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GLASGOW Glasgow Scottish Socialist League is standing in the Kelvin Ward, site of some of the city's worst squalor. Dalmally Street in the middle of the ward is half made up of demolished and boarded up tenements. The other half is a gaping expanse of waste ground on Maryhill Road, the main thorouglifare. Street after street is being gutted in this way. Kelvin's councillor John Ross is vice-chairman of the Labour group and one of the main architects of Its policies.
Glasgow and the West suffer from chronic unemployment and the area of North Glasgow in which we are standing is one of
of the worst fut. We have been leafletting
the locar dole queues to make sure every voter who signs on gets a chance to study our policies and to join in the campaign it they wish.
We are holding weekly campaign meetings in the ward openito all interested. Already many non-SSL members have joined in the campaign. We have asked for support and involvement from the Glasgow Socialist Workers Party. Unfortunately they have not responded.
We are also campaigning outside the ward area. Our candidate, Matt Montgomery, a former Chrysler steward who works at Knightswood bus depot, has been out to Glasgow airport to speak to the strikers. He is arguing the case of workers at Partick bus garage, due to be closed by the Passenger Transport Executive, and Maryhill garage, threatened with the same treatment. SSL hospital workers are to publicise the problem of Kuchill hospital also threatened with the chop.
Glasgow has had fifty years of Labour's brand of socialism. The results can be seen on Dalmally Street. To sum up our attitude to Dick Dynes, Catherine Cantley and John Ross we are calling on the inhabitants of Kelvin ward to VOTE FOR A COUNCIL WORKER, NOT A COUNCIL BOSS.
EDINBURGH
Facing four Scottish Socialist candidates in Edinburgh, the Labour Party's immediate response was to denounce them for "splitting
the socialist vote. All four, chosen for
their record in local campaigns, are standing
in Leith. One Labour Councillon said the decision to stand against Labour leader Jimmy Kerr would ensure his defeat.
Kerr's opponent, Des Tierney, replied
that Labour alone were responsible for
their loss of votes. "Labour's record in
Leith", he stated, "is one of lost jobs and slum houses. Leith MP Ronald King-Murray
sits in the Labour government which is
responsible for the sackings at Robb-Caledon ship yard and the closure of Leith hospital".
On the campaign's first day the candidates
and their supporters joined the 4,000
strong march for higher pensions called by
the Minets and the T& G. They handed out a statement supporting pension rises
but attacking union leaders like Jack Jones, billed to speak. He claimed to support them but backed the Social Contract which was
cutting living standards. A call was issued
for a pension in line with the average wage
which would rise with prices, and for expansion of welfare services hit by government cuts.
The candidates helped collect signatures
in Leith for a petition against attempts to restrict abortion rights. Two candidates, Jenny Donaldson and Pauline Tierney,
are women but all the candidates are putting
the issue to the fore. A meeting is being
held in Leith to build the Scottish Women's
Rights Rally.
The election campaign is being used to
build local campaigns, and to put forward policies which create a socialist alternative to Labour and stop the drift to the SNP.
The candidates will campaign against the sackings at Robb Caledon and the closure
of Leith Hospital. Street and workplace meetings will raise issues like racism and women's rights. Leaflets, written by
members of the Anti-Racist Committee, will
be distributed to the immigrant community in their own tongue.
At the first campaign press conference
representatives from the Council's
Direct Labour Department hit out at Edinburgh's housing policy. Facing Tory housing convenor, Cornelius Waugh is Ron Cormack, a former convenor in the Direct Labour. Cormack was victimised in a campaign led by Waugh against Direr t Labour. Edinburgh has stopped buiiding council houses, despite a waiting list of 14,000 and has the highest eviction rate in the country. Central to the SSL campaign is the demand for decent housing for all and an immedite programme of council house building. In Leith alone over 3,000 homes lack basic amenities.
ABERDEEN Ian Grant, SSL Candidate in Castlehill ward, faces a straight fight with Labour councillor Alexander Collie, chairman of the recreation department. Here, at least, we can't be accused of splitting the
Labour vote.
The ward includes most of the docks. Aberdeen's principal ship repair yard, the council Direct Labour department, Marischal College (part of the university) and the dingy end of Aberdeen's city centre shopping area. The voters are housed in either the few new flat blocks or a more extensive area of twilight housing.
While Aberdeen has escaped the worst of unemployment, the cuts have hit hard and the housing crisis is acute. Recent weeks have seen campaigns develop against the loss of 142 teaching posts and against Grampian Regional Council's refusal to finance the staffing of its recently built nursery schools. The local Labour Party has evaded responsibility due to Tory control of the Region, where cuts have been passed against the token opposition of the Labour
Group-
We are campaigning vigorously to reveal the complicity of the local Labour Party in the cuts by showing how the policies of the region and Westminster are echoed
in the housing controlled by the Labour
dominated District Council, Housing cuts are running at a third in real terms, and can only get worse following the government decision to remove the oil-related rate support grant.
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Continued from Page 3 Clay Cross Council who showed that working class resistance to government policy could be stimulated by a socialist couneil. In fact it was these very Aberdeen councillors who backed off from the fight against Tory rent increases and helped Bolate the Chy Cross group.
Our campaign opened with a united front appeal to the Socialist Workers Party, and we are following this up with a drive for support and assistance amongst independent lefts and students. We are holding regular street meetings against the social contract, against spending cuts and for womens rights and the SDA rally.
Dave Fowler, hospital worker and resident of Hallglen council estate, is standing for Callendar Ward. Callendar Park College remains in danger. It was to be cut and has been reprieved but there are no special interests behind it. The reprieve may be litted at any time. The college depends on the action of WCAC militants. A big part of our campaign has seen involvement with and support for Callendar Park students.
Local tenants have been active in a campuign for proper upkeep of roads and footpaths. They also want a practical and useful land development policy for Haliglen housing estate. We aim to give them and other local militants a platform at our election meeting.
We have written to the Trades Council asking for a chance to speak to our policies at the May Day demonstration. We have received no answer to this request. The Socialist Workers Party is planning to set up a Falkirk Branch and we will be asking their members for support.