Site organisation under attack ta were as as a a men od and stamp deductions is a real miterial reason for being docile, Meamwhile, of course, the lad on cards has no chance of solidarity if he fights back against the low wages and dangerous working conditions typical of an unorganised site.
But to fight on a company wide basis requires • much higher level of orgunisation. It cannot be left to a tew well organised sites: During the building strike, the 'making up of convenor stewards to full official status gave the unions the expenienced manpower needed to lead the flying pickets. In this campaign too, leading stewards, given official status and supported by levies from their sites, should have been asked to pull out sites for one day at a time to picket. The chosen employer could have heen made a focus for an all-London campaign with the resulting company agreement being used asa precedent in the struggle apainst other compires. And organisation on these sites, without which no agreement could be polioed, would have been enormously strengthened in the process.
But meanwhile the union executives, Instead of organising the type of campaign agreed on at the regional conferenoe, have negotiated a provisional agreement with the National Federation of Building Trade Employers which is supposed to lend' the lump. The provisional agreement. will apparently: - set up a register of employers;
make National Joint Council terms.and conditions mandatory for registered companies: - introduce the deduction of union dues from wages in registered companies: - increase the flow of information to the union officials on sub contractors and conditions of employment.
The full draft agreement has not yet been made available, but details released so far suggest it is not satisfactory.
The deduction of union dues at source in particulur appears to the union bureaucracy to ERRATA Wie regret the following errors in our last issue:
Page 4 Icolumn 31. Eugene McCarthy was not the Democratic Party prosidential candidate in 1968:
The candidate was Hubert Humphrey. But the Mccarthy phenomenon did begin the serious Pice 8: The middle four paragraphs in column 3 should go at the and of the article. solve the main problem they have over the lump, The traditional figures in the UCATT executive are not militants. Their opposition to the lump reflects, not the interests of the workers, but their own need for a remedy to a very shaky financial position. With the spread of the lump the trade sections of UCATT (painters, carpenters and bricklayers) have declined rapidly in size, leaving CATT with a falling income. But instead of campaigning for site organisation as the best means to finance the union, the deduction of dues at source will underaune site orgarusation by deprising stewards of one of their functions, This is an indication of low serious the bureaucrats are aboul getting rid of the lump. The deal is supposed to mean that the employers abide by National Joint Council Working Rules, Does this include the rule which says all building trade operatives shall be in the direct employment of a building contractor or sub Alf Roberts (shop steward, AUEW Construction Section, FLC site and Nick Adams.
A widespread attack on trade unionists in the London building trade seems to be building up. with the employers going on the offensive on a number of key sites.
At Mcinerncy's, in Finsbury Park, the new works committee found itself sacked within two hours of being elected, Similarly, management has withdrawn recognition from all trade union representatives on the Lovell's Guildford Street site.
ILC RESISTS Now another attack has come at the Imperial London Contractors' site in Bedford Way. where two scaffolders were sacked on 13 June affer being involved in a minor accident. The next day the remaining 11 scaffolders on the site were also fired for imposig an overtime han, Fifteen mouths ago there were only ahout a dozen trade unionists on the site, out of a workforce of 140, and Lump' labour was freely used. However the scaffolders, all mem bers of the construction section of the ALTER, brought with them strong traditions of trade union organisation. Largely as a resull of their contractor"? (Paragraph I, Working Rule Agree ment). George Smith, gencral secretary of UCATT, has announced that the agreement would merely eradicate the worst excesses of self employment.' What does this mean?
ORGANISATION There is no grantee that the employers will register, nor is there any guarantee that they will abide by the conditions of registration, For years, major employers such as Kirby Laing have signed the NJC agreement yet the lump runs riot on their sites. The only guarantee building workers can have is orginisation, both to impose agreements on to employers and to police agreements. A real campaign this summer in London would have done much to strengthen this organisation.
So far, the left in London, dominated by the Communist Party, has responded with resoluLions unly lo the executives failure to mount a campaign. The wave of militancy flowing create new instruments of straggle. The London activity, the site is now 100% trade union, and democratically ciected works, welfare and safety commitlees keep the workers fuily informed about day-to-day probiems and act as a watchdog over manugement.
TURNING BACK THE CLOCK The management, of course, liked things better the way they had been. So they tried to turn the clock back, paying 'special attention' to the scaffolders. This included attempts to slap weekend overtime on them af the last minute, replace their three-men gangs with twomen gangs, as well as constant violation of the safety regulntions.
The scaffolders replied hy demanding that an extra gung should be taken on as an alternative to overtine working and gang splitting, and as a step to heig relieve the serious unemployment among sciffolders, When they imposed an overtime han to back up these demands, management replied by manufacturing a trig Haverg served this warning on the men, Ma nape mat his now announced I5 wilingnes in the interests of all trade umonists on the to reinstate eseven of the thirtec, The two involved in the accident must face the imparABOVE: Successtul picket of Dean's site, Battersca last Friday, Speaker is Alan Tattam (UCATT)
Joint Sites Committee, an unofficial body, is less representative now than it was a few years ago (many of its most experienced members have been blacklisted). No steps have yet been taken to establish a London Shop Stewards Committee of the type set up in Birmingham, which is running a far more effective campaign against the lump.
The campaign against the Jump conducted on a company hasis depends on the existence of such a body in London. The isolation of militants at site level and in rump branches miles from their workplace has to be overcome. We must fight for a joint shop stewards commitlee as the best instrument to carry the campaign forward and to poline agreements made with the companies. Meanwhile, all abop stewards and activities should attend the London Joint Sires Committee meeling at the Metropolitan Pub, Farringdon Road, every other Thursday evening.
tial justice of a Building Employers" Federaa retura to work on this hasis, but the men have decided to stick it out until all thirteen ure reinstated with full pay.
BOSSES BONANZA This site is to be a 1600 room luxury hotel in central London - a straight licence to print money. But the employers are still prepared to risk the cost of a major labour dispute now in order to smash the trade union militants once and for ail, Completion date for the site is 1976, so a big victory for the bosses woull mean three years free from union "trouble makers. The decision of the Tory Government to lift the restrictions on building in the centre of London, plus generous hand-outs for hotel building. have created a now bonanza in properly development. To take full advantage of these opportunities for vast profit-making. the buiding contractors need workers who will worst and most dangerous conditions in order to meet deadlines. This is one of the reasons why the lump is so popular wich building empioyers and why anallour drive aguinst trade union orginisation and militancy on London sites is cleariy on the cards.
For these reasons the tight at Imperial London Contractors' may well be long and hard. It b London sites to back these lads to the hilt - it could be their turn tomorrow Red Weakly 13 July 1973 Page 3