Reports of the seminar will appear in a number of
socialist cnd radical jcurnals,.Here we reprint
two that were fcatured in Pcace News and Tribune
respectively. Incomes policy Rejected
A long resolution setting out objections to the governnent's incomes policy was passed at the ecnelusicn of a conference on "“Workers's Control in « Chonging Situation", held Inst week in Manchester.
The confercnee was the third in « serics organised by Labour's Veice. is well as incores policy, it concentrated on the steel, docks and circreft industries, breaking up into seminars to consider plans end pessibilitics for workers! control in those industries, Unlike the lost conference, which devoted souc tinc to plcnary sessions and c brains trust, this one gave the bulk of its timc to the sconinars.
The dceks seminer, which included grouns of dockworkers from Hull and Londen, erme up with a plan for naticnalising the docks and replacing the National Dock Labour Board with a structure of workers! councils, orgeaniscd through tradc union brenches, There would be conplcte workers! self-manegenent in all matters of work organisation, ond the councils would have the power to examine the accounts of the rronosed National Port Authority. The convenor of the group was cconfidcat that problens of cfficicney, wages structure ond trade union rivelry could be overcone; even the expericnce of mecting écck&ers from other norts at this confcrence had made the problems sccm lcss fornidable.
Stecl and aircraft were combined in one seninar. The Shefficld steclworkers! groun, whos had prepearcd a working docuncnt for the confercnee, fclt that it was unrealistic to expect 100) workers’ sclf-mancgenent in the nationclisced steel industry, and said they would settle for a reasonable anount of participation, However, the seminar suggcsted modifications to their proposals for clcction of board members, in the direction of giving greater power to the workers! councils. It seemed to be fclt that the group had gone as for as it could in working out plens for workers’ control in an industry which was not yet ¥ nationalised; the next step was to make surc that the industry was notionclised.
On aircraft, the seniner recommended the nationelisation of airfranes and aero engines, ond suggcsted thet the Analganated Engineering Unicorn should be pushed into making funds available tfo.train aircraft workers for workers’! control management functions, so as to strengthen the demand for nationclisation.
The ineones policy seminar was concerned with the movenent for workers' control in 2 general political context, with particuler
Whet the Press seid - continued/
attention given to the position of shop stewards under the
inconcs pcelicy. The thesis was put forward by Ken Coates, an
editor of The cek, thet the present incomes policy of the |
governncnt was unacceptable bceause it froze present incauelitics,
it di not comtrol prices or property incomes, it did not relate
to a nation-l plen for publicly owned and denocratically controlled
industry, and it undermined the powor of the tredce unions,
especially shon stewards,
Control of day-to-day workshop organisation, conditions of
work ond wegcs was already to some extent in th: hends of workers,
through thcir shop stcowards; well over h-lf the strikes hcld in
Britain were abeut sono sert of workors' control situstion. The
moral revulsicn of people denicd th. right to contribute to the
making of decisisns «bcut their work led t this succession of
short end snall strikes, ained at hunenising a corner of the
working wock,.
this fragmented shop stewards' nevericnt at best enabled
werkers to hold their own. It was now under attack, as part of a
ecnpeign to gain trade union support for planning within
ecpitalism; but it necded to be strengthened as the besis for
én extension of this kind to ecntrol towards more complete forns
of workers' self-—nanagencnt.
This thesis gained general acceptance in the semirar, and
severcl people pointed out that the rejection of the present
incomes pclicy put the issue of public ownership back into the
centre of political debate - cmong them Stanley Urne, one of
the two MPs (the other being Frank Allaun) who sat in on the
seninaor. Mr. Crne alse suggcstcd that the incones policy had
already been torn to shreds by trade union opposition.
The seminar's conelusions, which found their way into the
final resolution, were thet opposition should be encouraged to
the present ineers policy, nnd further discussion should be
opened up about the proper objectives of cn incones policy. Onc
of the demands which the resolution contained, as « necessary
conditien of a socielist incsiics policy, wes the right for
workers to heave acccss to omployers' account books =~ a denand
which several people recopnised would be strongly resisted, this
agoin ro1sing the issuc of public ownership.
Tne confercnec also passed 2 resolution strongly attacking
the reecnt remorks of Ruy Gunter, Ministcr of Labcur, about the
nevd for more "discipline" in the trede unicns. is 2 measure of
its support sor unofficial strikers, it reised a collection of
s4 for the Courtaulds strike fund, dtcr hearing statenents by
some of the Preston strikers sbout their struggic.
Peace Newse
What the Press said - continurd/ Workers' Control Conference Gets Down to Details
The third conference in thc series on Workers! Control (begun last year in Nottinshen, and contirucd in London last nonth) took place last week end at the Amelgonated Enginecring Uniou's offiecs in Menchester. It was organised by Labour's Voice, the monthly Sociclist journel produced in Menehester which has several loesl cditions in the North ena Midlands. Sixty people took part in the confcrence, which was visited by Stan Orne, MP, ond Frenk Alleun, MP.
The innortance of the cenfercnec lay both in its composition end its rrogremme. Dockers from Hull and London,steel workers fron the Shefficld workers' control groups, dclicgates from circraft workers' shop stewerds, Derbyshire miners, busmen, railwoynen, firemen, dreughtsmen, cngineering workcrs ond others, gave the conference an cven nore firmly working-class renk-cnd-file basis than cither of the previous oncs.
The topics selectcd for discussion were prcecise.:and specific: the problems of workers! control in docks, steel ond aviation, and the issues which surround a Socialist alternative to the present Incomes Policy.
After introductory statements outlining the historical and political context in which the conference was sct, and on the developnent of a Sociclist strategy centred around the demand for workers' control, thc confercnec heard short summaries of the issucs involved in the four chosen subjects. Then through Scturday afternoon cnd Sunday morning, the conference divided inte groups arcund these topics.
After reeciving reports back from the groups, the whole confercnec adopted a number cf resolutions, First, conference approved ©« firmand dotailcd resolution expleining why the present Incorics Policy should be opposed, and laying down the terns which were needed before discussion of the subject could be entert2aincd by thc unions.
A resdution cclling for the netionelisation of the dock industry, with full workers' control over the Public Loard, which would opcrete the industry, wes approved.
Detcilcd reports of the confercnce's workand the resolutions will be issued shortly in thc Voice papers end The Weck. Icst weekend's proceedings nerkcd cn important step forward in the compaign, ond tic follow-up work which is plenned will cerry the issues still deeper into the Lebour and trade union mnovenents.
Tribune.