on eartil.
Early on the conference continued its 87-year long tradition of hypocricy on the subject of women's rights (see page 9). After this the "debate' on the £6 limit-if it can be called a debate. in moving the policy of which he is the architect, Jack Jones had the nerve to use the big stick of unemployment to gain acceptance. But the £6 limit is adding to unemployment, by cutting the real value of workers wages, lowering demand, and so causing cut-backs in output.
In fact this was quite clearly pointed out in a 5,000 word policy statement issued by the National Union of Public Employees just before the Conference. But with the the traditional two-faced attitude of of the union bureaucracy, NUPE been cleared of all charges.
offensive weapon' against one of the pickets was dropped.
So he was being tried again this week.
men's Club.
defence of all pickets.
upon-Tyne 5 (Tel. 0632 32365).
SCARGILL SPEAKS The latest issue of New Left Review contains.an important interview with Arthur Scargill, Yorkshire miners' leader. The interview, which was given before the latest Healev measures, goes into Scargill's background and his attitude towards politics, trade unionism and trade union democracy, Labour Government, etc. It shows the political strenaths and weaknesses of Scargill, and indicates some of the factors which went to make up nis political tormation Other important material in tnis issue of NLR includes a key and comprehensive study of the role of state expenditure, by lan Gough; a study of the Yenan literary opposition to Mao, by Greg Benton; and Lucian Goldman's *Marxism and Literary Criticism'. Price As the curtain came down on the 107tn performance of the annual Trades Union Congress at Blackpool Opera House last Friday, tumutuous applause from the capitalist press rang out for the undoubted star of the show, Jack Jones of the Transport and General Workers Union. Tears of gratitude in their eyes, many hacks are already hoping that the one year run of the 'f6 limit' can be extended into another "Mousetrap'. With 1¼ million registered 'extras' available, critics claimed that - but for the show-stopping intrusion of pickets demanding the release of Des Warren before the clock strikes midnight - this one could replace the Blackpool Christmas pantomine as the tamest show general secretary Alan Fisher, promptly turned round after the debate and said his union would accept the the pay curb: We have always takfarce came the grotesque spectacle of en the view that decisions made in Congress are binding."
It was in the wake of the discussion on the £6 limit that Len Murray raised the question of a new national industrial plan. But rather than proposing a socialist plan to end the anarchy of capitalism, all Murray wants is more class-collaboration between the unions, the bosses and the Government in an effort to keep capitalism going for a little bit longer. This was clearly demonstrated when Jack Jones succeeded in getting conference to reject a motion from all three railway unions calling for an integrated transport policy and the nationalisation The campaign to defend the 10 scaffolders arrested at McAlpine's Eldon Square site in Newcastle has so far made considerable gains. All but two of the pickets have now The judge ordered the jury to find all ten defendants not guilty of the charge of 'threatening behaviour', and the charge of possessing an i However, two of the men still face charges of assaulting the police. One of them Robert Henderson, has already been tried once but the jury failed to reach a verdict.
There can therefore be no let-up in the defence campaign. The scaffolders are still organising daily pickets of the court and there is to be a public meeting in defence of the pickets on Thursday 11 September at 8pm in the Newcastle WorkingThe Tyneside Trades Unions *Eldon Square Pickets' Defence Committee has organised meetings in local factories for the pickets to speak at and has also made contact with the pickets arrested at Cammell Laird in Birkennead and me demonstrators arrested for picketing the National Front meeting in Glasgow. Such moves are extremely important and show a way forward for building a national campaign for the All donations and messages should be sent to E.Brady, 86 Benwell Lane, Newcastle — Red Books News !TRADE UNIONS & INFLATION Do Trade Unions Cause Inflation has been re issued witn a new bretace dy Cambridge. The answer which the authors - Jackson, Turner and Wilkinson - give is a very qualified 'yes', but only to the extent that they nave to cetend their members interests because of other factors. This effectively destrovs the common bourgeois argument that the cause of the huge inflation rate in recent years has been trade The book's wealth of argumentation and statistics can be extremely useful for people engaged in propaganda work on this question. becomes obvious: the Healey measures are reaiiy concerned with increasing the rate of exploitation and, therefore, of all forms of transport.
strategy the remaining lefts' are powerless. Unable to offer a coherabout "free collective bargaining Tribune (5 September) tries to blur over the defeat suffered by the working class at the TUC by claiming that many aspects of the resolutions for and against the £6 limit were similar.
In the face of Jones' and Murrays' ent anti-capitalist strategy, they were were reduced to mouthing banalities But the £6 limit itself police the pay laws. is the cornerstone of the Wilson Government's pro-capitalist policies, and so long as it exists the trade unions will be fighting the other aspects of Wilson's policies with one hand tied behind their backs.
Murray and Jones can go on talking about public works and selective import controls and opposing cuts in public expenditure, but Wilson knows that he has all the trump cards while the unions continue to cent' on the figure for a year before - would flock into revolutionary organisations unless the Government got them jobs! ALL-TIME LOW An all-time low was reached by Bill Sirs, general secretary of the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation. At a time when the British Steel Corporation is seeking 20,000 redundancies, Sirs said he accepted that the BSC had the statutory right to run the industry. All his union wanted was more consultation ab out how to carry out the cuts! It was hardly surprising that British Leyland chose Blackpool to announce to the unions in the car industry that another 20,000 to 30,000 jobs must go over the next NEW STRUGGLES All in all, it was a deeply satisfying week for Harold Wilson and his capitalist backers. The union block votes will now guarantee acceptance of his policies at the forthcoming Labour Party Conference. But with the economic crisis deepening, work ing class discontent will grow - and then the curtains will rise on new scenes of struggle James Drake