Wapping: build on the ballot victory: Bring out Fleet Street!
Labour Briefing1980sTranscribed by hand from the printed page.
"Which way forward now?" was the crucial question posed by the results of the secret ballot of the 6,000 sacked print workers at Wapping on the deal said by Rupert Murdoch to be his "final offer".
In a result which confounded almost every commentator on the dispute the NGA members voted 648 against and 165 in favour of the deal, the AEU voted 112 against and 56 in favour and, in the most surprising vote of all, the members of the majority union SOGAT 82, voted 2,081 against and 1,415 in favour of the deal.
This remarkable vote is a tribute to the local chapel and branch leaderships and the active militant print workers from the picket lines who fought so hard for a principled vote in defence of jobs and to reject the lay-off offer.
Their jubilance at the results was in sharp contrast to Brenda Dean's television performance, where she looked as if she was announcing a major defeat.
It could hardly be more important for the whole labour movement that those who fought for this successful result build on it by developing a new way forward which can lead to a victory in the dispute, which is now in its 20th week.
Brenda Dean and the SOGAT Executive know that the local leaderships have the ability to do this. No sooner was the result announced than the SOGAT NEC voted to move a resolution to the SOGAT Conference which would place the control of the dispute entirely in its hands.
That was not all. The seven point resolution went on to call for the dispute to be prosecuted by all means "consistent with ensuring the maintenance of SOGAT as an independent Trade Union" — a policy which would trap the dispute within its print strategy, which is clearly inadequate to win the dispute.
Since then, the results of the Conference have created a serious problem for the dispute. There was rank and file pressure on Dean which eventually forced her to recognise that the NI dispute was about jobs and not compensation — which had been her consistent position; but the decisions the Conference took over the conduct of the dispute are politically disastrous. However, this pales into insignificance against the fact that the Executive motion was carried unanimously after what have been described as "behind the scenes negotiations" between the London Branch and the EC.
It is now union policy adopted by Conference not to do anything which would infringe the law and lead to the sequestration of union funds and to place the control of the dispute in the hands of the NEC.
This comes at a time when the clear implication of the ballot results was that the dispute should be escalated by involving the rest of Fleet Street and other SOGAT members doing work associated with NI production.
There were no resolutions at Conference on this. Instead a number of resolutions were adopted calling for picketing to be stepped up at Wapping, for a campaign on the expulsion of the EETPU from the TUC, and for a stepping up of the boycott campaign.
Whilst all these measures are important they will not win the dispute.
The London branches and the militant printers running the picket lines surely cannot settle for this? They are the ones who have been the driving force of the dispute up to now. They are the ones who so successfully campaigned for the successful ballot result. They are the ones who should keep democratic control of the dispute and forge a way forward which can break the present deadlock.
"Wreckers"
Nothing else makes sense. Brenda Dean opened the conference by calling the London branches "wreckers" and it ended with a unanimous vote to give the NEC control of the dispute.
The control of the dispute should be in the hands of the rank and file of the three unions involved.
The NGA leadership have taken a stronger stand than Brenda Dean. They did at least recommend a "no" vote in the ballot. But an important factor in that was the regular meeting of all those in dispute which has allowed the rank and file to make their voice heard.
All this is worse when considered against the remarkable commitment to the dispute by the vast majority of those involved. When was there a dispute of this magnitude with such a high percentage of members involved in picketing? It is probably unique!
It is not so surprising when looked at against the proud history of the trade unions on Fleet St. They have a history not only of supporting themselves but of supporting other sections of workers under attack from both the law and the employers.
Now they are under attack — and it is an attack which involves all Fleet St workers — not just as a principle but because of the clear implications of what a defeat at NI would mean for the whole of the newspaper industry.