The second meeting of Women Against Murdoch was held last Wednesday, 12 November. The meeting decided to step up their action - including picketing scabs and reaching out Closures ted secretary and assistant secretary. They spoke to JON SILBERMAN about the decision to launch WAM, and their experiences and involvement since the very beginning of the News International dispute.
A couple of the other wives suggested to us inai we form some sort of a said thought it was a gond ide Owed bees talkin: about anu ou months. So it was about time.
There were over women at the tirst meeting We discussed whether group. We WeiC favour.
We then decideo to have badges made leaflets LIlC wives who don't come down to Wapping to wanted to get the men on the Saturday night marches to take them home to show. their wives.
We also decided to try to help the wives of men who to be of some help to the wives of men who have died since the dispute started.
finally see if we give The kles families involved the help L0U. make Christmas a bit easier for them.
To do all this we need funds. So we also decided on tune-raising. Il started off rather basic. We had acciaca we a gel a slall lo sell our badges, , but as the for a fortnight someone bread-pudding so that we coula nave a stall on the first Saturday after wed set SIX HUNDRED engineering workers from all over to Women Against Pit — and to elect officers and a committee. EILEEN BEER and PAULINE GOOD were elecourselves up.
Wed had a donation of £50 from our husbands' chanel the RIRMA Sun chapei wllh this we well and bought 200 rolls and cheest and we stong it.
noon ano made them and sell therr because of ine Waoping W20d iook tor any excuse — so we ask donations to the group when people ge" their roll and tomato. We ve done quite welt Tne stall has been very allowed us ustill. establish a presence down a:
Now we want to go on trom here to organise action and to get round the country and talk to peopie more. It's surprising mue peopie know aboul int dispute.
A few weeks ago we had a march in central London. il was tc uay we WELC IUU bying the TU We walked the length of Oxford Street to Marble Arch and back We were amazed, talking to people, how many thought the dispute was over! That dispute was over! That the ine nrint workers were back at work! Many people who on don't really know what's happening.
So we need to get out ana explain wnals really going on, act as emissaries to think that we could end IN AID OF Eileen Beer at the Saturday night WAM stal!
up effective miners' wives movement. If could go towards petrol of to une acoue bul luc nal! thing is getting out and telling the truth about what's going on.
called WAM because that sums up what against Murdoch. wve hate Murdoch that that was the obvious name WAM in. volves all women allu friends sacked printers, and women workers formerly emplovec by News International. As long as they want to ignl Murdoch and support the they can be involved.
We're beginning We met some miners on the picket. A groun of cour:ciliors from Newham came port. They left their phone contact we want to build up round the country.
It's early days yet. of course. Though we are getting more women invoived now than we did the beginning.
One of the reasons that women were but oft tron coming to Wapping was the level of police violence. No one will ever forget the first time they went down. The horses charge. Ore 20solutely terrified. You say VU | nevel come again. But, of course, after a while we did. And now we walk down there and we re no longer shocked. We've even been on flying pickets. Pauline Good getting out the truth about the dispui We've got used to it. But we were terrified the tirst night.
Experiences like this have taught us so much. To tell you the truth, when the SELEKE Wa. had no sympathy for them When widicve. husbands came home and said they were paying a fiver a week to the miners we went through the roof. What for! They're all anarchists, they are all militants, look at them on the televiSIon - we know ditterent now!
We went to a meeting in the early part of the dispute.
bloke from Sinn Fein. Tony Benn Was. there. a miner. It was in Hampstead Town Hall. It was a good meeting. They were all terrific speakers.
got down We there and saw there was a man from Sinn Fein, we thought what've brought us here for? But we listened him discovered we just didn't know what was going on.
And then the miner spoke and told us what the BBC had done, reversing the sequence of the films You only knew what you'd seen pickets throwing then getting charged by the police. But the film had been cut about and it was the other way round!
Through like soins to meetings this through the experience of the dispute we've learnt what the truth really is. YOINGS