[David Ford is an AUEW shop steward employed…]

Scan page 14

David Ford is an AUEW shop steward employed as a plant fitter with the Bury Metropolitan Borough. Along with other stew. ards and officials he has been fighting proposed privatisation of the Borough's refuse collection service in a joint action for two years.

dispute would exist.

Last December, the unions' case was taken before the North West Provincial Council, the arbitrators in such cases, who found the unions' case established and expressed the hope that local discussions and consultations would take place.

In the wake of this finding the council was forced to inform firms on the select list not to tender, and establish a joint working party to look into improvements in the service and possible cost savings.

The working party was formed in January. It soon became cleat that the council side wanted to wreck the meeting and force a walk out by the unions. However after several meetings, and fifteen systems had been looked at, the joint working party recommended two systems to the public service committee.

One of these systems was the revolutionary wheeled bin system that could be phased in over three to four years. This would have led to minimal job loss and long term savings of £450,000.

But in February the public services committee considered the joint working party recommendations and decided that they must invite the firms on the select list to re-tender.

Tha unions' action was swift; on the day the full council met to accept the public services committee recommendation over 2,000 staff and manual workers stopped work in a tremendous response to a call from the action committee for a day of action.

This was followed by a 300strong. lobby of the council in the evening.

The joint union action committee now await the special meeting of the public services committee on April 12 which will consider the contractors' tenders.

In the meantime, the action committee have not been idle. We have stepped up our public campaign to bring the issue over to the public by promoting a public meeting with Frank White MP as main speaker.

We have involved the local Labour Group and local Labour Party branches; petitioned the public by going into the town precincts and toured estates and outlying areas in a decorated van asking people to support their local binmen and a much appreciated service.

We feel our fight must continue if we are to stop the carve up of public services.

Please support the fighting fund - donations to Save Bury's Bins Fighting Fund, NALGO office, Town Hall, Bury.

(Unions involved: AUEW, CEIPU, GMBAIU, NALGO, NUPE, TGWU; UCATT).

AND TORTURES Turkey Solidarity Campaign: BM Box 5965, London WC1 3XX. Affiliation fee: national organisafíons f25, district organisations/TCs £10, local organisations/TU branches £5, individuals £3.

Scan page 15

Socialist Organiser April 14 no.127 1983 Page