The second Voice of The Unions national seminar on industria democracy, held in London last weekend, was an enormous success, Just a year after the Nottingham seminar, it was difficult to recognise the same movement: for although well over 100 people attended each gathering this year's meeting marked a great advance in a whole host of ways.
Last year, we felt like trail-blazers. Our concern seemed to be still an unpopular, or at any rate an unknown one. Although we reached out to a number of trade unions, at both national and rank-and-file level, and although many academics and journalists were happy to join in, the discussions, compared with this year, seemed tentative, groping, embryonic. To begin with, the 1965 gathering was held, thanks to the kind assistance of the London Co-operative Society, at the New Ambassador Hotel, gleaming and plush in the middle of the West End, The doormen seemed a little disconcerted by the pushing literature sellers, who indicated to the delegates, as they arrived, that even if the venue had changed, the spirit of the gathering had not. But the real difference between the two meetings was in the degree of careful grass-roots work and thought that had gone into the preparation. As a result of the Nottingham meeting, study groups had been brought into being in a number of towns and industries, and a whole succession of Voice papers had been created to widen the discussion, The result was that the groups of miners, dockers steelmen and co-operators present were discussing hard, immediately practical proposals, which had already been ventilated in quite important organisations.
A full report on the discussions will appear in next week's issue of The Week, and another pamphlet, summarising the findings, will be quickly prepared,
Among the interesting speakers who came to address the public sessions of the conference, undoubtedly the most trenchant and compelling was Ian Mikardo, His speech, which was very widely reported in the press, made a lucid case for quite serious changes in the style of the proposed Steel Bill, But as Ian Mikardo was at great pains to make clear: the key fight was to ensure that any nationalisation measures at all were actually adopted. Mr. Brown's manoeuvres in the Commons debate he condemned outright, to loud applause from the audience, At the same time, the strange fact that steel shares fell precipitately after Mr, Brown's hints of a loophole for the steelowners, uncerlined the justification for concern about compensation proposals,
Apart from these matters, Ian Mikardo had some very apposite comments to make on the Sheffield charter, which was before the conference for discussione Another highlight of the weekend was the brains trust, which mustered as spokesmen Clive Jenkins, John Hughes, Paul Derrick, Bill Wedderburn, and a visitor from the Yugoslav Embassy. We hope to publish an extensive report of the views of this team on the subject of incomes policy, accountability, and workers! control, in our next issue,
The next stage in the campaign is an even bigger seminar in Manchester next month, on the weekend of June 19/20th. Enquiries about participation should be made to Tony Topham, at 1, Plantation Drive, Anlaby Park, Hull.