the miners.
than could have been achieved.
The settlement means that the employers will stop for now undermine the Dock They have given an undertaking that they non-registered labour only after applying to the local dock labour board - on CLUCIS anions equally represented.
This is however only what they are supposed to do under existing agreement. They have given no new agreement of i kind would preof the scheme which led to the words, THE SETTLEMENT of the docks strike has been greeted with a huge sigh of relief by the ruling class Now they can get back to the main task of dereating they will behave themselves — for now.
More importantly, neither they nor the government have given any guarantees about maintaiance of the Dock Labour Scheme, and they have made no secret or tne fact that they want to get rid of it.
The TGWU had golden opportunity to secure guarantees for the scheme but failed to tak advantage it. Even looking at it from a purely sectoral angie, it is clear that the government deal more to avoid fighting Any major concession would have made it much more Tories to hold the against stead not only has the TGWU failed make gains it has stored up a real problem for the future.
The unity achieved at impressive. Ports such as He ixstowe Dover, which did not support the last national strike in 1972, came out.
The addition the major non-scheme ports Sanente (which handle 70 per cent of non-tue trafic) meani that the roll-on roll-off trailic was at a standsti!. It showed the enormous Not the dock workers. But, as the miners have demonstrated unity has to be fought for.
Dover came out after a hotly disputed show hands. Ai Felixstowe the workers were ordered out. Knowing this the national leadership should have prepared for mass pickets that the held solid. Instead, the intitiative passed to those who wanted to return to backed up by the lorry drivers.
Changes At Dover they were allowed off the motorway into the town by the Once there, they blockaded passenger traific, adding that women children might hurt'. The thick blue lin was nownere to De sten.
The Dover shop stewbefore this reactionary pressure was the labour movement and must be smashed.
it was well witnin int power of the dockers to do so. Instead they gave these scabs an easy victory.
When the Tories and the Port Employers return to settle accounts with the remember the Dover Fac- dockers, will tor'. So Will ine lorry drivers. The labour move. ment had better learn the lesson also.
Socialist Action 27 July 1984
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If they succeed in that they will return for the dockers another day. The dockers have had a limited victory. This is in itself good news. But it is far less