Oil rig battle

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Edmund Baluka was recently jailed for five years by the Polish Stalinist regime. They have offered to release him if he is prepared to leave the country, which he will not do. Get yourunion to send a protest to the Polish Embassy in London, demanding his release. HIM GAOI It is thought that the action against Mercury's backers will spread outside of London in the near future.

POEU members at Covent Garden telephone exchange are still on strike following BT's management's interconnection of some Mercury lines with the BT network. The strike was called in retaliation against BT management's scabbing.

The industrial action levy has been suspended by the NEC after ten weeks and will aimost certainly remain so until the POU special conference on privatisation in September.

One drawback in the fight is that no industrial action has been called since the June Annual Conference, aimed against the Privatisation Bill itself.

The June Conference called for an immediate campaign of industrial action if the Tories were re elected pledged to privatise BT, but it is highly unlikely that any industrial action specifically against the Bill will now be called until after the Special Conference.

Because of this the size and scope of the blacking action against Mercury's backers by the time of the special conference will be crucial to the outcome of the conference. Also important is the result of the POEU's proposition to the TUC conference calling for the formation of a public sector alliance. HIGHLY picketing, seen since Tory ant grabbed t strike in Scotland.

Up to 1,000 time have twice numbered successful mass of a type rarely the introduction of i-union laws, has he headlines for a the far north of pickets at a already outoutwitted police and would-be scabs, 111.. - - 1. -and given a boost to an already powerful struggle.

The strike began on 11 August when workers (members of the AUEW, GMBATU and EETPU) returned from their holidays to find a management-imposed deterioration in their working conditions: shelters to protect welders from excessive heat had been withdrawn, shower facilities were restricted, and the free fruit juice had also been axed.

Only shortly before this, the number of office staff had been cut by 20% (250 men and women), severance pay had been cut by 50% and travel allowances for the workers had also been axed, leading to a £20 a week cut in wages.

Such attacks represented an obvious attempt to make the workforce pay the price for Highland Fabricators' flagging fortunes — last year alone they lost £10 millions.

But the attacks ed due to the ruthlessness of ment at the yard. Priorao his arrival in August, the workers were being praised for their performance.

But, no sooner had he arrived than management's line changed drastically. The workers were suddenly accused of low productivity, inefficiency and absenteeism, which provided the "justification' for the latest deterioration in working conditions.

The workforce responded to management's attacks with immediate strike action. Just a week later they were all sacked. Management then sent letters to "selected individuals" inviting them to re-apply for a job. About 1,600 of the strikers received such letters. Such a manoeuvre allowed management to root out all militants and potential militants, as well as to reduce the workforce by 400 without paying out any redundancy payments.

The "selected individuals" were invited to turn up to job centres or specially hired halls to hear the conditions upon which they were being offered their jobs back. Such conditions turned out to involve both a deterioration in working conditions and a cut in wages in real terms.

Picketing of the job centres and halls as far south as Middlesbrough was organised by the strikers, but only a fraction of the 1,600 bothered to turn up to such interviews and even. fewer were prepared to accept management's conditions.

The conflict at Nigg has strong overtones of the strike at Hunterston oil rig yard three years ago, when management got away with sacking several hundred workers who had gone on unofficial strike over management-imposed deterioration in working conditions.

A similar outcome at Highland Fabricators should be avoided at all costs. The strike must be declared official and all possible support given to the strikers to defeat management's savage attacks on their jobs and working conditions.

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Nottingham NG7 2DS. £5 for individuals, or for affiliated organisations, per 1000 members; £2 low-waged individuals, £1 unwaged.

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other than at our expense. ever hope to achieve depends - If the leaders won't lead, or We have no alternative but to the right to independence from surrender - or to fight back. the bosses' state, the right to fight, or even stand their ground The Tories cannot be bought off - then the rank and file must with concessions in the spirit of All the signs are that the elec- hands. That's why Socialist take matters into their own the misguided and tragic lead- tion of June 9 did the seeming Organiser is sponsoring the ers of the Warsaw ghetto. impossible. Like the beer that 'How to Fight the Tories' con-

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