Tax workers revolt
Socialist Organiser1984 1984-01-19Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 3 →
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New issue of. Socialist Student, paper of Socialist THERE are now 420 Inland members under suspension in the West Midlands for refusing to work visual display units.
The action is taking place at 14 pilot offices for the COP (computerisation of Pay-As-You-Earn) project, and involves staff in Dudley, Oswestry, Solihull, Stafford, Telford, Walsall, and Wolverhampton.
A court case brought by the IRSF against the Board of Inland Revenue seeking an injunction to prevent further suspensions was adjourned last week and will be heard in full from Wednesday January 18 The union's case is, briefly, that our members' normal conditions of employment do not include the VDUs.
Behind all this lies the Board's failure to reach a new technology agreement, and in particular to accept a 'no compulsory redunaancies' clause.
The court case itself is without precedent, as it had previously been thought that the Board was exempt from such actions under the 1947 Crown Proceedings Act.
The Board's stance has been most aggressive. When the VDUs were switched on, on January 3, just before the mass meeting which decided on the action. a Happy New Year message was followed on the screen by warnings of the consequences of voting for non-cooperation.
In contrast, the IRSF has tried to keep a low profile. Its tactics have been dominated by the court room activities.
Members were told that they were not taking part in industrial action, and in fact were encouraged to work harder than normal! After the mass meeting, where the vote was three to one for non-cooperation. members were left to their own devices as to whether they took part in the boycott.
There was no attempt even to build a campaign within the offices involved. let alone among the wider membership of the union. member Newssheets, normally plentiful, have been sparse and uninformative, with even members in other West Midlands offices having to rely on the media for news.
IRSF activists must put every possible pressure on general secretary Tony Christopher and the national leadership. We must demand a serious campaign among the membership to build for solidarity action throughout the country Thatcher - "Batting for Britain"
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• INSIDE By a West Midlands IRSF