Youth unemployment has risen dramatically over the years June 1974: 5,400 unemployed school leavers June 1980: 178,300 unemployed school leavers Manpower Services Commission estimate 600,000 school leavers in the summers of 1982 and 1983 By Tessa van Gelderen FUTURE last few workforce total workforce)
young men 1980: 90,000 young men available GIVEUSA tion October 1980: 814, 000 under 25's (Under 25's represent 20% of Apprenticeships 1968: 170,000 *It is significant that no figures for female apprenticeships are THIS WEEKEND, the Labour Party Young Socialists holds its annual conference in Bridlington. At a time when youth are leading the struggles against the Tories' war drive and austerity policies, such a conference should be discussing how it can transform itself into a mass campaigning youth organisation.
both in the past and in the pre THROUGHOUT the sent, it has been youth who have been in the forefront of struggles. In Nicaragua, example, the average age of the government is 24, and it was youth that led the revoluthat overthrew Somoza dictatorship.
In El Salvador, Poland and Ireland it is young people who are leading the fight against oppression and it is the same in Britain.
Youth have never suffered the defeats that older generations have; they haven't experienced the betrayals of the leadership of , the working class. Youth don't, in THE CAMPAIGN for trade union rights for YOPS is a good one. In porters Revolution Youth Bristol. A couple ot supporters campaigned for YOPS workers to unionised into the National Union of Public Employees and the campaign gradually took off.
Militant does call for a higher wage but it has to make clear that it demanding full union rates for the They have to make the union cadets take up une issue. workers need full rights inside the as just nike any olner worker Revolution Youth supports the unionisation of YOPS workers and the full rate for the job. Fighting to Last summer in Brixton. The Tories are preparing for a long hot member of the engineering union's delegation to the LPYS conference He is an AUEW National Committee youth delegate and a supporter of Revolution Youth. He talked to Socialist Challenge about the issues facing the Young Socialists at this crucial time.
general, have the same ties that older workers have, they are more dynamic and more apen to radical socialist solutions. for indication of when the youth felt under attack cops the fought back against the system in the only way they could see open to them, particularly black and Asian youth.
The Labour trade unions failed them in the fight-back against However, begining to change. it in government where it carried out basically watered down Tory policies.
-Campaigning against YOPSend the exploitation that these young workers face is the best way to get rid ot these schemes jobs for everyone.
be decent conditions for YOPS workers, otherwise all nave tell conditions and rates or pay eroded.
is against Tebbit:
realise that the lories' attacks on the same and on the exploit and the YOPS thing.
young people on these schemes leads to the destruction of lobs for six people to clean and redecorate the place. Management employed one summer as it prepares to do battle with youth and trade unionists CLIFF WILLIAMS is a on The uprisings last year were an this dynamism:
and fascists, they the Party and the the Tories. the Labour Party is We have seen and create prope It is in the unions' interests to get workers are going to It's the same with the campaign the unions have to In my factory it takes over a year for youth, schemes Revolution's rally last December There were big attacks on th working class and a Labour prim minister called on workers to sca other workers during th winter of discontent. The ran and file of the Labour Part knows that it was those policie which were the main reason fo the defeat of Labour at the las election. They want to see radica solutions to the problems facin working class, hence th debate that has been going on in side the party.
But at the same time, the part has not really mobilised the work ing class against the government Aš long as the Labour Party stay within the framework of waitin until the next election before tak person and six YOPS people. Th weren't paying the YOPS people penny, it came from the governmen One of the young people had t use of only one arm. He had to clir a lowei avour vlool men. carryll paint and a paint brush as well. Pec ple were working below done it, he would have lost his job.
He also had to go to the hospit afternoon and out of hi miserable £23.50 management stop ped his money The union's not a strong as it could be in our place bu we did get him the money back.
If the unions nationally would on ly fight for proper conditions and pa we could get rid of thes which give no training o hope for permanent empolyment.
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