Workers assemble for Wednesday's mass meeting ACTION SOCiALiSt management. As yet, we (POEU London West Branch)
MEMBERS OF the Post Office Engineering Union at the Bank of England and Whitehall Repair Service Control are on official strike against government plans to privatise British Telecom.
further 22 telephone repair staff.
This action against the Telecommunications Bill and the blacking of the imminent interconnection of Project Mercury, the planousness only letwork, with the BT network has the government worried.
The Observer reported that Sir George Jefferson the BT Chairman, Kenneth Baker, the Industry Minister, have had to cancel a sales trip to India to take personal I charge of fighting the union.
Bryan Stanley, the CLICIO of the POEU, called the suspens ion an act of grave pro vocation aimed at escalating the action.
He said that the union would be considering what retaliatory action was apOperators the South Bank Exchange members of the Union Communication Worker: refused to deal with calls faults in the Whitehall area.
Faults Members of the POEU working at the Post Office Tower refused to test faults on w nitenall Ines going through the Tower.
None of them suspended Colin Talbot, secretary of the POEU Westminster savs that morale suspensed start ars. the Management have retaliated by suspending a been waiting since 20 October 1982 day of action for something to happen now things ot message.
branches around the • country now that the industrial action is 'underway, and we expect a lot more The objective of the action against the Telecommunications is to Kill the Bill. While we •o-t Deueve ma moe m dustrial action by itself will think. inLIaL dustrial action is an essential ingredient of the campaign to stop British Telecom being sold off into private hands.' The right-wing dominated NEC's unanimous decision to call for industrial action is THADOR previous emphasis on parliamentary opposition plus electing a government to stop the sale going ahead.
Pressure has mounted moderate branches in the especially threatened rural areas because BT has started to reorganise itself into 'profit centres prior denationalisation. Profit Trunk and interna. tional calls currently make most of BT's profit. This pressure has added to the union's Broad Left's camSubscription raves Inland: 6 months S8;
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Bryan Stanley paign for industrial action convince NEC moderates of the need to act 'As far as the next steps are concerned the policy of mv branch remains that we should be taking decisive activil both atalist the government against the financial institutions 'We have the power in central London to have. a grose institutions on said institutions, said Talbot.
Westminster Branch has Cared DEANCI neeting in work time nex vy cancsuay to show unos that are taking industrial action that they have full backing.
Speakers include Tony subscribe For multi-reader institutions double the above rates Send to Socialist Action, 328 Upper Street, London N1 2XP Benn and Stan Orme, the Labour Shadow industry minister.
Talbot says: 'We've invited them to make the point that we have to in volve ourselves in the political process to defeat the Bill 'Campaigning and taking selective industrial action now will mean that if haven't already 'defeated the Bill it will be a central issue in the general 'People will be clear that only a vote for the _LADOUT Party will ensure that Telecom remains publicly-owned corporation.
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