The third seminar on workers! control, held at Manchester last week end, took the whole campaign for participantd industrial democracy a new step forward. The attendance was overwhelmingly by trade union and Labour activists, drawn from a very representative cross-section of industries, Unions represented officially included the miners, the firemen, and engineers. Trades councils and Labour Parties provided a goodly number of delegates. There were lively groups of spokesmen for the study groups which have been working in the docks and in the steel industry. “elcome visotors included Mr. Chaudhrey and a contigent of Indian workers from Courtaulds, fresh from the recent dispute, and Frank Allaun and Stan Orme, the popular Salford M.P.s. Students and teachers from several universities were also present.
The meeting set up three commissions to explore the problems of industriel democracy and incomes policy, of a democratic steel bill, and of workers! in the docks. A number of resolutions were prepared in these commissions, and subsequently ratified in a full session of the conference, These covered the preconditions for incomes policy, the structure of the docks in the light of workers' control, and Mr. Gunter's relationship to the trade unions. Full reports of these will appear in subsequent issues of The Week.
One sidelight is worth mentioning. A visitor purpa@ting to be a seaman, but variously desribing himself in private conversation as a Bow Group researcher into left wing politics, an employee of I.R.1I.S., and a fulltime officer of the Conservative Party, made his presence felt. During the time he was present, someone stole the address-list of the seminar, If it should turn up, either at the offices of the Bow Group, or I.R.1.S., or the Conservative Central Office, can we appeal to the recipient to return it? It will in any case be published in The Week, as have previous similar rosters, At the cost of a subscription, curious individuals in such organisations would be able to preserve the integrity of their beliefs in the sanctity of private property.