9th July 1997

TGWU Executive Overturned

Delegates are now being asked to support an emergency resolution which "agrees to encourage and welcome the role of the International Transport workers Federation (ITF) in its decisions to co-ordinate and develop global supportive actions for the Liverpool dockworkers. A similar call has been undertaken in relation to the situation now affecting T&G members employed by British Airways. Furthermore the T&GWU will seek to use its influence on the Labour government, being the largest single shareholder in Mersey Docks, to conclude the initial Parliamentary Inquiry into the docks dispute held under the Conservative government in 1996."

International dockers organisations are requested to inform Merseyside Port Shop Stewards of the position in their ports regarding a 24 hour stoppage and boycott of ships and shipping lines calling in Liverpool.

The 75th Anniversary conference of Britain's biggest industrial union erupted in chaos at the end of its opening session on Monday 7 July after an Executive Statement on the Liverpool docks dispute was clearly and decisively defeated on a show of hands.

When Conference Chair and Executive Council member Andy Smith declared the Executive Statement had been carried and ended the session, delegates refused to leave the room and the platform lost control for several minutes of wild uncertainty. The Chair then announced that "due to the close vote" a card count would be held first thing Tuesday morning. 200 Liverpool dockers and Women of the Waterfront were due to return home Monday night, having travelled from midnight on Sunday to attend the Brighton conference. The Executive Statement, opposed by a stream of speakers who took the rostrum during a lengthy debate, sought to remove 9 properly submitted formal motions from the Conference agenda and replace them with an endorsement of the union leadership's strategy and handling of the dispute, and an attack on media coverage which has criticised the union.

The Executive's defeat came as a surprise to the dockers and a testimony to the impact their 23 month fightback has had within their own union. Speaker after speaker insisted that the dockers had been right to refuse to cross their sons' picket line despite the trade union legislation, and that the Executive must withdraw their Statement so that a strategy for winning the dispute could now be discussed and voted on.

Deputy General Secretary Jack Adams introduced the Statement which stresses the Executive's responsibility to "preserve the fabric of the Union and operate within the constraints of the law". He outlined and defended the intricate negotiating history of the dispute, and claimed that a settlement had previously been reached involving ancillary jobs but that the dockers had rejected it. Adams further claimed that the dockers were demanding the TUC call a General Strike. This strategy was never endorsed by the dockers themselves - it was proposed by NUM President Arthur Scargill at the Sept. 1996 TUC Conference - as was made abundantly clear from the gallery by dock stewards' Secretary Jimmy Davies who told Adams "don't mislead Conference", and by subsequent speakers from the floor.

Adams also told Conference that most unions would have buckled under the $2m writ served by ACL last year. When dockers shouted "the miners didn't", Adams stunned delegates by replying "There aren't many miners left nowadays" before stating the union had played its part with large donations in 1984.

Adams stated that he had told the stewards just before the men refused to cross the picket line that Mersey Docks were serious about removing "what they regard as a militant workforce" and that "if you go into dispute, no shop stewards would get their jobs back". Adams further declared that contrary to a dockers' leaflet to delegates, the union had indeed repudiated the actions of its members at the outset of the dispute, thereby retaining legal immunity which would be jeopardised if Conference now rejected the Executive Statement.

Against Adams, Jimmy Nolan and Bobby Morton outlined their demands for a Governement Inquiry into Mersey Docks and the need for the TGWU to work with the ITF to impose an effective boycott on trade with the Port of Liverpool. Nolan invited the Executive to withdraw the statement and meet with stewards to agree a framework for resolving the dispute.

These points had been put to delegates through leaflets and the latest edition of the Dockers Charter, distributed Monday morning while dockers held placards reading "democracy and debate are not disloyalty", "Dockers Built this Union", "Scabs Out, Not Sell Out!", "Will the TGWU recruit the scabs?", "Jim Larkin's Fighting Spirit Lives On in Liverpool"...

Before opposing the Executive Statement, Morton had earlier reminded delegates that the Tolpuddle Martyrs, the Suffragettes, and Nelson Mandela had all been forced to break the law to achieve their just demands. Bill Morris, in that earlier debate, had criticised any implied comparison of Mersey Docks with the apartheid regime. But now a black delegate from London Region rose to endorse the dockers defiance, stressing that the ANC had faced legal constraints and had chosen to break through them.

Belfast dockers, lorry drivers, the convenor of the Rover Cowley plant, the leader of the Civil Aviation Transport section at London Heathrow, and many other speakers rallied to the dockers cause and demanded that the Executive withdraw their divisive statement which sought to prevent a proper debate, and instead meet with stewards to agree a framework for achieving a just settlement.

In the end, Bill Morris' measured appeal for unity and a course of action within the law was voted down by a large and visible majority despite the General Secretary's warning that Conference faced a straight choice between "Unity or Oblivion". Yet no sooner had the cheering Gallery and their supporters on the floor of Conference realised their victory than it was snatched away by the Chair, who declared the Statement carried, suspended business, and eventually announced the platform's decision to hold a card vote in the morning.

Fifty dockers and Women of the Waterfront stayed in Brighton Monday night to ensure a presence Tuesday morning. When the votes were counted, the Executive Statement was defeated 283-182 with notable support for the dockers from Region 6 (North West), Region 3 (Ireland), and Region 1 (London) and a split vote from many other areas including the normally loyal Region 8 (Scotland).

Away from the Conference floor, key facts about the union's current stance and its relationship with the ITF (International Transportworkers Federation) are emerging.

On Friday, the KPMG report was revealed to stewards without their being handed a copy. It foresees 28 jobs in General Cargo, and a further 50 possible jobs when a new River Berth is constructed in 18 months. Bill Morris told stewards the union would not contact the ITF on the docks issue unless the ITF approached them first on this subject.

On Monday ITF General Secretary David Cockroft, attending the full Conference session at the invitation of the TGWU to discuss potential action against British Airways in the event of sackings at BA, told dock steward Terry Teague that the ITF was in no position to issue a letter to affiliated dockers unions calling for support for any further international action on their dispute until he had been clearly instructed to do so by the TGWU. Answering a direct question from Teague, Cockroft added that he would not be sending out letters dissuading affiliates from any actions they may wish to take.

Merseyside Port Shop Stewards are delighted with the new signs of confidence from the TGWU rank and file and their expressions of support for actions needed to bring Mersey Docks and Harbour Company to their senses. We are pressing for the swift implementation of a world wide stoppage and boycott of ships and shipping lines calling in the scab Port of Liverpool. We appeal to our union to allow debate on the framework for achieving a settlement through the active involvement of the ITF, a Parliamentary Inquiry, and free and unfettered negotiations.

We ask all our supporters internationally to update us on the position in their ports and organisations regarding an effective boycott.