the war.
reced or phony op creagon scacmics Secondly.
CHANELL Fashion Design Centre among others. expiam on tnt page. THE papers last week were proud to announce another drop in the unemployment figures. It is now 'only' 1.39 million - the highest for any April since But there are two small catches. One is that these figures only refer to adull" unemployment. And they have beca artificially unemployment le only measured among the because of sexist dole and social security laws and are not The truth is that there has been no improvement. In an area le the North-west which 1s ny no means the worsti the bless have increased to 83,800 or 11.4 per cent. That bare figure can't express the hardship and humiliation of life on the dole.
And employers are making further moves to swell the Merseyside dole queues: at Leyland's Speke plant and at the Bul, as our reporter: workers are resisting the threat redundancy, often in the face of sabotage from their own leaders. WECAN beat unemployment. But it will take more than just pious words. We need a light for policies which say: we will not give up a single penny or a single joh to meet the cost of I USES CRISS *35 hour week. When the of Ford workers put in their ciaim last year they estimaled that a to 3741 hours would 100 new obs at Ford At hour week would mean 3,300 That extended to the the same princinie workers.
employers-style could whole full pay, can only further.
*Work sharing with no loss of pay. This is an extension of Siding scale so that the existing work is shared out among al But I's not work sharing while People ready in work should not pay cost of the extra jobs.
There, should be no car in pay. rising at the growing ment.
*Reduce Lhe retirement age for men and wonen to do no away of 26,313 in the Wher these run out, the already- 1930s situadeteriorate branch Buyer. Even when a buyer is SOU on 9 May. government grants, there is no them. *Luunch u progrumme of pullic works. Unemplosment anarchy: millions homeless or der substandard accomodation building workers are unemployed; unemployment in the public sector while our services suffer, class Sizes same time as teacher unemployAnd so it continues, d plan for production to meet with the dole queue.
Liverpool A MEETING of over 600 Liverpool members the Government Workers Union, NALGO, rejected the recommendation of the executive to support a one-day strike This leaves the Triumph TR7 plant, Dunlops, and the Builders' the only sections to support the general stoppage agreed last month Liverpool Trades Council's conference on unemployment. MARK TURNBULL reports.
main trade union officials who sponscred and 'the conference refused to put out the call for heir members to support th trike. So it's been left up t workplaces and union branches to decide.
Witbout any political lead London NUPE EDUCATION cuts in London are meeting the of school keepers, who this week began a series of one-day strikes against management's "Rationalisation' RAY VARNES The Labour-controlled Inner London Education Authohas dreamt 3-1E0 an interesting way of saving It is proposing to intensity work-load school keepers, make 60 redundant, and add such duties as banking wages and fees, which last year -in. several school keepers finding their skull al the business end of a cash.
The London school keepers Entployce's union has other ideas We are demanding negotia tions on our plan for a 35-hour SAD MUSLICS. redundancies, and an increase in wallar levels.and we are backing thee demands with Hill. But this resistance has yet One-day strikes at selected schools tbroughout the capital began on Tuesday, and no exception is being made for | beepers branch.
Suport the FASHION DESIGN CENTRE OCCUPATION Donations and messages of solidarity to:
FD Centre [Liverpool], Randells Road, Knowsley Industrial Estate, Knowsley companies threatening теdunduncies. The bosses claim We Can noT to keen I workers. Well, Set's see their accounts to Drove lll they're telling the truth, then we've got LUJULE LOU LLE work to do If it's just a con, if they're trying 10 shift operations elsewhere, thai gives chance organise against *Nutionalise all companies threatening redundancies unworkers" control. By cutting back on their oper ations the bosses are showing there I no solution to the international cconomic crisis unless we take it our of their hands, The only way we can create jobs and useful products well as providing the labour.
from the Trades Council, most actorie tenored the proposed strike. All that has been planned 1s a lobby or Parliament to which factoric: that are not on strike will send delegations Sul many militants will question the value of 0O-mile round trip to see loca MPs Eric Heffer and Eddic Loyden yet again. The day of action could have won greater support if a demonstration had been calied Liverpoo instead of 500 or trade unionists marching from En ton to Westminster.
Delegations could better use their tune by visiting other lactones around the country to discuss solidarity, particularly with British Leyland, GEC and Lucas many redundancies are planned The protest polities of the Communist Party is gelling trade unionises on Mersesside nowhere fass. And the time is running out for the thousands who face the dole queues, at end of May. Local supporters of the paper have argued that charanony mas De made now to occupy all factories LATERILL especially Leyland's Speke polling day the loca when a number of • роїв! stations will remain locked up.
keepers' jobs is linked to the ILEA'S For school by preparing the ground for amalgamating schools. The authority aims to defeal the ancillary workers before taking on the teachers Before strike action in each school, meetings will be held with teachers cleaners, anc kitchen staft to discuss the support for the picker line A petition is being organised in the schools and the community, It has also been proposed that the Socialist should produce a model leafler that could be run off in schools and co out to students and parents cing that the school will be shur.
relatively successfuly campaigns against school closures, such as those in Westminster and Lavender to be built on an all-London basis.
RAY VARNES is a shop steward in the NUPE school SOCIALIST CHALLENGE 4 May 1978 page 5
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