The annual conference of the National Union of Teachers at Scarborough next week will be one of the first conferences of a major union since the Budget and the Government's announcement of huge public expenditure cuts.
The debate and decisions at this conference could set the tone for the response of the trade union movement to Healey's Budget and the cuts. The Labour Government is obviously thinking along similar lines.
One gentleman who can certainly afford a smile is Merlyn Rees, Labour's Minister of State for Northern Ireland and MP for Leeds South. Obviously the Militant supporters in Mr Rees's constituency believe in peaceful coexistence with their MP. Although Rees is the helmsman of Britain's policy of repression against the Catholic minority in the Six Counties, the Militant comrades nave lound olner areas on waica to concentrate their attention.
Ignoring Ireland, their resolution extols the virtues of China's planned economy but informs the Chinese masses of their need to make a new revolunon suen benevolent advice will doubtess inspire une reking working class to new heights of struggle, but it will probably arouse less enthusiasm in the Catholic ghettoes of Northern Ignore On safer terrain than Mr Rees's constituency, other Militant supporters have moved resolutions on Ireland. These, however. studiously ignore the fact that the nationalist population is the spearnead or the smuggie against imperansm in Ireland, and talk in general about univne me workme cass aroune a socialist programme. This postpones any serious fight against imperialism until the Orange Loyalists' are won Fred Mulley, the Education Secretary, will address the conference on its very first day - before delegates have had a chance to discuss a single resolution!
Mulley will obviously use this opportunity to defuse any opposition to the cuts and attempt to line up NUT support in the TUC for Healey's new wages restraint proposals. Not that Mulley will have much difficulty with the majority of the NUT leadership.
Fred Jarvis, General Secretary of the NUT, is an avid supporter of the The agenda for the Labour Party Young Socialists Conference at Blackpool this Easter might suggest that Britain's first Soviet is about to be formed just behind the Golden Mile. But impressions can be deceptive. Although there is a torrent of resolutions inspired by comrades supporting the paper Militant, neither Nora Beloff, the Labour leaders, nor the ruling class need tremble about the consequences of conference adopting most of them.
fronts in all sections of the workers movement on campaigns such as 'Troops Out'.
This weakness is not just confined to the question of Ireland. On issues like women's oppression it is again Militant left who are behind resolutions supporting free abortion on demand, freely available on the NHS and demanding that the LPYS National Committee affiliate to the National Abortion Campaign.
Furthermore, it is the non-Militant left which takes up the crisis inside the National Health Service not just by coming out against the Government's policies or urge the LPYS to link up and practically support organisations like the National Coordinating Committee Against Cuts in the NHS.
Again on Spain it is the non-Militant left who give a lead on how to break from dogmatic propagandism. A resolution from Hemel Hempstead calls for "building solidarity in all sections of the British working class in support of Spanish workers' struggles.... wants the LPYS to support demonstramons, pickets and acavely campaign lor an embargo on spanisn goods, and says that the LPYS should set itself the obfollow the line set by Mulley. Although Jarvis has called Healey's cuts in educational spending 'spitting in the eye of the TUC", he is unlikely to return the Chancellor's compliment. He is in fact presiding over a right-wing dominated ExecuGovernment's anti-working class policies.
ATTEMPT sounding support for a special TUC conference to 'discuss the Government's policy on public spending their general inactivity on this question. Their current support for viosu rejections of the same call, and only comes after the announcement of the massive £1,000 million cuts in educational spending.
wing NUT leadership's attitude toby their refusal to defend London teacher militant Mike Colley from attempted victimisation by the ELECTED Colley, a school delegate, was elected to attend the South East Region TUC demonstration against education cuts on 21 October 1975 from a wide variety of bodies in the including Constituency Labour Parties, trades councils, union branconsiderable base inside the LPYS and in many Constituency Labour Parties to make a significant intervention in the 27 March Assembly on Unemployment. It is shown even more by their failure to turn the LPYS into a campaigning organisanon at can invoive vout in actual struggle against unemployment, instead of simply carrying resolutions calling for nationalisation of the 250 monopolies.
the non be about programme - the most commisocial contract and will undoubtedly ches, Labour MPs, and many others. tive that is tied hand and foot to the must be built.
nist Party teachers -The NUT Executive's militant is in fact an attempt to cover up for such a conference follows three predELy WHICIC!
The real character of the rightwards fighting the cuts is made clear Inner London Education Authority.
ment can rally.
Although the NUT Executive refused to support him, he received backing question -labour and trade union movement -The divisions at Blackpool will not As a result of this, the governors of his school rejected out of hand any attempt by the Labour-controlled ILEA to victimise him. The breadth of support for his defence campaign shows the way in which a campaign agalnst the education cuts can and fight.
Rejecting this approach, Commu- the strongest grouping on the left in the NUT -have refused to organise any fight against the right-wing NUT leadership. In their journal, Education Today and Tomorrow, they argue that the onus for fighting the cuts lies 'not (on) the Executive but (on) the local Associations'. Far from challenging the right-wing leadership, they call for 'highly selective action which forces a change in policy -DESPERATE These desperate words reflect the extent to which CP teachers are prepared to toe the line laid down by the right wing in order to preserve their Executive places. They piously hope that 'the conference will provide a great forum of oppoship. sition to the cuts and a focus around which the whole progressive moveHowever, at a time when education faces its severest attack for decades, the CP's call for unity is very hollow. They never answer the 'unity for what and with whom?' Furthermore, after a year of virtual inactivity against the cuts by the NUT Executive, CP teachers gate). tted Marxist could vote for the majority of the 168 resolutions. The divisions will take place on how to fight for the reso lutions and how to mobilise real forces to break the grip of the right-wing leaders.
By joining in such campaigns as Iberian solidarity, supporting the NCC 25 April demonstration, working to build local Action Committees as agreed at the 27 March Unemployment Assembly, by actively building NAC and fighting to strengthen and extend the Troops Out Movement, the LPYS can play an imTHE MARXIST PAPER FOR LABOUR AND YOUTH | are now helping the right wing to introduce severe disciplinary procedures against militants prepared to fight the cuts and take action now - which rather destroys the CP's point about the onus being on local associations to take up the TASK The task facing militants at the NUT conference is to fight for a break with the right wing's collabo ration with Labour's anti-working class policies, and spell out how a united working class response to unemployment, the cuts and Healey's incomes policy should be built.
An important step forward could be taken by uniting those forces in the NUT prepared to link up with the moves in opposition to the Government already being made in the rest of the trade union movement. By linking the fight against education cuts to the campaign against all cuts in public spending, and by uniting with the fight against unemployment through building support for the 26 May day of action, militant teachers can begin to pose a credible alternative to the betrayals of the right-wing leaderAMENDMENTS The IMG, having won the support of many local Associations, will be major debates in order to develop this fight.
Bernard Regan (East London dele portant role in the struggle against the pro-capitalist policies of the Labour leaders.
Such activity would bring new forces into the fight on these essential issues It would help to build working class unity and would swell the opposition against the traitorous leaders of the labour movement, Furthermore. i would demonstrate to the working class, ana workme class voum in paracurat that there is a genuine, fighting opposition inside the Labour Party