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WORKING The campaign to fight for the demands of the Working Women's Charter —launched in London in April of this year-has now been taken up in 23 towns and cities throughJut Britain. In London over 300 women and men attended the September meeting of the campaign. The meeting voted unanimously to organise support for three current disputes involving women workers. It was decided to picket GEC headquarters in support of the 400 women on strike for equal pay at the Salford Electrical Instruments firm in Heywood near Manchester-a subsidiary of GEC. A collection of £80 was divided among the SEI women, women cleaners on strike at Vauxhalis in Luton and women strikers at Wingrove and Rogers in Liverpool.
From the beginning, the Charter has been seen as a tool to reach and help organise women who both at home and at work-are being hit especially severely by the soaring rates of inflation, vast shortages of housing, cutbacks in social expenditure, and chronic low pay.
The Campaign can accomplish two things: first, it can open a debate among large numbers of women and men to draw a firm connection between woman's role in the family and her position in the labour force. For women, home responsibilities directly affect job opportunities and pay. Bills, a baby on the way, household budgets and baby-sitters all have an immediate impact on a woman's decision to work.
Some trade unions have paid lip service to these immediate problems confronting women. The T&GWU, for example, has supported in writing at least-the demand for nurseries for three years. But they have never waged a single fight or even put their organised strength behind a fight-to tackle the more fundamental questions relating to women's oppression in the home. And they are often just as reluctant to tackle the equal pay issue despite the fact that this is normally seen as a 'legitimate part of trade union business! The Charter, in including demands for nurseries and abortion and contraception alongside those for equal pay, opportunities and pension rights can begin to extend that debate, which has till now been carried out almost exclusively in the women's movement, into the trade unions.
Second, the Charter campaign can group together all those militants in a locality who are prepared to organise around its demands. Throughout the summer we have seen a spate of strikes among women, fighting against low pay and re-grading schemes, and demanding equal pay. Often these actions have been seen as one way to fight against the ravages of inflation. Many of the strikes have occurred against the wishes of the trade union leadership who have refused to make them official or have done everything to dissipate the struggle. The trade union bureaucracy has entered into a Social Contract with the Labour Government. They have agreed to keep things calm on the wages front in return for social concessions. Women, however, cannot afford to keep the Social Contract. And any concessions granted so far-food subsidies, rent freeze etc., have been proved to be totally inadequate, when inflation is reaching a rate of 20%. Nor can we expect much of a change to be made as a result of Labour's election promises, either from their "Charter for women' or from their Sex Discrimination Bill. The promises in their Charter would require a massive increase in social expenditure and, in connection with their promise to ensure full implementation of the Equal Pay Act by the end of 1975, would involve them in a con rontation with employers such as WHOs GoiNG TO LOOK AFTER THE KAS?
TWo JOBS WORK HOME
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GEC who have already stated they do not intend to meet it's requirements. The Sex Discrimination Bill, on its own, merely gives us formal rights which many of us, because of lack of money, or too many family committments, will not be in a position to exercise. So, despite these promises, women will be forced to continue to struggle for all the benefits which Labour acknowledges should be theirs.
Although Labour attempts to bind women to the Social Contract by insisting that the implementation of these promises depends on its success, it is already becoming increasingly obvious as at SEL, that only by direct action on the part of the women will any progress be made. Because women have never been integrated into the life and structure of trade unions, they are not as concerned as male trade unionists often are to obey directives from the leadership and to follow every dot and dash of the rule book. This means that in every strike action taken by women, in spite of efforts of the leadership, women will pose a clear challenge to the Social Contract. But so that these strikes have an impact - so they can provide an example to other workers and can begin to tackle, through organising, all the social questions which Labour has addressed itself to (through legislation), a strong Charter campaign is needed. The success of the Campaign will depend upon its ability to fight for and win backing of the organised strength of the working class. This does not mean relying on the good will of the trade union leadership. If Trades Councils agree to sponsor the campaign, they must be forced by the rank and file militants in affiliated unions, to launch a vigorous campaign. The campaign will die if it is built only on paper support.
A large number of Trades Councils have agreed to organise conferences in late autumn. For many campaign groups, the period building up to the conference will be an important part of the campaign. Using the introductions provided by the Trades Council, supporters of the Campaign will be addressing factory meetings, meetings of Tenants Associations, and meetings of women who are non-unionised; An urgent necessity for the campaign is the development of a national perspective. The Cambridge Charter Campaign has agreed to publish a national newsletter. And the call for a national conference once the local conferences are over is imminent. National actions - around prominent struggles of women workers or at the Labour Party conference -next month- will help to widen the campaign. Throughout the campaign, groups will develop immediate focuses such as equal pay strikes or campaigns to fight inflation and unemployment, but it is important to weld these local experiences together so that a national impact is made.
EDINBURGIK The Trades Council adopted the Charter and Edinburgh women's group and two unions-ASTMS and TASS - have adopted the Charter. The ad-hoc committee to organise the campaign includes women from NALGO Action, the Nurses Action Committee, Rank and File Teachers, etc. A day conference will be held on September 21, sponsored by the Trades Council.
### EqUAL
PAY NOW COLCHESTER A local conference called by the women's group and backed by the Trades Council attracted women from a local factory which was non-unionised. One positive result of the conference was that it sparked off unionisation at this factory. A Charter campaign group was set up with a regional co-ordinating body, including representatives. from Cambridge, Colchester and Chelmsford. The Trades Council are organising a conference in April or May. NOTTING HAM At an NCCE conference on women's rights, a workshop was held on the WWC. It was decided to plan a meeting for October 19 at which the campaign would be launched. Members of Nottingham branches of the NUT and ASTMS have got their unions to call one-day conferences on Women at Work. MANCHESTER, The Trades Council has adopted the Charter and has set up a sub-committee. The personnel will be elected in October. The Manchester Women's Rights Group have discussed the Charter and individual members of the Group have been on the picket line with the women on strike at SEI. The SEl women have shown an interest in the Charter.
BIRMINGHAM A meeting to launch the Charter campaign sponsored py the women's group and the Trades Council, attracted 60 women and men.
LANCASTER An initial discussion about the Charter at the Women's Centre reached an agreement in principle to approach the Trades Council suggesting they get a speaker on the Charter and call a conference. The Trades Council has agreed to hold the conference on September 29, and an informal group from the women's centre are working to help build it.
BRistoL An initial public meeting of the Charter campaign attracted 40 people. It was decided to establish two work groups-one dealing with research and the other. to organise a conference. The group held another meeting at which 60 women and men discussed the basis of the campaign. The Charter has been distributed to women in the printing trade. The conference will be held in late October. The group also approached the nurses during the summer and offered help with picketing.
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OXFORD ittee.
BRENT their conference to be held in November.
(continued from page 11)
"The Oppression of Lesbians..* are not overcome by some individuals claiming to be bi-sexual.
Thirdly there are fears amongst some women who consider themselves to be heterosexual that lesbianism threatens the women's movement. They think that to take up the cause of lesbian liberation is to make the movement more unpopular especially amongst working class women who we are trying to reach. There are sometimes veiled assumptions that lesbians are all middle class and that working class prejudice against homosexuals is stronger than among middle class people. Both these mistaken propositions are used to justify these fears. If we are really struggling for women's liberation not just for equality within this society-then we cannot conmit ourselves publically only to those causes which will be most immediately popular or most respectable. Few of the issues for which women have fought-for example the vote- seemed at all reasonable until the struggle for them was begun.
Fourthly there is the question of separatism, as a strategy and/ or as a solution for women's liberation. This is the political perspective of many lesbians within the women's movement, but not of all. Thus the discussion about sepThe Witney Trades Council (10 miles from Oxford) called a meeting on Equal Pay at the insistence of the women delegates. At this meeting, the Charter was adopted as a basis for work. The Women and Socialism group in Oxford is also working around the Charter and have pushed for the WEA to hold a series of educationals to tie in with the campaign. The Oxford Trades Council has agreed to a resolution put by ASTMS to set up a sub-committee to work with the Witney sub-commThe Trades Council has agreed to sponsor the campaign and have asked for a delegate from the campaign to attend Trades Council meetings as an observer They have donated £20 to the campaign and made available information on local factories employing women. At the Brent Fair, the Trades Council decided to have an equal pay stall and the Charter campaign organised it. The women involved in the campaign recently put out a leaflet to a local factory where a grading scheme was being implemented. The Trades Council has invited the campaign to send speakers to a large number of Tenants Associations. Plans are now underway for aratism and about lesbian liberation are not identical. A commitIment to lesbian liberation may involve a commitment to separatism. but it will not necessarily do so.
concern of lesbians, just as abortion or equal pay are not just the concern of women who themselves want and do not get these at this moment. It is integral to the struggle for women's liberation.
The oppression of lesbians is not separable from the oppression of women, but is an intensification of one aspect of that oppression. It contributes to the maintainance of the general system of oppression and exploitation within which we live and which we have to change.
MARGARET COULSON TALISM Wally Seccombe ISBN 0 85612 002 2 20 р (75c) + 5 р (20c) рбр Printed & Published by:
RED BOOKS Tel: 01-278 9528 HACKNEY also problems of reaching women who do November.
### SOUTH ALL
City.
### CENTRAL
LONDON Servers are both encouraged and welcome.
Lesbian liberation is not just the NEW PAMPHLET THE HOUSEWIFE AND HEN LABOUR UNDER CAPIThis pamphlet is an extended version of an article which first appeared in NEW LEFT REVIEW in February 1974.
Written by a member of the RMG (Canadian sympathising section of the Fourth International), it is an incisive intervention into the lively debate on the status of housework as a labour form under capitalism. A5 32 pages October 1974 97 CALEDONIAN ROAD LONDON N1 98T The Trades Council has set up a sub-commiTee to organise the campaign. A factory in Hackney was leafleted because although it has just been unionised, condtions are appalling. A public meeting held after the leafletting attracted over 50 people-although not many from the factory itself came. The Charter campaign has held discussions around the condition of women employed in sweat-shops in the locality and not work outside the home. A conference is being planned for The Trades Council has agreed To call a conference and the organising committee is publishing its own newsheet. They have also had the Red Ladder Theatre Group to perform in their localAn organising committee has also been functioning on an ad-hoc basis. On October 26, the first delegate conference has been called to centralise all the activities of the local trades councils. Delegates from any group that can demonstrate it is organising around the Charter will be accepted, but obsI don't know what this equal pay things is all about. It's we men who do all the work! (continued from page 15)
SEI Women Strikers Are they really pulling their weight more in the house now do you think?
I think that for those girls that have got husbands behind them, most of the fellas have been bloody great. They've given them all the support they need, I mean there have been girls out on all night pickets and the fellas, they're just not bothered at all. They've given them all the support they need.
Do you think that this will make a difference to when you go back working normally to how much work you have to do in the home?
Yes, I think it will for some women, I mean I'm very fortunate. I've got a completely emancipated husband, but some of these women, yes, I think their husbands have learnt to fry themselves an egg now.
Interview at the Support Rally done by Celia Pugh.
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WORKING CHARTER