THE British Telecom engineers' battle against privatisation entered its eighth week on Monday 15 August.
union's action against private consortium which hopes to cream off the most lucrative services now provided by BT.
Five Central London branches blacked private wires for British Petroleum, Barclays Bank and Cable and Wireless Mercury's backers.
These private circuits provide data, Heer 20101 direct lines to the other financial institutions.
Seven key buildings belonging to the companies are also blackAt present the POEU's action is aimed specifically against interconnecCOLLECTION of the strike fund for the This week also saw a limited escalation of the Project Mercury the tion of Mercury to BT's network. However, a motion passed at annual conference in June authorised the POEU executive to begin industrial action against privatisation immediately.
At a one day special on September, this wider campaign will be mapped out. action of scab managers, have carengineers on strike, is one of the major reasons why the media have so far been able to ignore the selective actions have considerably lessened their effectiveness.
Ву a POEU engineer In retaliation against this scabbing engineers, who take faults from customers, have been withdrawn in the area of Mercury's head office in Covent Garden.
A few managers may be able to make equipment work, but they cannot make POEU members scab striking workmates by making maintenance engineers accoul laull reports The escalation of the action is a sign to man members that the Broad Left-domimated ex. ecutive committee of the POEU is serious about a fight for jobs.
But this badly weakened by the executive announcement that the fl per member levy for the campaign fund is to be indefinitely suspended on 2 September.
Many members concerned about this, haying been led to the brink and sold out many times by the previous executive.
They are watching the new executive to see if it really is something new.
Although there problems with some undemocratic ficials not carrying out their duty to collect the levy, the vast majority of the membership favour of paying it.
The NEC must decide its strategy on the basis of the union's strengths and not its weaknesses.
The best way to encourage these branches to pay the levy is to extend the action.
If the members see why the union needs the levy they'll want to know why it is not being collected The greatest danger for the executive at the mopeople who want to fight by bending to those who are against - privatisato do about it.