ber, the decision of South Wales and Tyneside engineers to impose an extended overtime ban, and the decision of Scottish engineers to strike on 12 November, there can be little doubt that the membership is in a fighting mood.
Problems Despite the steps forward that are being taken, huge problems still stand in the way of successfully carrying through the engineers and miners" claims, Most of these are at present less due to the manoeuvres of the Government than the failure of the trade union leadership to make the necessary preparations for a fight. In many areas of the NUM, for example, mass mectings have not boen called to discuss the claim. Meanwhile Joe Gormley has been thrashing about trying to get every concrete proposal for action put off and raising the spectre of a Tory clection victory to frighten his members away from the idea of a strike.
In the engineering unions the situation is even worse. The AUEW excutive is not doing enough to tight for the ciam. The National Committer nas instructed the executive to carry out a publicity campaign to mobilise the membership around the claim, but all that has been done so far is the issuing of 200,000 copies of • leallet for a union with one million members and a clatm that will affect three million workers!
Even with regard to the most elementary step of calling mass meeting of the membership, the Executive has done nothing. Where these have taken place it has been at the initiative of individual branches and districts, and not as Above and left: Sections of Monday's 7,000strong demonstration against the NIRC leaving Speakers Corner for rally at Tower Hill. actoss the country other groups of workerscapecially building workers in London, Manchester and Liverponl have come out to support the engineers. In Glasgow firms committed to strike on the 12th include Goodyears, where 90% of the work force are in the T&G, and Craigneuk Foundry where there are only 6 members of the AUEW out of 244 workers, What must be done in the present situation is to forge this unity, not just on a last minute one-off basis, but as a key part of the planning for the strugsie. This has already heen recog nised, for example, by the resolution of the West of England engineering council of the white-collar union APEX, which calls on the union executive to prepare proposais for fighting Phase 3 in concert with other unions. It is shown in the moves afoot in TASS, for example, at the Shardlow's Tactory in Shelfieid, to submit the same claim as the rest of the AUEW and to wage a united strugale. seen a similar display of working class unity. All First, the executive of the two unions should meet joingtly to agree on a common plan of 'struggle. Militants in both unions can start this rolling by passing resolutioos calling for such a meeting. Even before this, however, local meetings of engineering workers and miners can be organised, to which other unions can be invited also, to plan joint united action in cach locality.
The Communist Party is in a particularly key