THE BLACK DWARF 13-5 . Socialists usually meet policemen on the wrong side of the barricades. But have spent a fair amount of time teaching police cadets. Teaching them in MORAL VICTORY FOR HORNSEY Labour Councillor: "IF you have a rent strike .
Tenant Activist:
TENANTS "What do you mean IF?"
C. Rosenberg (N.U.T.)
Valerie Deacon, Keith Veness The recent rent rises imposed by the Tories have had a galvanising Teachers in B.it.in, at least at the lowor end o the scale. are mOrG badly paid than those of mosE European countries. Women primary school starters in trban areas (as an have to find another pound extra examble) getting 47% of their for these places. Swedish courterparts, 67% of their The Labour Party Y.S. swung German. At the same time the NUT, into action to help the tenants and by far the biggest union, having more than a quarter million memthe Federation almost as soon as the rents were increasca. Besides bers (about seven times bigger than aiding the Federation in its activities its nearest rival, the male NAS) is the Y.S. branch sent a resolution to one of the most backward and conthe Constituency Party (East servalve unions. cause the union Willesden) calling on it to pledge -and effect low pay—are plain to all the support it could to the see. tenants including a financial contri- Docility, however, is certainly bution and other material aid. This not inherent in the profession. was passed unanimously and the Within the last year alone we have Labour Party undertook to circulate scen the protracted and militant the appeal to all wards and union strike of American teachers; in the branches affiliated to lend support May-June events in France the and encouragement to the relevant teachers were among the first out, Associations. among the last in, and in many inThe Federation E.C. decided to stances collaborated wholeheartedly try each of the items listed below with their pupils in their struggle in the following order:- against the authoritarian school; a a) Write to Ministry to try to get Japanese comrade remarks that the the rise annulled. teachers' unic is the most militant b) Refuse co-operation in rent in the Japanese e uipment of the collection. The council would TUC (our DATA counterpart, no like to cut collections to once doubt). This story can be repeated a fortnight, but this should be in many countries.
refused. Which just goes to show that there c) To withhold the increase and is much leeway that can be made up pay the money to the Federathe potential is stimulated tion, which will release it when action. An inkling of this can be eviction is threatened but not seen in the strong support given the before. feeble union effort over dinner d) An all-out rent strike as a last supervision sanctions recently. In resort, failing success in any of the distant past it was the ComAt the time of going to press a the above. munist left, both as regards Party which militancy led the Ministry the rises appears to be in over salaries and socialist educathe offing, though how much hope tional ideas. Till the Hungarian can be attached to this is debatable.
events, indeed, they constituted one A court injunction is being consiof the pe biggest "industrial" dered by the Federation if this is factions, with hundreds of members. unsuccessful. But since then their numbers have The lessons are becoming obvious dropped catastrophically, and both to most tenants. The Tories are their politically and industrially (they enemies and must be fought. This ably assisted the sell out of teachers is, however, only one of the lessons.
in the 1961 near-strike - the high What they have also realised is that:
point of teachers militancy in recent a) The local Labour Party bears years) they have become effete little resemblance to the antics among teachers, as elsewhere.
of Parliamentary cretins at This leaves a wide-open field for Westminster, and is in fact their only political expression. This the left. which must start again was realised in South Kilburn, almost from scratch. Conditions are where the Carlton Ward re- not easy to work in, as schools are turned Labour Councillors with small, primary scheols having nearer 10 than 20 teachers and frequently a bigger majority than previously, mainly due to the less than 10; secondary schools with as many as 150 teachers being very Tenants' Association. b) Only their own militancy will rare and even these fragmented. The rare and even these fragmented. The M.P.s.
get tham Councillors and other officials a school encourages a drift into a groove of careerism and conformism