Tories out to smash ASLEF ALL OUT TO DEFEAT TORIES

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SO it's war on all fronts. Apparently the Tory high command, carried away with its falklands victory, feels able to take on the labour movement at home. It bases this on intelligence reports on the state of readiness of the trade union leadership.

As we go to press, BR management seem certain to issue sacking notices to the striking ASLEF train The aim is to break the back of ASLEF. Drivers will be taken back only if they individually break ranks and accept flexible rostering. -BR doubtless know that this manoeuvre will not succeed if ASLEF stays solid. But they reckon on the ASLEF leaders losing their nerve and opening the way for the union to be humiliated.

At the same time Norman Fowler, Tory Secretary for Health and Social Services, has adamantly restated the government's refusal to increase the miserable 6-72% pay offer to a million workers in the health Next week will see a 3-day action by NHS workers coinciding with an all-out ASLEF stoppage, and probably spilling over into a wave of unprecedented London Transport ASLEF drivers have said they will strike if their BR colleagues are sacked. NUR members on LT have said they will not cross picket lines. Miners and other sections who have supported previous stoppages by NHS workers could well be out again. The Tories could face a wave of simultaneous strike action bigger than anything since the 1920s.

And so they should. The attack on ASLEF is one of the boldest steps yet in a determined Tory drive to break the strength of the unions, drive down living standards and smash up established working conditions at the expense of thousands more jobs. Even now Norman Tebbit is talking of a third anti-union But while the Tory class war cabinet leads its troops of managers into battle, the trade union general staff is cowering in its bunker at Congress As the Tories fire salvoes of threats, ultimatums, lock-outs and legislation, the union leaders fire back with wet lettuces of compromise and attempts at But if the generals of the labour movement won't lead the fight, the ranks are nevertheless coming out of their trenches and advancing against the Tory enemy. Health workers have stood firm against -demoralisation and sell-out "compromises"; ASLEF drivers have responded solidly to the threat to their Miners, too, and other sections of workers have shown their readiness to join battle with the Tories, striking alongside the health workers.

Next week must see the maximum turn-out for the all-out action by the whole workers' movement to defeat the Thatcher government once and for all.

ST

Steve Good (asst. branch sec., Kings ASLEF) told us: I THINK the dispute is g from strength to streng! the moment.

We had 60 pickets in Gillingham the day before yest erday, and 30 or 40 today There were 20 men going in to work there. Now it's between 8 and 10. Yesterday they had to close down the service.

Picketing was very slow when, this dispute started but now it is increasingly effective.

Not much thanks to the union leadership, though. There is a 'Central Strike Committee in London. This committee sees its role, as far as it has been explained to me, as instructing branch es to set up meetings to co ordinate picketing. It doesn't send out or organise pickets.

Kings Cross has had to play a central role in picket ung.

We were down at Vict oria today. Most of the extra coaches are run by non-union drivers, but there are TGWU members too. The story we're getting time and again from the TGWU mem bers is: "I've had no instruct ions from my union"

There is no positive lead being given by • the TGWU officials - though we did get a number of TGWU members today saying that if BR sacked us they'd take action themselves.

We need other sorts of support, too. Money is going to be very important. Al Kings Cross we've had some generous donations. More collections will be needed.

A lot of our members have been going round to local Labour Party meetings and there has been a good response.

If the BRB go ahead with sackings, the dispute can go one of. two ways. ASLEF leadership went into this dispute prepared compromise on flexible rostering - prepared to work an experimental scheme. The threat of sackings could aggravate the weakness at leadership level.

Or the sackings could lead to an escalation.

This will depend very much on what the rest of the trade union movement does.

IAN WILLIAMS (NUR Executive, in personal capacity) SID WEIGHELL's attitude to the ASLEF dispute is, like his attitude on many things completely unreasoning.

We've got two Executive decisions, back in January saying that the ASLEF posi tion was justified. And what we've got now is a threat by the Board that as of July 1 they would impose new working conditions on trade union in the railway industry.

Whether or not the NUR has accepted flexible roster ing, we can't as a union say that the Board has a right to force working conditions or another union. ASLEF had: choice between a strike or capitulation.

My own NUR branch ha advised its members donate the strike pay they received for their two day on strike to ASLEF.

ASLEF face a life death struggle, and if th are defeated, we'll be nex It would be entirely crit of the Labour Party n support them.

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Organıser Weekly paper of the Socialist Organiser Alliance.. No. 93 July 15, 1982 (Claimants and strikers 10p) 25p