Last Friday, 14 December, 400 convenors and representatives of shop stewards committees in the engineering industy met in Munchester to discuss what action should be taken to pursue the struggle over the national claim.
The conference was called by various leading conveniors throughout the country at the initiative of the Communist Party, with the intention of putting out a rank and file call for a national overtime ban. However, Heath bear them to it by announcing the day before the conference that most of industry would be on a three day week as from 1 January.
But what this bewilderment expressed was the complete bankruptcy of the CP'S politics, Their problem was simply this: a call for an overtime ban on a three-day week would have made them look ridiculous, but a call for un all-out national strike and an alliance with the miners-the obvious next step- would probably bring them into collision with Scanion. Since the CP's alliance with Scanlon comes before everything else, this couldn't be done either. So what was to be done? As one delegate put it- The Governnent have taken away our right to have an overtime ban'. Perhaps they should demand the right to work overtime and then ban it? Cyril Morton, con venor of Shardlows in Sheffield, announced that his factory was not going to be upset by anything the government did; they were imposing an overtime ban as from 1 January-on all three days! After this kind of stuff no-one would have been surprised if Brian Rix had taken the platform.
If the decision that this conference had to make were not so crucial for the working class's fight against Phase 3 the looks of bewilderment on the faces of the CP militants as they rolled up to the conference would have been amusing Convenors at the Manchester conference-chairman Len Brindle speaking.
such a joint meeting But the leaders of these unions cannot be trusted to tuke these steps, and certainly not to prepare millions of workers up and down the country for decisive struggle. Local bodies in the NUM and the AUEW should immediately call joint emergency meetings to organise for the struggle. Strike committees should be crealed straight away in the AUEW and the national connor conference should be recalled in Junuary.
The engineers will be facing struggles over Lay-offs without pay from carly in the new year. Refusals by employers to honnur guaranteed wage agreements, or to extend these agreements to workers who are not presently covered by them, should be met with immediate occupation-strikes. These struggles could, however, exhaust the energies of chen eneineers and lead to demoralisation sigher wages, The main skigan was Wager up.
In the end the CP's dilemma was resolved by adopting a resolution calling upon the recall National Commitlee on 3 January to give a positive lend on industrial action up to and including a national stoppuge'. (In other words the National Committee should do something.) MINERS AND ENGINEERS But if the engineers are to have any hope of smashing Phase 3 then the National Committee's lead will indeed have to be positive'-a lot more positive than the Manchester conference. The Tory government have made clear by their emergency measures that they intend to go to all lengths to defend Phase 3. The trade union movement will have to muster every ounce of its strength to smash it But it is precisely Scanion's refusal to give a "positive lead' on the way forward for the engineers that is giving the CP such a headache and leads to the kind of farce we had in Manchester. If Scanion had made it clear that he stood for an all-out national strike, there can be no doubt as to what the decision of the Manchester conference would have been. There would have been no ambiguous calls for action 'up to and including a national stoppag:' So what will the CP militants do if the recall NC does not give a positive lead? Will they use th opportunity of the recall shop stewards" confer ence, after the 10 January meeting of the ConTederation of Shipburkling and Engineering Unions, to campaigo for a natioual strike and coordinated action with groups like the miners? Or will they continue to flounder around, adapting to Scanion's evety twist and turn? The chosce is very simple either to remain consistent with the Communet Party's whole politic al approach, or else to break from those politics and campaign for a national strike in spite of Scanion's vacillations, TERRY CRAWFORD unless they take place in the context of a clear perspective for currying the struggle forward: either a call for a general strike by the TUC or for a national engineering strike by the CSBU.
This does not mican that engineering wurken should wait for such a call before launching local strikes and occupying factories over Jay-off grievunces: such local actions would unite the working class movement in struggle at the local level, give impetus to the campaign for a national strike, and set the ball rolling towards national action. The point is, all defensive strupales launched in the months ahead must be linked to demands which can push the working class movement towards an al-out of tensive against the Tory Government That is the only road to victory DAVE BAILEY