Fighting for union democracy No democracy in Britain's biggest union

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Pondering how to cust 1.75 million votes - TGWU chairman Stan Pemberton and (unelected) National Organiser THE retirement of TGWU Jones brought an end to a long line of totally dominant General Secretaries who had exercised rigid political control over the country's biggest union.

But the election - and then the prolonged illness — of Moss Evans, and the present confusion among national officials has by no means ended the undemocratic practices and structures upon which the previous five General Secretaries, Ernest Bevin, Arthur Deakin, Arthur Tiffin, Frank Cousins, •and Jones - based thr 1selves.

ed under Evans for a while towards a more leftist stance support for Labour Party Democracy; support for unilateral disarmament; and even a Ron Todd flurry of official strike action by Ford workers and had a democratic structure. lorry drivers - the power It is a vast union with nearof decision-making remain- ly 2 million members in ed in the hands of a small 16 different trade groups group of unelected full- and 11 Regions, making it time officials. And when more like the TUC than an these officials recognised individual union. Some of that their show of leftism the Regions are like large was creating real dangers unions themselves. of mass action against The London Region has the Thatcher government, half a million members, and their calls for Labour and the Midlands Region 5 democracy were finding an has 350,000. echo in calls for democracy in the TGWU, they immed- is kept divided by a rule iately began to back-pedal..

Abuse officials, thus cutting off Indeed it is ironic that the union which cast million votes in favour of the Labour Party's demo- things. cratic reforms maintains an army of full-time officials who are neither elected nor accountable nor recallable by the members they are supposed to represent.

So far is the TGWU from democracy within its own ranks that it is even incapable of conducting a simple democratic procedure of deciding how to cast the block vote - while ees.

its own internal ballot arrangements stand wide open to abuse.

The TGWU has never the wishes or demands of the rank and file. Most committees meet only once a quarter. Their agendas are drawn up by the officials. Control of information, the apparatus, finance and the ability to draw in gullible or opportunist lay members through patronage gives each layer of officials plenty of scope to maintain control.

But the union's strength This machinery is available for use against rank book designed to perper- and file members who seruate the power and influ- iously challenge the existence of a vast network of ing leadership.

In Cowley in 1977 nine any real way through which stewards from the newly the members can express elected left-wing leadership themselves or change at BL's Assembly Plant -including Convenor Bob Ask a TGWU official Fryer and Deputy Conabout this and he (it is venor Alan Thornett 99.5% certain it will be were hauled up on fictitious a he!) will tell you that the charges before kangaroo General Secretary - elec- court 'hearings' at District ted for life - and the plat- and Regional level with offoons of national officers, icials calling for their expulsion - with the conional officers and district regional secretaries, reg- sequent loss of their jobs -officials are responsible to or banning from office. and controlled by the lay each stage entirely of right- The jury' consisted at members on their respect- wing opponents of the accuive constitutional committ- sed. Only the readiness of the membership in the AssIn reality it is plain to embly Plant to defend their see that the full-time offic- own stewards and the wideials effectively run the spread support for the union with little regard to 'Cowley 9' among TGWU activists around the country halted this bureaucratic purge.

Lest any militant believe that to change this state of affairs it is sufficient to elect a left wing General Executive Council or Regional Committee, it is important to note the way the TGWU rules also provide for ballot rigging.

There are two methods of election in the union. One is the so-called 'secret ballot', the other is an electoral conference where a handful of people decide on Committee members without reference to the membership.

650 or so delegates are elected this way onto lay committees in the union.

Barred

The 'secret ballot' means, in numerous instances that ballot papers -unmarked and unnumbered - are sent in bundles to TWO BRANCH officials of Branch Secretaries. It is then up to the Secretary concerned how - or whether - to carry through the ballot. All that has to be returned to head office is a return sheet with the totals of votes cast! There is no counting at Region of either used or unused ballot papers.

'Block voting' The obvious looseness of the system is often taken within the TGWU as effective sanctioning of what is euphemistically called 'block voting' - a practice specifically barred under rule. Even the coy use of the term block voting' , instead of the more obvious term 'ballot rigging' conceals the fact that it means a branch secretary perpetrating fraud, by casting the votes of his members.

In one scandal four years ago, Midlands Regional officer Alan Law was shown general secretary Bryan Stanley stated that the NEC had enlisted the advice of the Electoral Reform Society, and that under the rules it would not be adequate to advertise that ballot papers were available from a certain point, e.g. a branch meeting.

This totally contradicted SOC42. Instead, branch officers were charged with the responsibility of distributing ballot papers along with reply-paid envelopes to all branch members.

The Potteries branch officials have been suspended under Rule: 16 paragraph I subsections (i) and (ii) on the grounds that they failed to carry out the instructions of the NEC by not distributing the ballot papers and deciding on a branch ballot as recommended in SOC42. Harry Sloan looks at the problems in the struggle fo new leadership in the Tran port and General Workers' Union to have personally cast to have personally cast all 13,000 votes allocated 13,000 votes allocated to the giant 5/35 branch, of the giant 5/35 branch, which he was secretary, which he was secreta for the candidates of for the candidates of his own choice.

To excuse himself, he argued that he 'had not had time" to organise a ballot - and would do the same again.

On another occasion in Cowley members of a large car industry branch were able to prove that while only 255 members had voted, the branch secretary had returned about 6,000 votes in favour of the candidates he supported. block voting, Denalty for "block when it 1s discovered is the disqualification of the branch vote!

In any event, such ballots offer A LATE improvement the pay offer to 15,000 ha age drivers in the Sor East brought the lifting a strike call for January 2 The drivers - in 1 South East region - I threatened an all-out str if employers did not ra their 4.9 per cent offer.

In the event the Rc Haulage Association neg iators came forward Thursday with an offer £87 for 40 hours - 7.: increase which i accepted.

Welsh drivers have n rejected their £85 regio offer and are threaten strike action unless they £87. But even the So East deal falls well bel inflation and represent cut in living standards yet another powerful &1 ion of workers.