from a Hull correspondent = a
The salient facts of the “ast Yorkshire bus strike have been reported in previous issues of The ‘ieek. Since then, the strike has been prolonged into its fourth week, During that time, abortive attempts have been made to initiate negotiations with the company in London. ‘These never materialised, since the company refused to discuss the issues until then men returned to work - which they refuse to do whilst the new split-shift schedules remain posted. Nor has the union abandoned the original demand for a bonus scheme to match that paid to municipal bus men working co-ordinated routes in the city of Hull. Throughout the strike, the Hull Workers' Solidarity Committee has been campaigning for a concerted approach by the busmen for support in the local labour movement. It has held several meetings with the T°%'U officials who have the responsibility for conducting negotiations in the dispute. They had worked out provisional plans for mass leafletting, marches, fund raising activities, but until last Friday, these proposals had not been put to a fully representative busmen's gathering. On that day, a public meeting in Bevin House, Hull, was attended by over 150 people, including many of the strikers, Under the chairmanship of the Solidarity Committee, the meeting heard a detailed exposition of the busmen's case by the regional trade group secretary, Brother Hazell, and a firm acceptance that since the break-down of talks, the strike was likely to be prolonged. In view of this, the discussion from the floor of the meeting, which stressed the urgent need for a rank-and-file busmen's committee of maximum numbers, which could liaise through the Solidarity Committee with the trade union branches, labour party wards and constituencies, organise marches, the publication of counterpropaganda against the company and the wage-freeze, and which could utilise the considerable resources of the T&GU itself, (which covers dockers, municipal busmen, factory workers, etc., throughout the town) took on a real significance. The busmen, up to this point, had felt isolated, inactive and defensive... They heard Solidarity speakers stress the vital lessons learned by them, in 4ull, during the Seamens' Strike. In particular, John Prescott, one of several of the militant seamen's movement, and co-author of the seamen's pamphlet 'Not anted on Voyage', urged the busmen to enter the "propaganda war" with utmost vigour. Mike Kidron called for the formation of a big strike committee, Jack Ashwell drew attention to the example of the seamen's pamphlet, Tony Topham asked for maximum use of the Solidarity Committee facilities and of the wide network of T&G’U branches and shop stewards, Alan Rooney pointed out the vast inter-locking empire of the British Electric Traction Company, which the busmen were fighting - an empire which included 49% of the shares of the local Daily Mail. Afterwards many busmen came forward to link up directly with the Committee. On Saturday, Alan Thompson, national bus officer of the T&GU, addressed a mass busmen's meeting at which nearly 400 were present. To tighten the strike, he reported, the outlying rural depots had been ordered back to work, since they were now qutside the issue of the strike. The 300 men of the Hull depot, he said, must now hold out to the finish. They would have full union backing on this: the issues had national implications for all company busmen. i/fter he had finished speaking, the platform was handed over to spokesmen of the.Solidarity Committee, who included again members of the NUS and the T&GIU.