Over 200 teachers and trade unionists pickated a meeting of Oxfordshire County Souncil on 12 November to protest minst proposais to out education spendIn order to allow his big handouts to private business, Healey has had to make cuts elsewhere. At the top of his list was public spending, which he announced would be limited to an annual increase of 2% per cent in real terms-Le. after allowing for inflation.
At the moment real public spending has been rising at the rate of 7 per cent a year, so Healey's plan involves a drumatic cut-back, Where is il going to come from?
Labour has lang been talking about makina detence curs but niven their oftreposted commitment to NATO and imperiatism generally, that can only he a cuts will tall on the nationalised industries and on lonal nuthority spending.
In the first case elealey is talking abour to nationalised industries by having them put up their pricos. It suca a scheme were fully implemented it would mean taking 2 pAl el 21000 munon cul al tre pockers of the worising class. Worse still the burdens of this increase would fall most bes. pi un tie worst arrCas, coal and ciectricity (all of which will be going up in price), for example, cat ap some 13 por cent of the budget of poor Tamilies, but less then 3 por cent of those LE FRE TOP As for local anthority sponding, Healey has said chis must bo Limited to what Je Yer local suthochies faco the following ing by half a million pounds in 1975/76.
Chancelter Healey's Budget proposals positively encourage such cuts. But in generally, and new equipment has already been pared to the bone:
*the population us continuing to grow, creating new demanos on the sociae services (for example the school age population is presently growing at 3 per cent a yearso spending on schools would have to top Healey's miserly limit just to stand totally stall;
*the massive euts made by the Tories in May and December 1973 hone sill not been made good, as a result of which social services have deteriorated very badly.
Under theas circumstances the main cutbacks will have to come off the labour foroc, and Healey did specifically say that there could be no expansion of local future.
But what about pensions? Hasn't Labour generously hiked them by 16 per cent?
- Indeed it has-but, as we have shown abore, it also will be clawing back a huge sice ol-ts by nikus un ald da pensio hers fuel charges, not to mention other STICC NAS Mureover, this increase is to be pail for by the working class through a new wage-related national insurance contrihation. This is virtually a recond ілсоте лох o un workers and is estaca to cue WORKETS InEOMes Dy ROother a ner cant on top of su the other measares in the bulget.
In short, Labour's nati-working cinss policies ae guiny to fall very lieavily on the social serrices in the period ahead. Ir you think things have heen bad up until now-wait uncil you see what Healty has been copking up for you! through without a struggle. A committee of teachers, trade unionists, parents, students and others from across the county has now been set up to continue the rates. THE RESPONSE of the TUC to Healey's bosses" budget was to welcome it with only one or two minor reservations! Such is the price exacted by adherence to the social contract. The alternative of leading a struggle based on mass action for a workers" solution to the crisis hus of course been rejec ted out of hand by these bureaucrats.
But the first faltering steps in this direction taken by workers in other European countries show chat such a struggle is not only necessary but also completely possible.
In Italy, for instance, the trade unions have been to the fore in fight- found guilty of sabotaging produc ing price increases of the kind envi- tion saged by Healey. No less than 76,000 workers in Turin have now written to the electricity company informing them that they won't be paying a recent increase of 70 per cent in the tariff, In Milan the trade unions nave gone even further, defying an increase in bus fares by issuing their own tickets to passengers at the old In Portugal, too, sections of workers are beginning to realise the neod to develop their own action on these questions. A conference was recent By organised by ITT workers with delegales from all the multinational's Portuguese factories, to demand mensures such as action against those secking to divert cap tal abroad, and the imprisonment and confiscation of property of bosses Meanwhile in France there has been a massive outburst of indus trial action against the Goverament's recently announced susterity measures, which aim to restore the economy by cutting back workers" living standards.
All these examples are of the utmost importance for British trade unionists as they face up to Healey's Budget offensive. The social contract cannot be fought on the questien of wages alone. It is by learning from the first, hesitant steps of our European comrades that we can begin to take up these broader questions, and so develop an alterna Live worker plan for the econmy. Martin Meteyard
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services bear the brunt
Oxfordshire at Inast they will not go *their spending on housing. building