The Fifth National Conference on Workers' Control

The Fifth National Conference on Workers! Control, sponsored by the Centre for Socialist Education, was held at the T&GWU offices in Coventry last weekend, Its opening coincided with the publication of the Labour Party's "Report on Industrial Democracy", and John Hughes, one of the authors of the Report, participated in the first morning's discussion, The fact that the Labour Party has felt it necessary, at this time, to publish such a document = whatever its ambiguous shortcomings and despite the fears voiced by many delegates that it was no more than a sop to the left - is at least a recognition of the pressures that are building up around this issue. Even more, in the attendance of John Hughes and his presentation of the Labour Party's new Report, was it a recognition of the Workers! Control Conference itself, In the four years since the Conference was first convened in Nottingham, there has been a steady development in both the size of the conference and the scope of the discussions. ‘This year over 300 trade union delegates took part and a most important development was the participation of a working group of delegates from unions in thé car industry, The chairman last weekend was Bill Jones, the T&GWU's nominee for the TUC General Council, and the speakers included Hugh Scanlon, contender for the presidency of the AEU, whose blistering attack on the Government's econonic policies was widely acclaimed, and Ernie Roberts, who is running for the position of general secretary. Speaking of nationalisation, Ernie Roberts said that the concept of 'Fair Compensation' had bedevilled the labour move-= ment and placed a burden on the backs of the workers in the very industries which had been taken over on behalf of the people, "How", he said, "can we confiscate what is ours by right ?" He pointed out that in the public sector there was neither democratic control nor democratic accountability, and that, far from giving a lead, the Government paid some of the lowest wages in the country. "The Government and local government, between then, employ 20 per cent of the labour force, What is stopping them from instituting equal pay? What is stopping them helping the lower paid worker?" The Labour Party Plan was received with understandable suspicion and there were many who felt that a Government which had so misused the word 'socialism' would certainly exploit to the full the ambiguities in the widely differing concepts of workers! control and workers! participation, Ken Coates was more optimistic and he saw in the publication of the Report the widening of a discussion which would take up its own perspectives and momentum, regardless of the Government's intentions, He warned the Government that it would be playing with fire if, in fact, it had no other motive than to keep at bay the pressures that were building up in the labour movement, But the heart of the conference lay in the seminars which considered in greater detail the problems of fighting for democratic control in individual industries, Arising out of these discussions many plans were announced = among them a decision for a Busmen's National Conference to be held within a matter of months. On steel, it was recalled that the blueprint which began as a working report by the steelworkers who had participated in previous conferences is now the property of the unions and workers in that industry. A Steelworkers’ Conference is to be held in Sheffield next week and further conferences are planned for Wales, Scotland, and for areas, like Workington, which are seriously affected by the rationalisation plans for that industry. Details of the various papers presented and accepted will be dealt with in subsequent issues of The Week,