from Pat Tordan Attention to the TGWU rule banning Communists f drawn by the case of Jack Dash
" e At first it seemed likel. th the cther members of the Communist Party who had been sianieranie op =
riba to full-time posts only. The left wing of the TGWU is determined : 8 rule will be thrown out this year, This is rules revision year or the TGWU (this occurs once every six years) and rymour has it that Frank Cousins may come out in favour of lifting the ban. : pate in 1949, when the TGWU was dominated by the extreme right-vinger
ur Deakin, that the union brought in a rule banning members of the : Communist Party and fascists from holding office. The latter point has always been regarded as a not very successful attempt to disguise the anti-communist nature of the move. Speaking at the 1962 rules revision conference, Frank Cousins denied that the rule had been introduced because of the cold war and referred to the "unrest fomented by Communists in the aon He said that he was not prepared to hand over the strength of ‘this mighty organisation" to an outside body, whether it was the Labour Communist or any other party. However, when Ray Gunter made his famous "red plot" speech, Frank Cousins was one of the first to pour scorn on the whole idea of industrial unrest being caused by "outside agitators." The logic of this position and that taken by other "responsible" trade unionists, even George Woodcock, is that the last remaining vestiges of anti-communist legislation in the trade union movement should be discarded. It would be a big step forward for this rule to be thrown out and would have many good effects. Once the TGWU no longer applied the ban it would be easier to get it lifted in other union organisations, The lifting of anti-communist rules in the TGWU would be a stept towards the lifting of all bans and proscriptions in the whole labour movement. Cynics are already saying that the TGWU bureaucracy would like to have Jack Dash and others holding office because this enable officials to have a stronger grip on their activities, This argument completely neglects the fact that the decisive thing is the support which any left winger has from the rank and file, And, anyway, we need to fight for the democratic rights of trade union officials too. Just how this can be done when there is mass rank and file support was demonstrated by the winning back of the job for the left wing Vehicle Builders' organiser, Another more sigrificant argument is that certain mergers with other unions which the TGWU leadership would like to pull off will be impossible whilst the rule exists. A case in point is the move towards merging the Tobacco Workers’ Union (which has Communist Party members holding full-time jobs) and the TGWU. However, providing union members do nd lose any of their rights because of the merger, our only yardstick should be that of whether or not the new set up would be a more effective weapon for workers' struggle. The ending of the ban on Communists holding posts in the TGWU would be an important move towards strengthening the traditional unity of the trade uniorsin Britain, This in turn will assist in efforts to help to unify the movement in other countries, especially on the continent,