support of the printworkers. as lt was during Party members should demand that the leadership follows the example of the Campaign Group of MPs, who have thrown their weight behind this struggle. Local Labour Parties should be organising meetings in support of the printworkers, and using the local elections as an opportunity to pickets the boycott As in the miners strike, SUDDULL committees have been set up in many areas coordinate activity. These are generally broad based committees involvdifferent activists from many unions political views. play an important role in bullding sondarily reaching out to the wider labour movement and in volving both the Labour Party and the key unions locally. But they must have an orientation towards the official structures if they are going to mobilise the level of support necessary to change the present balance of forces in the coordinating body of support groups, unfortunately witn a different orientation, the Union of Printworkers Groups has been set up. At its second meeting at the beginning of April. attenced OVCE delegates, dom the official structures move away was adopted.
The very size of the meeting, involving mainly London-based groups but some from as far away as Leicester, shows the potential for building support. Sadly this opportunity was wasted.
The first two hours was spent discussing whether or not Fleet St should be brought out on strike, a further half whether the support groups should set up rank and file printworkers group' - and onv a tew ninutes on what suppor groups are and should b doing. Appeals from some bresent for alternative approach were age odorcu John Brown, an NGA FOC at the Sun, said 'We want you at Wapping, but support us rather than try lead us, Wate Bert mere for he Lame th Large SOGAT, support sup that you have to ex- pointed amine what you not what you would like to do' and said that the only rank and file groups which supporters should relate to are the union chapels, not self-proclaimed alternative leaderships.
Such an approach was successfully adopter by the majority miners support groups who operated alongside the of structures of the NUM. Only in this wa will it be possible to buil broad support across the labour movement. Linking up with so-called rank anc File groups, and putting available resources into attacking the leadership of the strike as the UPSG did in its leaflet distributed on the picket solidarity march, weaken the ability of support groups to win active support estrange them from those printers who want serious support should send delegates e committees the next meeting of the UPSG Camden Town Hall, and April in force it to reverse its orientation lest it turns the supProm being one of the solu- committees away tions to the strike, into one of the problems.