Union lead for jobless

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"DEMONSTRATE LONDO TITANISAT sah SELF DETERMINATION FOR THELR This broadsheet produced by the 6/612 branch of the TGWU in Liverpool, the first and only branch actively organising the unemployed, is a first class initiative in promoting the work of this unique and pioneering branch.

It is being sold on the dole queues thre jughout Merseyside.

The broadsheet arose out of a special branch meeting earlier this year in which the normal routine branch agenda was suspended and the whole time was spent discussing the difficulties and problems of building the branch and recruiting new workers.

A number of subcommittees were set up to promote new recruitment, including a publicity committee which produced this broadsheet. Such meetings are to be held regularly.

In the front page article an important point is made concerning the advantages of the unemployed joining the established trade union movement which ought to be noted by the organised unemployed groups in other parts of the country:

'For us, divided we've lost - united and organised we've a lot to win. 3,000 people after one job, we're onto a loser. 3,000 people outside Steers House DHSS ... More important, united with those who still have jobs [for the moment] in a union like the T&G, we've got the chance of using that muscle on our behalf.

Inside the broadsheet, there is an attractively laidout analysis of the littleknown Rayner Report on 'Payments of Benefits to the U'nemployed". It succinctly exposes the dangers for the unemployed. especially for women and blacks.

availability testing a=d ethnic monitoring .

TLe s. edsheer is =. imac a urn awards will zsin Let ces ptupe It can be obtained from 6/61? branch c/o Transport House. Islington, Liverpool 3 put themselves in the position of facing individual surcharges or worse.

With emotive warnings of "a Clay Cross' situation being thrown at us we quickly realised that it would indeed be a case of cloud cuckoo land to expéct this Labour Council to defend the interests of its working class electorate.

A Borough-wide ballot on strike action was organised three weeks into the new term and the results showed over 80% of teachers in the NUT were prepared to take such action in defence of education.

A large proportion of the threatened jobs were in fact redundancies - termination of permanent contracts. A General Meeting decided that the non-reappointment of teachers currently on temporary contracts (except for those covering maternity leave, of course) should also be regarded as redundancy, since those jobs were, in effect. permanent posts in the schools concerned, and their disappearance would seriously affect the curriculum.

We were told by the General Secretary, Fred Janis. that even if redundaner had not been threatened he her cate or the cur would have merited crie action as the best means of fighting them.

So we ali went on strike, and began to picket the tions (£5 each) due to the different levels of strike pay, and appreciated the support.

But other unions' members kept telling us why they "had to cross" our lines; we were not impressed, especially when they were from the school dinners or local works departments, both of which are being cut "even more" severely than we were!

The local AUEW lent us some offices; donations poured in; and all the local and surrounding Labour Party wards and Constituency Parties sent us messages of support.

After a couple of marches through Barking and Dagenham, supported by some 7,000 people. - despite the NUT Executive refusing to sanction a national half-day strike in our support - the Council asked us to meet them.

The first meetings were unproductive, since they offered us 30 jobs!, muttered about ACAS, and kept reiterating their goodwill in the face of governmen! cutbacks which they "ere "pomerless to resist"

Vatomal Erccatme mem ses Mat come io General Meetings every eek. But despite our demands not all members were brought out - a few were in a minority includes the 80 jobs lost at the beginning of this school year.

The Executive have now ordered us to cease all action which means that those jobs fall by default, since they were not included in the remit of those negotiating on this round of cuts (19821983) - the 159 jobs due to disappear over September 1982 and Easter 1983.

The strike did not cover these jobs; the action around them was no-cover action, as • stated above. The Union Commiftee have recommended a re-ballot.

But in 3 weeks, no-cover action will cease to have much effect since examinations start and many fifth years leave school.

It is unlikely that the results of a ballot will be known before then.

150 jobs lost Finally, the head of the Council's Finance Committee, Councillor Booker, was quoted in the local newspaper (Barking and Dagenham Post) last week as saying that despite the agreements reached to end the strike he believed that 150 jobs would be lost before the end of this year.

If this proves to be the case, then the Borough's NUT (and maybe that time the NAS's National Executive would listen to their members) could well be, in the news again.

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