, and they're contacting the National Port Shop Stewards Committee with a view to blacking any shipments of paper for this company unless they're approved by the NGA.

On this particular picket line my experience of the police is that they have responded violently when there's been a shortage of bodies on the picket line - and when the police have been outnumbered, they've been very polite.

If we can get at least 1000 to fill this square [outside the printworks] 24 hours a day, there is no way Mr Shah is going to get any materials, papers, or scabs in or out of the factory.

It's not the TUC that is going to do that, it's the rank and file. We think we can keep it up.

the unemployed centres on Merseyside, we've been able to get a great deal of support from the unemployed and trade unionists who recognise the importance of getting a victory for the NGA and the effect that could have on the combativity of the rest of the movement.

It certainly hasn't been a tea party on the picket line, but we refuse to be intimidated by the brutal tactics of the police. We will continue to attempt to prevent the printing of the publications of the Messenger news. paper.

There is a clear danger that the next move by the courts will be, if they consider that we are flouting the law by not paying the fine and continuing the mass picket, a move to the sequestration of the union's funds.

It is therefore vitally important that we do achieve the full support of the trade union movement.

We're asking trade unionists to send resolutions of support to their various NECs and from there to go to the TUC, making it absolutely clear that the rank and file in the movement expect to see the General Council supporting the NGA in their stand.

The TUC has spent four years conducting their campaign 'Hands off our Unions'. , explaining to everyone the implications of the legislation. Having done that, hav ing informed the trade union movement, we now require that they put all their brave words of rhetoric into practice.

«ELLIL This new pamphlet tellis the story of the victimisation of Socialist Organiser supporter Alan Fraser and how the fight to defend him was sold out by the union officials. 25p DIns nnatzoe fram 75 Freemantle Close, Basingstoke.

ICCI OmI

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Let's prove them wrong. gh