Docks: after the vote, start the strike!
Labour Briefing1980sTranscribed by hand from the printed page.
Dockers employed under the National Dock Labour Scheme have voted by 74% to 26% (in a 90% poll) for an all-out indefinite strike over the refusal of the Port Employers to negotiate a national agreement to cover working conditions after the abolition of the Scheme by the government.
It is a remarkable vote by any standard, especially since every docker knows that this is not the same as striking against an individual employer.
It means embarking on a bitter struggle in which the Port Employers will get the full support of the government, including the use of the courts and even the army, if necessary.
Its obvious parallel is the year-long miners' strike of 1984/5. Its outcome will be a major factor in the success of the current round of industrial struggles and the future fortunes of the Thatcher government.
The Port Employers were clearly shaken by the size of the strike majority, which they had confidently predicted would be much smaller.
Sir Keith Stuart of Associated British Ports tried to claim that the result showed that "significant numbers of dockers did not support the union's call for a strike."
He was even desperate enough to argue that if the 10% of dockers who had not voted were counted as votes against the strike, "only 68% of dockers supported a strike."
Though obviously shaken by the vote, Stuart offered no concessions, stressing that the employers were not interested in a negotiated settlement to replace the Scheme.
Like the Stock Exchange, which showed no signs of grasping the momentous importance of this ballot for the British economy, he is clearly confident that, between Ron Todd and the High Court, a strike will somehow be avoided.
He described the TGWU as "blustering".
Stuart's optimism is well founded. Despite the thumping majority for strike action, Todd, speaking at a press conference called to announce the ballot result, fixed no date for the start of the action.
In fact, he called upon dockers to refrain from strike action until the results of current battles in the courts are known. That could take a long time, since there are already three legal actions taking place and there could be more soon.
On May 18th the High Court heard submissions from three of the employers claiming that any strike over this issue would be illegal, since it would be a dispute with the government and therefore not a legitimate trades dispute.
This case was "adjourned" until the following Monday in an obvious political and tactical move. Clearly the court wanted to wait for the outcome of the ballot and the response of the dockers before deciding what to do.
Employers at Tilbury Docks in London are going a step further. They are suing the TGWU for £250,000 for loss of trade — attributed to the calling and holding of the ballot.
In addition to these moves, it is certain that the employers will now challenge the wording on the ballot paper, claiming that it was too general.
Decision
They will be encouraged by the recent High Court decision against the NUR. In this case the court ruled that the union's ballot paper on London Underground was too detailed and therefore confusing.
Unless action is taken to implement the TGWU ballot, the dockers' magnificent vote will be squandered in the half-baked disputations of lawyers and barristers, who will certainly make a fortune out of it.
It has now become clear that it is almost impossible to have a legal strike on the docks.
Roy Garston, Chair of Hull Port Stewards, addressed a meeting of all 670 Hull dockers which voted unanimously to walk out in defence of four dockers who were to be removed from the register.
Hull Port Employers are now taking legal action against Garston for "incitement to breach of contract."
The choices facing trade unionists are increasingly stark. Either the law is to be defied or all the working conditions established by dockers and other workers over many decades will be destroyed at a stroke.
As we go to press, Ron Todd has called a meeting of the TGWU National Docks Committee for Tuesday, May 23rd, to consider the ballot result.
They should reject Todd's opposition to breaking the law, set a firm date to implement the dockers' democratic decision, and proceed with an all-out strike.