Tories, nature of the campaign.
It was the culmination of alliance between organised womens and labour movements which had been growing over a period of five Cola rUC itself to call a national eventually forcing the protest demonstration on a so-called "soeial issue' The backing of the TUC for the pro-abortion It was the first national trade federation in the world to call action on womens' abortion rights.
• It meant that thousands of women and men who might otherwise have drawn into action around this issue came out on the streets for thé October demonstration. It meant that many more working people were discussing demands like a woman's right:
to choose and how to achieve Impact It is undeniable that this labour support brought . Ine victorv •of campaign. Women alone could not have defeated standina the anti-abortionists and the Tories. We should organise ourselves as women and fight for our own demands but we also neca allles to win these demands. Our most powerful ally is the organised labour movement.
This victory for women and for feminism early 1980 confirmed radicalisation among women a growing and the increasing impact of issues, like the women against violence campaign and the campaigning of young women. In the last few years women have been joining the trade unions at the rate ot 164,000 per year and now comprise per of workers affiliated to the Inside the labour movement there were interesting developments Discriminaton committees were set up in the TGWU and Corrie abortion amendment Bill in March:
The Tories had given their implicit backing to the workers' movement. The defeat of Corrie was rather significant both as the first big defeat for the but also because of the momentum and the General and Municipal Workers Union; called a special conference on positive action supported by unions like the engineers and the miners; and the Scottish Womens passed a resblution on women and violence. the women Tony IN NICARAGUA... Women played a prominent part in revolution. women's AMPRONAC 35,000 members i gallising sexism,
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Socialist Challenge THE MOST important event for women, in this country in 1980 was the victory over the
John Corrie's Bill to restrict abortion rights as part of their drive to whittle away the post-war gains of