keeps British finance of than willing to pull the plugs.
elect a official per cent. So we the wage claim Branch secretary, Horsham POEU THE City of London must be dreading 4 August. On that day the Post Office Engineering Union is due to start industrial action in support of its pay claim. The first to be hit will be the parasites of Telephone engineers run the telecommunications system that capital running. telephones, computer-links, all run through the Post Office and the members of London City branch of the POEU will be more That's exactly what they did in 1978 during the fight for a shorter working week. The action was so effective that a delegation of bankers and stockbrokers went scurrying to Downing Street to plead with Callaghan to get the dispute settled.
Since 1978 we have all learnt a lot of lessons about how to run an effective dispute in telecoms, and we're under no illusions about how tough a fight we're in for. We know that the Tory government is out to impose a wage freeze in the public sector. That's why we've been offered 15 per cent and the nurses only 14 know that we're taking on Thatcher. All the experience of '78 will be needed to help us win.
We also know that our executive, or at least its right-wing majority, has no intention of mounting a serious fight. It opposed - 30 per cent plus 7 per cent bonus — at the union annual conference. They were defeated by the militant branches from the industrial centres — London, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Glasgow. But the first half-way decent offer they get they'll try to sell-out and they certainly won't be going all out for Telex, telegrams, co-ordinate.
action.
That's why it's up to the left to win this dispute. As soon as we got back to our branch we had a well-attended special branch meeting to explain the claim. The response was overwhelmingly in favour of action and of the claim. We're following this up with special leaflets detailing the claim and the arguments for it, with an elected industrial action committee which will meet weekly and with proposals to the other branches in our area for meetings to This is the first The executive is likely to do three things: a national overtime ban and work-to-rule, pulling out London City and the international exchanges, and a national one-day strike. While this will have a quick effect, it won't be enough to defeat Thatcher. And this sort of partial action opens the way for divisions in our ranks. We'll be arguing for continual escalation of the action, leading to an all-out strike if necessary.
To start with we need a national demonstration to kick off the action and create solidarity. Regional demonstrations and pickets could also help to create the spirit we need. We will be arguing for the Broad Left activists around the country to take these sorts of initiatives, because it's down to as to win.
The other action we're planning is to get out to other unions and trades councils to win support. We know we're fighting a pay-freeze and so do the nurses. It's about time the rest of the workers' movement woke up to it too. If we lose this dispute the nurses don't stand a chance, and everyone who's got a wage claim in this autumn had better watch out. As the steelworkers said: 'Us Today - You Tomorrow'. getting solid support for