DURING a strong position when the next strike comes round.
At the third Socialist outlined management's latest attacks. the special links between port for the miners fight during the strike.
weekend speech.
LAST Monday I went to the Clarendon Hotel Derby. We're meeting management in four-star noteis now to sorten us up! It was about a scheme to LaKe ous away Mantle Lane.
We managed to salvage a domestic cleaner. We couldn't do anvthing about the others because they're taking traffic away from our depot.' The work is being taken away as a punishment.
On Tuesday, went to the Belmont Hotel in Leicester, and discussed sudden closure Desford colliery signal box. When the Leicester po in March me, somes in March '86, some small signal boxes including the ones in our branch have been cluded. The were to go later, , in 1987 Not a word about brIllging forward ever came up during We've been back work six weeks and now they're goMarch. So that was another three signalmen's jobs down the chute, as punsnment, that wasn't in the original scheme.
Un Hotela We the it's the Railway Hotel. vened there for lunch and we're told from July we're losing our Rugeley traffic.
Leicestershire coal has gone to kugeicy powel station in Staffordshire since steam days. We've drivers 40-odd years. traffic's been given Stoke and Essington Wood, and depots in the Crewe area as a punishment.
It's also cut off an important market for Leicestershire miners' coal. So the 2500 Leicestershire miners that scabbed have just lost market for their coal as a pumsament to tne rauwaymen. How's that for Ironv!
On Friday we had another meeting. This time about shunt locomotives.
Our yard used to have unree That's been eroded to one. We've been told that from 10 May that locomotive THE last year ROY BUTLIN led coal through the depot. When the workers were victimised for that support, Coalville struck. Now the making sure that the Coalville workers aren't in such Action his Kent hosts will go and there's driver's job gone with it.
Call vi for a medically restricted Hall. Ruling Old Agatha's going to the scrap yard on a rridav afternoon, the busiest day. When she of the junctions the lads are going to drop the plug. She'll up.
've got some advice for you: don't travel to Sheffield that day!
All this is happening in a matter of a month. By railway standards, that is the speed of light. There's a reason, with geography.
Our depot is situated exactly between Leicester ailu Burton. freight-only , railway linking two main lines. That strategic position was why we were so successful in supporting Ine miners. That's why management is taking WUIK gradually away till there's no depot They'll chop this sec. tion out and work what's left of Leicestershire coal from the eastern end of the branch. They'll work the South Derbyshire coal and other jobs we've got, like the quarries, off the western end.
They don't want to be in a position again where a Stal group alway workers can seal off working coalfield. There's always possibility another miners while Arthur Scargill's the president. You can see the long-term thinking behind it.
Locally, they've got a problem. There's a lot o feeling building up in the town - I've done my best to tuel ll - about restoring the passenger service.
There's local elections coming We've even got one of our MCLUCIN Labour councillor. Everyody is in favour of restor ng une bassenger servic The excuse in the past Was But the new light-weight units are 10I branch lines. So we say let's have them and provide the service. It's. business, linking several towns with good sized populations.
The lobby to return the passenger service to our interferes with the plan to sever the middle por tion of Leicester's rail network. It's become as big obstacle Illallace ment as the signalman who wouldn't remove coal.
Even the Conservatives say they're for restoring the railway. They're our side!
Aylesham, Kent, last Socialist Action This was underlined by Jack Collins, , secretary of Kent NUM, other speakers who pointed out that not only were pits threatened through miners taking voluntary redundancies the Coal board unreatening closure but the entire branch committee had been sacked a1 Betteshanger Jack Collins explained this was Kent had been so strongly opposed to calling off the overtime ba"Mark Jones, father of Davy, who was killed on the picket line, made moving speech that showed that he blamed the TUC for failing to give the There's three lessons been learned miners' strike at Coalville: one by the mangement and two by ourselves. The management's lesson lon't let a small group o rue trade unionists bloc off a working coalfield.
They've learned a lesson 410011 geography about planning traffic We're going to suffer for it.
We've learned two lessons. we The Third Socialist Action Saturday for the Third International Miners' Solidarity meeting. Kay Sutcliffe summed up the message of the day when she asserted that the strike had finished but the struggle to defend pits and communities, and sacked and imprisoned miners, was in no sense over.
miners the deserved. 'Norman Willis was about as much use as a one legged man in an arse kicking contest, he said.
Greetings were given to the rally by Jaap Van Kleef of the SAP (Dutch Section of unle Fourth Muleria tional) and Hans Christian Nielson, an aircratt shoo steward from Copenhagen Airport who reported general strike Belfast anti-union laws. councillor People's member Fergus O'Hare roused the meeting with a speech that explained brought 'joy into the hearts of people in Ireland to see other people rise up can't rely on our NUR naleadership. When yanuary, there wasik lot of had trouble and pain gel them anything. So we're disillusioned with OWI leadershi both the NUR and the TUC Railway Board 300,000 in Our the lost revenue. They haven't taken ASLEF or the NUR to court under the new legislation. They won't -because they're scared to.
The regional lilallar hold you personally yeshold personally lobbying:' And I said, I'll pay What 1 says: To guit willing to pay it. Stop it at 50p a week The other lesson we've learned from the miners strike is about fighting. , At our depot the miners' struggle throughout the Photo: SOCIALIST ACTION coalfields was an inspira. tionwe've learned how to fight, how to lobby, to campaign. We've learn. ed how to be a pain in the everybod management, the lot.
When we're locked into our next fight — it'll be a bigger one than we had during the miners' because it's our livelihood we're talking about know i can rev on the NUM.
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first to join the Coalville picket line last January and that women from the Kent mining community brav- ed the hostility of the town to come and build sup-
Coalville railworkers' strong and determined stand in support of the miners' strike — refusing to move
miners' strike is over and British Rail management looks set to retaliate, taking away depot jobs and
Miners' Solidarity meeting, in Kent last weekend, Roy He stressed
Coalville, pointing out that Kent miners were the We reproduce below an edited version of his
International Miners Solidarity Meeting ONE HUNDRED and fifty people gathered in