"Take the gun away from the head that there’s going to be a strike,
because that’s not the way to negotiate." JOHN PRESCOTT
It’s amazing how people change. And it’s even more terrible when you forget
your roots. It always leaves a bad taste in the mouth. This is especially the
case when a poacher turns game-keeper, and you end up defending the
indefensible. This is surely the case with poor old John Prescott, once National
Union of Seamen firebrand, and now "responsible" statesman and
minister in charge of the Labour Government’s stand against the just demands of
Britain’s firefighters. At that time, Prescott was on £13.76p for a 56 hour
week, a bit less than his present salary as deputy prime minister of £124,000 a
year.
John Prescott’s present position – and his blocking of the original 16% offer
– has placed him at complete loggerheads with the firefighters, many of whom
voted to return a Labour Government. He has made it clear he is opposed to the
"excessive" wage demand and the "unnecessary" FBU strikes,
which the union should abandon forthwith.
This position is far removed from the time when John "the Red"
Prescott was a prominent leader of the "irresponsible" seamen’s strike
of 1966. At that time, seamen faced their own bitter opposition from a Labour
Government, which imposed a state of emergency. The government threatened to use
the navy and even the RAF to break the strike. "The government must protect
the vital interests of the nation", stated Prime Minister Harold Wilson.
They also established their very own inquiry, led by Lord Pearson, "into
certain matters concerning the Shipping Industry".
John, together with the seamen’s union, opposed the Pearson Report.
"From the beginning our strike, though essentially industrial, has been
overshadowed by political implications and attacks", wrote Brothers
Prescott and Hodgins in "The Seamen’s Reply". The then Labour Prime
Minister attacked the NUS leaders as "politically-motivated men",
which was taken up as a hue and cry by the gutter press.
"So biased is the Pearson Report against the seamen’s case that one
cannot but feel that it was simply set up to capture public opinion… and
marshal it against us", stated the young Prescott. "The rank and file
have understood that our fight is a worthy one, and that it is their fight too.
Our case must not be distorted by the efforts of employers, government, Courts
of Inquiry, and the like."
"We fight a good fight, and we are proud to ask for the solidarity and
support of the labour movement at this critical time."
Again, in regard to the Pearson Inquiry: "on general economic grounds
alone, our suspicions as to the Inquiry’s bias in favour of the owners is
profound."
"In para. 7 [of the Report] the tone is set, when it is pointed out what
great advantages seamen enjoy in their job!… AND if the advantages of the job
are an essential part of one’s pay, would it not be a good idea to start
reducing the earnings of Judges, Civil Servants, College Professors and members
of Prices and Incomes Board, to name but a few?" asks John Prescott.
Ironically, just as today’s Bain Inquiry has a fig-leaf trade union figure on
it (in the form of Sir Tony Young), so the Pearson Inquiry had Joe O’Hagan,
chairman of the TUC Finance and General Purposes Committee. At the time, the
seamen’s delegation fiercely objected to the TUC over this matter, as have
today’s FBU.
In a clear parallel with the present, striking seamen were attacked by the
newspapers, including "The Sun", so much so states Prescott "that
Hull seamen have refused to buy the papers again." Nothing ever changes,
well almost nothing. "The Sun" newspaper is once again supporting the
Government…. Today, firefighters are taking a leaf out of the book of the Hull
seamen of 1966.
Prescott pointed to the fact that the employers and the Labour Government
worked closely together. "Well, they have certainly done that during the
strike!" states the Reply.
"Despite the common misconception largely encouraged by the mass
communications of press, TV, and Government, the Inquiry’s suggestions, which
neatly juggled with percentages, offer no firm basis for positive improvements
to seamen in their fight…" states John Prescott. "To talk of a basis
for compromise shows a fundamental lack of understanding of exactly what seamen
are being asked to accept."
While their demands for increased pay and shorter hours were rejected,
employers conceded paltry concessions. "We were left with no alternative
but to take strike action", states our young militant.
Interestingly, the NUS claim was introduced in November 1965, and the
employers’ final offer was made on May 16, 1966. Not much different from today’s
FBU negotiations.
"There is a wealth of evidence we could produce to show that behind the
Government, in its resistance to our just demands, stand the International
Banks, the financial powers which really direct the Government’s anti-wages
policy…
"The goodwill of the bankers, the ill-will of the working class. How
familiar a story that is of Labour Governments, when we cast our minds back to
Ramsay MacDonald and the 1929-31 government. It was the trade unions then who
stiffened the Labour Party against the attacks on unemployment pay. They must
rally to the cause in the different circumstances of today."
We could not have put it better!
"Millions of people throughout the trade union movement have expressed
their solidarity with our struggle. We say to them… that our case has not
changed, that we fight the same fight, and we are confident of your continued
support in a struggle which has become one involving the whole trade union
movement and its right for its members’ living standards."
"The job of the Inquiry was to discredit the seamen’s case, and to
deliver up the sailor for sacrifice on the altar of George Brown’s Incomes
Policy", concludes John Prescott. Today, all we need to do is substitute
‘firefighter’ for ‘sailor’ and Gordon for George! It is a shame we can’t
substitute poacher for gamekeeper.
(Taken from "Not Wanted on Voyage: The Seamen’s Reply" by John
Prescott and Charlie Hodgins, June 1966, published by the National Union of
Seamen Hull Dispute Committee. Price 1/9d. All proceeds to the Strike Fund.)
