the key The crisis in educabion and the other social services needs a response by the whole of the working class, because it is the whole of the working class who are being affected, and only the use of their power can deal But the workers who are most directly involved - teachers and hospital workers for example - have an especially important role to play. By fighting back to improve their pay and conditions and by showing to the rest of the working class how the cuts in social e-penditure affoct evervone, public sector workers can lead the way for the whole movement. pay out extra cash to transport The struggles in these sectors are a harbinger of what many groups of workers will face in the near future low pay, cuts in living standards, deterioration in working conditions, redundancies, eto. The problems which these strugeles pose for socialists is how these workers can develop a united offensive to the attacks of the employers and the In London and Scotland teachers have organised in Action Committees to fight for increased wages. The composed of delegates elected by each school and directly accountable to their schools.
During the strikes in June and July, the London Teachers Action Committee mobilised over 1,000 teachers and won the majority of teachers to its side. It was ahle to turn the tables on the executive because it took as its starting point the democratic organisation of the strugele and the involvement of the It had such an impuct that Leachers initially hostile to it were won over to acknowledging the leading role it played in that fight. They did so not simply because of its size, but because they saw it was a body they could directly affect and Both the Scottish and London Action Committees have a potential to take on tasks far greater than just organising strikes. George Kerevan, a Scottish teacher, in an interview with Red Weekly outlined the way in which action committees could monitor the education system.
*Teachers in the class rooms of every school could oversee the working of the education system on a day-to-day basis. The action committees could use this information to win to their sade other trade unioniets and parents to The pattern in all cases is one of piecemeal attacks on the education system. The Action Committees clearly could begin to draw up a and enecs pi une cals to 3a0m trade unionists the real depth of The crisis in the education system directly affects many other groups of workers. This means they too should he involved in joint action In Loeds members of the IMG are attempting to set up a conference of teachers, trade unionists and students in order to examine the cuts and work out a plan of action which can unite all of these groups to fight back.
Already there are signs that the fight back is on the way. In July there was a half-day strike of teachers in Leeds which forced the local authority to hold back its plans to decimate the building programme. Some new building is going ahead -but six schools have had to be closed because of faulty construction. The local authority has had to children from one school to another and it will have to fork out money to replace these dangerous buildings.
Students from Park Lane Further Education College showed the kind of response neceasary when they occupied the Leeds Education Authority offices and foreed the authority to pay grants they had threatened to cut.
SPREADING The Leeds local authority, alarinod at the prospect of a counter-attack, are aiming to move the cuis away from education on to the other sectors. They are threatening house improvement grants, council house maintenance, youth clubs, murseries and other less "obvious" areas. They hope that spreading the effects of the cuts, particularly among weakly organised workers, will minimise the possibilities of a fight back The first task must be to organise a public sector alliance of einployees affected hy these cutbacks. This must be the first stage to winning support among wider sections of the trade union movement to launch a campaign in the whole of the working class against cuts in the social services.
In London the first redundancies could fall on the weakly organ ised ancillary staff. The action committees, using their organised strength, could lead the fight in defence of technicians, cooks, school helpers, ete who face this 1 threal. They could also lead a fight to increase the number of nursery places available Scotland are beginning to look beyond the fight for a E15 fat rute increase. They are discussing how they can continue and extend the fight to improve the Scottish education system. The action committees can begin to lay the basis for a full workers' enquiry which will organise the whole labour movement against tbe cutbacks in educational spending The attacks on education, however, are only part of tbe offensive against working class living standards. The next steps must be to link up the workers in health, local government.
housing and cducation to develop a united response.
Red Weekly 7 November 1974 Page 9