Sit-in Call

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WHEN A General Election is called, political groups The Tories go to big business, the Labour Party anions. and presumably the SDP and Liberals turn Socialist Organiser won't be mounting the same scale of eler Dion campaign, but with the whole country talking politics, maintaining a socialist weekly paper is vital.

So far this month our fund has been limping along. £25.25 last week was followed by an even more dismal £22.50 this seek. Total for May so tar: £47.75 - when we should have har DELEGATES from every shipyard in British Shipbuilders have called for the occupation of each yard unless management withdraw their threat of 9,000 redundancies.

The meeting, on May 4, had been lobbied by workers from Tyneside, Merseyside, and various yards in Scotland.

According to the report given to the meeting by the Confed. Shipbuilding Negotiating Committee (SNC) any change in plan by British Shipbuilders is very unlikely, and the Chair of BS, Robert Atkinson, has said that double the number of redundancies may be needed by the end of 1984 if no more sizeable orders are gained.

The recommendations have now got to go back to mass meetings in every yard, for their reaccons, and it seems likely it will zain support: only seven delefates voted against the call for occupations.

One problem with the proposed action will be the call for he wage claim to 'lay on the able' while the fight against -edundancies is carried out. The fact that we are rejecting BS's =2350nS for imposing should also mean that we reject BS's reasons for proposing a wage freeze. The fight for a secure job goes hand in hand with the fight For a decent wage, and both issues should be the basis for the occupations. It is no more morally justified to fight for a job with a their supporters for funds.

TOD.

1:00.

So now we're turning to you! A £5 mitz a cheque toda. tomorrow visit dem for mariations.

STE IT 2S IT FO LanDIA 27 This Is pre lousy wage than it is to fight for job with a decent wage.

The SNC was due to meet BS sometime this week - although it is rumoured that the meeting has been postponed. Most yards will have their mass meetings by the end of the week: that is when we will know whether the fight is on or not.

I appeal to everyone reading this article to go out and campaign for the maximum support for this strike. The mood in the yards is not one of 'the sooner ND turns to the somewhere donation from just 100 £500. and £5 isn't much SO readert and ask the Trezsurer. 214 Sickert Cours. we can take the Tory government on the better' , but it is one which says 'what alternative have we got apart from the dole?' Occupations on an industry-wide basis have not been carried TO SAY that the Association of Technical Scientific and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS) conference last weekend was stage-managed by the leadership would give too much credit to the intelligence of the National Executive Committee.

But as the entire structure of the union is • stacked in their favour, it is very difficult for anyone else (i.e. the membership) to have much effect.

In spite of the "stifling atmosphere (both political and physical), on a few issues conference went against the NEC recommendation. On the first morning, a procedural struggle by the left to get the Labour Party witch-hunt onto the agenda lost, but narrowly. The next item was a motion on women in the Labour Party, calling for five motions from the national conference of Labour Women to be automatically on the Labour Party conference agenda, the Labour Party NEC women's section to be elected by the women's conterence, and at east one woman to be included on each parliamentary shortlist.

East End Offset

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