for the third conference called by the city Trades Council on Shrewsbury.
Delegates at the last conference in Liverpool numbered over 800. After the 14 January demonstration, the biggest ever held on Shrewsbury, the conference this weekend was a set back in the campaign.
The Communist Party, the main force behind the conference and the strongest group on the conference floor wanted this meeting to rubber stamp their ideas.
COBBLED The resolution, cobbled together by the Trades Council EC only minutes before the conference began was forced through ruthlessly. The chair spoke four times against the amendment calling for support for the Wigan Building worker march. He dad not allow supporters of the amendment to to reply to discussion.
Again the Communist Party were content to organic a jamhorce, insulting militants by telling them the only thing they were allowed to do was vote for or against some pre-ordained recipe for the Shrewsbury campaign.
And what did they serve up? resolution (passed overwhelmingly) congratulated the TUC for organising the national lobby of Parliament on 14 Janury almost two yeats aller the proceedings were started against the original 24 defendents.
It also decided to support the lobby of the TUC General Council on 26 February as the first step in the campaign to get the TUC to call a day of national concerted strike action and if necessary, indefinite action to release the pickets. Nobody explained that to get the TUC to back strike action meant showing to them that uniess they moved they would be swept aside by a movement already taking action, Delegates were not reminded that when the Pentonville dockers were released, all the TUC could do was call a one day General Strike when Wigan Action Com full story the action was more or less over. It ockers wete released.
The trade union officials and CP members who spoke at Liverpool went out of their way to say there was no.comparison between the freeing of the Five and the fight to free the Shrewshury 1. They said every militant was bitter then about the Industrial Relations Act. The miners had already shown the way by punching a hole through the kers were jailed there was already a well of anger that made workers respond immediately as the strikes ACTION COMMITTEE ipport of Shrewsbury 2: see p.12 for began to spread.
when it had been taken up by the had less impact amongst militants.
for all the hopes raised by the TUC backing the 14 January lobby, the way in some London Borougis (Hammersmith, Westminster).
the response of the Labour Party and union buncameracy has been abysmal. Tory incomes policy. When the docTough to free the lads. of the campaign. at a low ebb. This is because resolutJons like the one in Liverpool, have shown no way forward except the utopian and impractical idea that even one day strike action will be enThousands of workers who have been out on one-day protests have had enough. They realise the only way is to set a date irrespective of the TUC One delegate from Wallsey UCATT suggested 28 February. campaign for the miners areas who have have backed strike action to endorse this be a success. Liverpont led nowhere this date could put the most powerful section of the movement in the lead But this was too much for the Communist Party. They frothed at the mouth althe idea of any action befor the TUC gave it their blessing For them the problem of getting strike action is ignorance amongst worken on Shrewsbury, not cheir disillusion with the impractical politics of the leadership of the campaign. The CP could only add to the contusion by saying that even it Des Warren and Ricky Tomlinson were not released but a change in the law in picketing was achieved, the campaign would except up the garden path.