LONDON UNDERGROUND Limited headed (personal capacity)
were summarily meeting in the homes.
an establishment threatened with closure.
the social services convenor Barry Gray management had attempted to victimise. cluding talking to other stewards.
NALGO Any appeal heard bv these ver the past five years.
was able to unite to defend a convenor.
at cil. They SpeCT the branch. ON FRIDAY 26 April three members of Newham NALGO, including a shop steward, dismissed for attending a staffroom of the residential home where they work. In a crude attempt to stop the strike threatened by NALGO if the sackings went ahead, management then offered new jobs in different The new jobs all involve a wage cut and other financial penalties. For the steward it means a loss of £1000 per year and being forced to move to a remote village in Essex 18 miles from Newham in Newham council is a safe Labour authority The sackings are part of a three-pronged attack on NALGO in the wake of their successful detence ol NALGO waged a nine month campaign in the union and in the Labour Party and on 15 April the Labour group voted to end the victimisation. Al the very same meeting however, the group then gave the chair of social services, Julie Garfield, the green light to sack the three NALGO members at Luton House; to discipline six other stewaras and branch officers and to impose a facilities agreement which means that stewards will have to ask permission to engage in any union activity, inMs Garfield's attitude to the three members and NALGO were summed up by her little speech on the steps of the town hall earlier that evening. Addressing a large lobby of the group called by supported by members of the Labour Party and a mini-bus full of miners and miners' wives from Welbeck colliery, she screamed: 'You're all a load of liars!' and to the three: 1 hope to God you all get the sack next Friday!' against the sackings would be same councillors who have launched the anti-NALGO witch hunt. This attack is aimed at destroying the effective organisation that has been built up in Newham NALGO over Through the fight to establish a shop steward system against strong council opposition, and then in the union nationally against NEC opposition, the branch has been moved to a position where it The six activists in the forefront of these developments have also been targeted by the counletters warning of disciplinary action if they engage in any union activity without the express permission of management. There can be little doubt that if the council are prepared to sack members for attending a meeting they will do the same to stewards and branch officers who are responsible for organising Central to the willingness of the Labour group to smash NALGO is the role of two of these activists in the Labour Party, where they have wag. ed a campaign against the victimisation of Barry Gray and now the sackings. There has been no hiding place in the party for the Labour counThe realities of the Tories' plans to smash local government unions, jobs and services have crowded in on the debate on which budget strategy to pursue. The response of the Newham North Wes party to industrial disputes over the last few years has been excellent. Firm links have been forged As a result the party's support for NALGO's fight against the victimisation and the sackings has been unwavering. This has extended into Newham North East and to a lesser extent into Newham South - the remaining bastion of the old right.
Another factor for the council crew is the imminen orolt eeci is s ucar tual lea prepared to subordinate jobs and the ability of the union to organise as well as their party mandates, for their political careers. Many of these same councillors voted consistently against setting a rate and were originally elected as part of the drive for the accountability of councillors and MPs.
The NALGO branch meet this Wednesday to discuss all-out strike-action. Already 13 sections of social services have voted to walk out if the sackings occurred. It is vital that in the run up to the branch meeting and immediately afterwards these If this attack is not defeated now it is certain that Newham Council's present leadership will ofnewlan workers jobs and Newham residents' services on a plate next year