Borough Conference Bulletin

January 1984

BOROUGH CONFERENCE BULLETIN - SUPPORT THE CAVERSHAM RESOLUTION ON RATE CAPPING

THE CAMPAIGN MUST START NOW

The government's proposals on 'rate-capping! will. take effect next year. When they hit Camden they will hit us hard.

Our only source of revenue - the rates --will. be set by the Tory government. We will have no option but to implement cuts. If we want to stay within the law we will have to make service cuts, impose redundancies and drastically reduce the standard of living of most of the inhabitants. of the boroughs

The new,law -has.been-cleverly designed, ‘The Tories know. how.unpopular rate rises are. They can claim to be defending rate-payers,and

council tenants from over-spending ‘socialist~.councils when, in reality, they, will be making the most severe attack on working people since

the war. Rate-capping is a political sledge-hammer, and it's aimed

at USe

The only way to face this attack.is head.on. No amount of dodging or compromise is going to deflect the blow. We must. start,now to campaign, publicise and speak up for the tremendous good Camden is doing for ordinary people. When the crunch comes =~ in just over a year

- we must be confident that the public -understand what is happening and why.

Camden must refuse to implement the cuts. It must refuse to sack workers, It must defend,and be seen to defend, the people of Camden. If this means breaking the law, so be it. If we begin to campaign now we may be successful. It is the only alternative to carrying out Tory policies,

- SUPPORT THE CAVERSHAM RESOLUTION - SUPPORT THE AMENDMENT ADDING ‘and no rate rises',

SU RENEE EERE een BRIEFING BOROUGH CONFERENCE FRINGE MEETING: 12.30 poem. Committee Rm. 2.

DAVID BLUNKETT & REG RACE = 'Which way for Labour against the Tories!

Admission free. You don't have to be a delegate to come!

COME TO THE CONFERENCE ON SAT, 21st JANUARY, 9.30-4.30. HEAR THE SPEAKERS cece

LS RSS SRY FS AT SNES SE A PC SS OPEN EDITORIAL MEETINGS CAMDEN LABOUR CLUB: 3rd MONDAY EVERY MONTH, 9pm

NGA STRIKE = BETRAYED}

When the TUC reversed the decision of its employment committee to support the NGA, the gravest defeat for the trade union movement for 50 years occured. There should be no doubt about this.

The Stockport Messenger struggle had become the spearhead of Thatcher's attempt to ram through the greatest anti-union laws sinee the 1920's, The Tebbitt anti-union laws forbids solidarity strikes and threatens the closed shop. It is these laws that Murray and

the TUC want the unions to obey, and this has now opened the door for employers to attack union organisation, wages and conditions.

The Labour Party was» created to defend the right of trade unions to exist, the very issue at the heart of the NGA dispute. Yet Neil Kinnock, Roy Hattersley and the entire right wing in the’ Labour movement actively sabotaged this struggle. The 'dream-ticket' has shown its true colours - it worried about the 'national interest', and this means obeying the law and showing they can re the workers movement better than the Tories,

An opportunity to-strike a body blow to the Tories has been missed ‘and this will weaken not just thé trade unions, but gia the Labour Partye j

A fight-back must start on the shop floor by rebuilding the shopstewards organisation. But in itself this will not be sufficient, because as the right ‘wing holds the top positions in the unions, it will sabotage every action that comes from below. What is’ tleeded now is a new and powerful Minority Movement which can challenge the right’ wing at every: level, The broad left in the unions must be built and extended, Kinnock and Hattersley'"s ihe has to be challenged in the Labour Party. The right wing is openly destroying «the movement - it is not only incapable of winning advance for working people, it‘is also ‘incapable of defending the most basie eee of the Labour ovement 5

F. LePlatt