THE NEW REALIST right is hoping for a victory against Ron Todd, now that the TGWU executive has given the go-ahead for a re-ballot in the election for general secretary. The government is looking for chance to try to drive home the advantage gained against NUM and the labour movement militants who supported miners' strike, and to shift the unions firmly to the right. Neil Kinnock, by adding his voice the call for a re-ballot, has weighed into the fight on the side of the new realists and the Labour Party right wing.
No one should be in any doubt therefore about me importance or this election for the future of British trade union movement. The general secretary of the TGWU is one of the most powerful figures in the British trade union movement. When Frank Cousins won the post from Deakin in 1956 it marked the beginning of a shift to the left. Now, Wright were to win against Todd, it would spell a move in the opposite direction. policy. the The press is already preparing his campaign. Key figures, such as Marie Patterson, are speaking up for him But his other backers Tories and the SDP.
Wright in power would put left policies in jeopardy unilateralism nuclear disarmament, on reselection, and a whole host of other crucial issues. Most important, if he will be the won the new realist leaders would have secured a key ally in their drive for class collaboration instead of class struggle against the Tories.
Judging by his record as secretary of anti-union laws. the Wales TUC, George Wright will lift not one finger to support his own members, or anyone else, who fights In the long term, the success of Wright in a contest for TGWU leadership would allow the Tories to drive home postal ballots and impose their With Wright in the TGWU driving seat the right's attempt to regain its grip on the Labour would be considerably strengthened. The path would be set for, at best, a right wing Labour government of the Wilson-Callaghan type or, at worst, coalition These are the stakes involved in the battle now taking place in the TGWU for the election of the general secretary. That's why every stop's got to be pulled out for a victory for Todd and in defence of the TGWU.
Socialist Action 3 May 1985 FROM THE disastrous experience of the Wilson and Callaghan governments, the left in the Labour Party drew a lesson: that policy victories were hollow representatives advocated them, cambaigned public without a means of support for them, and - most important — practised them in office. At the end of the '70s and into the '80s, party democracy became the new battle ground between left and right, and Tony Benn emerged as the champion of the left's demands. ensuring Labour's