SocialistAction 1983–88

The paper of the Socialist League, formerly the International Marxist Group, 1983–88

Scargill urges NUM unity

Socialist Action No. 161, 19 March 1987 · p. 12 of the scan · 336 words

The scan: 161-mar-19-1987-SA-UK.pdf (PDF, Marxists Internet Archive, opens at this page)

Uncorrected machine reading. This text was read by machine (Apple Vision OCR) from a scan of a newspaper page, and the page was cut into articles by machine, at the headlines found by their type size. Nothing has been corrected: expect misread words, text from a neighbouring article, and titles that are the machine reading of the headline, some of them only fragments. Quote from the scan, not from this page.
How this article was cut and titled: headline found by type size in the OCR geometry (split_tabloid.py); 4-7 of 7; machine-segmented newspaper page; uncorrected Vision OCR.

page 12 of the scan

for a Labour victory.

RATES Overseas (48 Issues only) Europe £24 Airmail £34 (Double these rates for multi-reader institutions) sion follows a move in the South Wales coalfield to for the opening of a new pit at Margam.

against the board by the union.

'The policy of the union is against six-day working sevell-day working week. There are 15 decisions of this union, either at the NEC or conference level denouncing any extension of the working week. In 1987, we should be fighting for a four-day not six-day working week.

'At the meeting of the NEC on 12 February, South Wales officials tried to conTHE NATIONAL executive of the NUM has called a special delegate conference to consider the coal board's strategy to extend working hours. The executive deciunilaterally talk with its area board on six-day working Speaking at a 10 March 'future for coal' meeting in Barnsley, NUM president Arthur Scargill explained his views on Margam and urged a united stand that the Coal | Board proposal for an eight-hour day and a six-day week over a three week period. then a week off, would actually, over the period, bring a slight reduc tion in hours. Well it's not trueSouth Wales officials said that the Coal Board's proposal lor an eight-hour shift for a six-day period is 144 hours. mineworker works the full But today number of hours to attain a full six-shift : payment, he WULKS 123¾ hours which is less than 144!

In other words they are asking every miner at the new Margam pit to work an additional number of hours for no more pay, workm: on a Saturday and possibly Sunday 4-shift sequence "The most diabolical thing of all' Scargill said 'is that no matter what the arrangement when there's a national policy, it's determined nationalt This union is nothing unless its one united union, not divided into sections, Areas, or divisions. Once an area goes its own way, it not only weakens the national union it weakens itself.

← STAND FIRM against six-day workingNO WITCH HUNT AGAINST THE BLACK LACK →

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