Working alliance?

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massive speed-up imposed on parts of Cowley since then reflects it; the Stockpo," Messenger injunction reflected it very clearly; the current situation in the Post Office and BT reflects it even more, both through the victimisation of a leading postal worker militant in Basingstoke for alleged THE NEW Triple Alliance pamphlet, 'Coal, Rail and Steel: Fighting for the future', launched at the Labour Party conference, did manage to include in its 9-point programme supporting industrial action if any of the industries were threatened.

But the Yorkshire Triple Alliance - conference in Barnsley on September October 15 showed that we will have none of that if the bureaucrats get their way.

Only two motions were allowed, both of them fixed weeks previously by a meeting of full-timers and both of them designed to make the Triple Alliance a body which merely collects relevant information and publishes it so as to 'convince the public' of the need for the three basic industries.

As Yorkshire mineworkers' president Jack Taylor said at the beginning of the October 15 conference, "This is not a conference calling for industrial action, but looking for consensus... We are providing what we believe is an asset to our nation and to our people"

And Sandy Feather of the steel union ISTC offered us this ray of hope, "George Younger is the favourite candidate for Parkinson's job at the Department of Trade and Industry. He was part of the Triple Alliance in Scotland. Let's hope he fights for Ravenscraig in that job" With that perspective, what do we hope for now that Tebbit's got the job?

From the floor, however, the tone was different. 'We've tried all the other ideas but strike action". "Getting the point over to the membership is more important than getting it across to the public"

'Two years ago in this room we talked about getting it down to the grassroots - we're still talking about it". 'Either we take on the Tories and strike, or we pack up the Triple Alliance" "We need pamphlets, leaflets, communication, rank and file organisation and a national conference"

An executive was agreed. The platform originally wanted it to be made up of just one full-timer from each of the seven unions, but under pressure they agreed that it could also include one Lay delegate from each union.

These union bureaucrats have sat on the Triple Alliance long enough, and left to themselves they will continue to do so, occasionally putting out a statement but doing nothing to defend our jobs and industries.

Every way of putting pressure on them must be applied, and every avenue sought to : find ways of linking up the activists in the various industries and unions, to exchange information and build up organisation.

Only then can we begin to resist closures and job losses and build a Triple Alliance that means an alliance for action rather than a means of trying to persuade the Tories.