Building the Labour Party, howwith and promote those campaigns Bill.
ARRESTS It is in this sense that the A.E.S. hospital open or oppose the racist The real test before the left in the at the Brixton Unemployment Office last month. Union activists, Phil Cordell and Richard Cleverley - sacked some time before for 'excessive' union work - were re-instated by the Civil Service Board of Appeal.
While the Board agreed to transfer them to another office and refused to pay them for the time they were sacked, this was clearly a back-down on the part of the Civil Service. The importance of the Cordell/ Cleverley affair, however, was not just the fight-back against victimisation of union militants. It also clearly developed into a trial of strength between pickets and police trying to enforce the type of proposals contained in Prior's new Employment At first, the police placed no restrictions on pickets turning up to defend Cordell's rights. Gradually, however, they became more intimout! They began restricting the number of pickets to two per gate, forcing others back onto a strip of wasteland opposite the UBO. When, on August 12th, a delegation of 12 -including 2 Labour MPs, Reg Race and Stuart Holland - went to speak to the police chief, a CPSA official was promptly arrested.
The surge forward of the crowd opposite in protest was met with gross police brutality as 17 pickets were arrested and placed on charges of 'obstruction'. The police action - which received a lot of publicity -is a clear foretaste of what we can expect when the Prior Bill goes through.
UNION LEADERS What has been the attitude of the CPSA leaders? They were instructed by conference to take a clear lead in defence of Cordell and Cleverley. Instead of implementing conterence decisions, however, and backing up members victimised for union activity, Thomas and others joined in the witch-hunt.
Spending most of his time denouncing Cordell for his political affiliations, Thomas actually went so far as to tell MPs Reg Race and Stuart Holland, who backed the picket line, to keep their noses It was clear that Cordell and Cleverley's re-instatement was not won with any help from the leaders of the union. And this is the danger If they were firm in their oppos ition to Prior's Bill, they could kick it out tomorrow. It is because some see it as a useful tool for disciplining their own militants that it is such a threat.