IMGpapers 1968–75

Newspapers of the International Marxist Group and its forerunners, 1968–75

Workers right back against Healey's hatchet

Red Weekly No. 78, 28 November 1974 · p. 3 of the scan · 1,100 words

The scan: rw-no78-nov-28-1974.pdf (PDF, Marxists Internet Archive, opens at this page)

Uncorrected machine reading. This text was read by machine (Apple Vision OCR) from a scan of a newspaper page, and the page was cut into articles by machine, at the headlines found by their type size. Nothing has been corrected: expect misread words, text from a neighbouring article, and titles that are the machine reading of the headline, some of them only fragments. Quote from the scan, not from this page.
How this article was cut and titled: headline found by type size in the OCR geometry (split_tabloid.py); 2-5 of 5; machine-segmented newspaper page; uncorrected Vision OCR.

page 3 of the scan

GOING..... .....GOING wage pocket. paid teaching force; ramme of action they be ene is the press release they have put out.

At its meeting on Sunday 10 November, Left Unity - a grouping of socialists active in the AUEW in Leeds - decided to put its full weight behind the campaign that is building up in opposition to call cuts in social expenditure. The reasons for this are twofold.

Firstly we believe we are witnessing nothing less than the crumbling of all aspects of the "welfare state". This extends from education cuts and cutbacks in council house maintenance, to public works, youth clubs and the entire health serice all falling to ruin.

In other words, working people, without whost Struggles the Welfare State would never have arisen, are facing a whole series of attacks on their living standards which go beyond the falling value of their Some of the consequences are, in Leeds: • The use of inferior concrete on some new schools resulting in them becoming dangerous: • Public Works and Housing programmes grinding to • Attempts to cut an already inadequate and under• A decline in the maintenance of existing housing stock; • Attempts to give no grants to Further Education is to chop down Youth clube we believe war have a dutv in the engir astry to make it quite cinar to our fellow orken that we should be prepared to take industr action to secure a filt in the decime of neus! ects of our living standards just as much as we are, say, on threshold payments.

We would support the calling of a conterence of all those pepeared to fight the curs to plan out a prog , and in the interim wn will be looking to our Labour MP's to add their weight to the campaign.

Let it be known that working poopie, whetner Beer, council workars, health workars or teachers, will not lie down and allow the employers and their allies to solve the deep crisis in their system of the Inferno at Central Hall next week by the bosses, the form of pay laws.

such a move were attempted.

protection from inflation for all wages and state benefits.

people for an end to their oppression.

nothing about this.

ment aimed at obtaining these demands.

such a body.

for the Socirlint Drited Shares of Europe Labour Government. state machine.

+*+* Issues at Labour Party Conference The agreement patched up between the Labour Party Executive and the Labour Cabinet over Ministerial responsibility was clearly timed to take the heat out of this week's Labour Party Conference.

Whether or not it does so remains to be seen. Certainly delegates will have more than enough grievances to fuel a good working model *THE BUDGET. Labour's last Budget was greeted with almost universal indignation by the rank-and-file of the labour movement: The only alternative to the Government's pro-capitalist policies are socialist polletes which base themselves on the struggle of the working class. Such policies would entail the drawing up by the whole workers' movement of a workers' pian for the economy, including measures for the nationalisation of key industries and the banks and insurance companies. Such a plan would rely on workers' controTto ensure its implementation and the breaking of any sabotage attempl *THE SOCIAL CONTRACT. The crisis of capitalism has created a situation where workers must run ever more frantically just to stand still as far as living standards are concerned. Those who cannot keep this pace up-students, old age pensioners, the poorly orga nised-are slipping steadily backwards. Not safisfied with trying to trip workers up through the social contract, the Labour Government is now talking about building a brick wall across the road in The Labour Party Conference should spell out where it stands. It should affirm the right of workers both to protect their living standards and improve them, whether the bankrupt capitalist system can afford it or not. No Government should be allowed to reintroduce pay laws, and every section of the workers' movement should commit itself to taking part in the organisation of a general strike if Instead of holding down wages the Government should be forced to protect all working people's incores from inflation through the enactment of a law that would extend the 'thresholds" to give 100% *IRELAND, Lahour Party Conference should demand that Labou deals witn the Irish question oy gerting Britian troopr out, At the same time the workers" movement should pledge itself to support the struggle for a united Ireland abd all the struggles of catholic working -THE PICKETING LAWS. When in opposition, Labour made all kinds of promises about reversing the reactionary decisions on picketing made by the courts under the Tories. But they have done The Government should be compelled to pardon the Shrews bury militants immediately, abolish all anti-picket laws, and do away with the conspiracy laws. Labour Conference should proclaim its willingness lo organise mass demonstrations and support Industrial action launched by any section of the workers' mave *THE COMMON MARKET, The Lahour Government is busy "Tenegotiating" Britain's position in che EEC. But no amount ot Tenegotiation' can change the nature of the FEC as a cupitalist body, designed to serve the needs of Burope's capitalists. It is not in the Interests of workers in this country or anywhere cise to shore up The Labour Conference should be pledged to campaign vigorously for Britain's withdrawal. Instead of hob-nobbing with 'Eurocrats in Brussels the British labour movement should be linking up with other European workers who are fighting the capiralist crisis-like those in Haly and France at the moment. En this way a genuine working chas internationaiim can be forged, and the fight begun "WORKERS DEMOCRACY. The dispute over Ministerial responsibility" is just the tip of a big iceberg. Labour Party militants should fight for workers' democracy at all levels in the organisetion of the struggle, in the Party, and in the tunctioning of the The decisions of democratic, representative bodies like the Labour Party Conference must be binding upon Labour MPs-including Government Ministers. At the same time the Government should take its policies not from the ruling class bureaucrats of Whitehall, the capitalist experts of some think tank, or the big shots of the CBI, but the milions of working people who clected them. It is to these working people and their organisations that the Government should took for implementation of its policies not the capitalist

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One group of workers have decided that Healey's plans for slashing social expenditure to fill the bosses pockets must be resisted this

← Scottish teachers take to streets of LondonGONE..... →

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