Telecom workers must make the right connections !

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round-un includes renorts from the London demonstration.

'. Franco Boye POEU, but we figured we in work in the POEU, out needed to get 100% out of 850.

Derek Knight: The Tories UCW pickets: We're •furargue that the Telecom ious with our national exec. union in the fight against They said, we advise you to Derek Knight: Well, we line, then according to don't know nationally, but them, 'we stand on our However, in Central Perhaps the 'extra parliaHall Westminster Stan mentary action' she meant Orme and Michael Foot got is the Women's Institute, out the speeches made last as the Executive believe it year over the first bill, and was them, and not industrTony Clarke, the deputy made the Tories retreat on general secretary, was the gas industry privatheckled by UCW members isation. THERE WAS strong response last week in Oxford to the one-day strike against privatisation of British Telecom. Though only 9. UCW members defied their Executive's advice and refused to cross CPSA and POEU picket lines at Oxford Exchange, over 70 signed a petition to the General Secretary denouncing the advice as mistaken and supporting the strike.

Pickets on the day spoke of their struggle to Socialist • Why are you taking action today?

POEU picket: Against the privatisation plans, which Labour Research will lose jobs and affect pensions.

In 1969, our pension fund was transferred from the old civil service pension fund with a very large debt. If we go private, any other pension company wouldn't take the liability.

Anyway, we don't know whose hands it ll end up in. Another picket: It'l also destroy trade union rights. We'll just be pawns in the hands of stock market privateers.

Derek Knight, branch secretary and area coordinator, POEU: When profits are the dominant , feature, of course non-profitable parts have to go, lor instance, subscribers in isolated places, like in the country, will have to pay the 'economic rate' for the job.

At the moment BT provide telephones where required at a standard rate, with some rural services costing thousands of pounds for just one line.

We lose £10 million a year on upkeep of kiosks, especially rural kiosks. And the 999 service is obviously loss-making.

Of course, any profit made would not be ploughed back into the business, but paid out to shareholders. That money should be used in the public interest. After all, they paid for it! • Why didn't your unions decide not to take action alongside other sections of the public sector, like water and health workers, on strike this week?

Picket: Well, they said that the health workers had a good enough case on their own, and anyone striking with them should be doing it to support them, not on their own case.

Another picket: You've got to see we haven't taken any major action before in the THE demonstration, rally and lobby against privatisation of British Telecom last week looked very impressive. But on talking to what seemed a large UCW contingent (given the advice from UCW HQ) it transpired that there was a mixture. First of all, the District Organisers and Assistant District Organisers were given 'Special Leave III' to attend the lobby (their day's wages were paid by the union).

They had also stopped at hotels in London the night Secondly, there was a TELEKOMANI RERESE for a day for a start, to show how solid we are.

workforce don't back the privatisation. • What has been the membership response?

in this area we've only two own' UCW union school in progress in Bournemouth that week, and they were bussed down to go on the demonstration. • There were also some there on day off or leave; but last and most importantly, there were those who had obeyed official picket lines.

dusted them off.

The Manpower Services Commission argues that creating 100,000 extra CEP (full-time) jobs would have meant £280 million net additional expenditure per year, whereas CP costs are £185 million net additional expenBRITISHI CABLE& TER -.-. rirer.orf PRIME CUTS CPSA branch officer: got everyone out of 300.

cross the picket line! They're actually doing the government's job for them. If we don't cross the picket who also confronted Kim McKinlay from the UCW Telecoms Executive, shouting, "All this talk about waiting to the next election is useless — we need extraparliamentary action!"

"I agree" , she replied.

'Let's hope you'll be voting for it at the next Executive meeting, then!"

ial action, that actually The CP also provides for Community Programme Agents (ClAs) which will be organisations locally which administer the projects directly themselves as a sponsor, or indirectly via other sponsors.

To be approved by the MSC as a CPA an organisation will have to contract a minimum of 100 unfilled places over two or more projects or a minimum of 500 filled places over five or more projects.

The CPA's job is to make sure that as many povertyline, part-time "jobs" are "created" as possible in line with the trendy new Tory philosophy of "job splitting" - su much a topic of debate in the media these days.

This concept can be best described as "sharing the poverty", , (millionaire Tories not included!)

In response to this cynical attempt to "create" Another UCW picket: Management has sent around a circular saying that if we're dismissed from the union for strikebreaking and crossing the picket line, our jobs will be protected despite the closed shop agreement. What a joke! UCW picket: The management union CMA say to their members: 'work normally, but if you don't cross the picket line you'll get CMA support'. If UCW had come out, and operators struck - with emergency cover - it would have had a far more noticeable effect.

If all the unions in Telecom had taken united action, like they did in the gas industry, we'd be so much stronger.

are you doing about the UCW?

UCW picket: Well, we'll certainly have to sort it out for any future action. We've got a petition to the General Secretary to show we shpport the strike and that we're disgusted we didn't get more of a lead. POEU picket: We've said

we'll give the UCW strikers we'll give the UCW strikers support locally if there's support locally if tł

any comeback from man- anv comeback from agement. It's a fine thing when another union has to come to their support against victimisation!

UCW picket: You'd think the strike had nothing to do with us, but if Telecom goes private, thousands of operators' jobs will be lost.

We're also arguing that we were asked to come out 100% for the ers - which ally because support their we're told to own cause!

What has ieved?

POEU picket: lot ot publicity, making the public aware of our case, to get their support.

U But surely publicity isn't going to change the government's mind? Look at the health workers' case, and the public support that's got.

UCW picket: Yes, they only listen to one thing - when it starts hitting profits. POEU picket: It has shown we've got the backing of the members.

UCW picket: And shown the weak spots, like the UCW leadership! • Where do you think should go from here? Derek Knight: My personal view is that the nationalised industries committee of the TUC ought to be coordinating a national campaign - so all nationalised sections can take action together against privatisation.

We'd stop the country, and they couldn't govern.

We're a very powerful union, one of the most powerful in the country, because we can cut off and affect all the political and financial institutions of the country. For example, in 1978, we joined the campaign for a 35 hour week which was successful when we affected the Stock Exchange. That really hit big finance. Stop one phone call to a European stock exchange, and it could result in a loss of transactions worth millions of pounds. health workwe did locwe really fight - but scab on our today achHopefully a 1l -(Potteries POEU, personal capacity)

POEU members used to consider their jobs secure despite the devastation facing most industries. But now they are raising questions about developing more effective forms of industrial action, such as selective stoppages. (It must be borne in mind that the POEU is historically a very moderate union - the total of stoppages in the last 25 years wouldn't add up to a 40 hour week!)

Members hitherto considered moderate are now talking in terms of action to create maximum inconvenience to places like the Stock Exchange, TV, and other large institutions. The members taking action could be supported financially by other workers who carried on supplying and maintaining telephones for other users.

The day's strike taught us that, even though some members came out reluctantly because of the limiting effect, there was still a great deal of support for the union. There was an underlying militancy beginning to surface.

Support in Scotland for the one day strike against privatisation was solid in every area except one rural area, where 8% of workers went into work.

Mass meetings during the week of the strike were well attended as were meetings held on the day of the strike.

On the following weekend some of the members of the unin went out to shopping centres in their home towns handing out the 'Hands off telephones' Jentek Lemle Coeooe the effect privatisation will have on the telephone service.

In Edinburgh the POEU had a banner on the 'Triple Alliance' demonstration seeing the need for a combined public sector union alliance against the government's attack on the public sector.

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Last Wednesdav POEU. CPSA and SCPS telecom members Last Wednesday POEU, CPSA

BRUTISH GRITISH NATIONA BRITISE GAB AERO BUS AIRWAL

Reg Holdcroft

Ricky Houston