movement echoed around the conference hall of Britain's fourth largest union, the National and Local Government Officers Association. The Executive was whipping the conference into line to support the 4½ per cent Government-TUC deal.
A motion rejecting the deal was defeated in a card vote by 380,417 to 144,361. Even so, general secretary Geoffrey Drain was obviously taken aback by the size of the opposition vote and by the subsequent success of a motion calling for a review of TUC policy, which was passed against the opposition of the platform. At a press conference afterwards he tried to reassure reporters that support was unequivocally 'unconditional'. opposition. The main resolution putting forward opposition to the deal contained as one of its central features ... incomes policy! In fact the alternative economic strategy contained in the motion was exactly the same as that proposed by the Executive, with the single exception that one contained opposition and the other support for the 4% percent deal.
The rank-and-file Nalgo Action Group, previously the principal focus for militants in the debates on incomes policy, failed to provide a political lead for the opposition. This was not unexpected. Earlier in the year they had spoken out against a proposal from Camden branch of NALGO for a special conference to discuss action on the the open the degeneration of the internal lite of NAG. IMG members last year. But the leadership's main concern seems to be to wind it down as rapidly as possible.
It hastalso started to bring out into This is in the context of a situaaway with murder in the union. The.
ched with such a fanfare in the press, NALGO members have shown their willingness to mount a campaign against the cuts—as in this lobbv of the Greater London Counci valige NO Housing CUT NO CUTS Photo: ANGELA PHILLIPS (IFL)