The pace of politics is now so fast that most people have already forgotten the TUC. This is a pity, because its deliberations need discussion. The key to them is, we hope, in the composite motion on planning and wages which was moved by DATA and seconded by the ETU. Congress affirmed, in approving this, that:
"This is possible only by applying an extension of public ownership based on popular control in which trade unions participate on a democratic basis at all levels,"
To this we can all say Amen. Unfortunately, the Report of the General Council, discussing its action on last year's ASSET motion on workers' particip= ation in long range decision taking in the nationalised industries, spent most of its time reporting on the decline of fulltime appointments of ex-trade unionists to the national and area boards of those industries. Clearly puch educational advance on this front is overdue! Im the attempt to spotlight the issue of workers! control which we began by trying to link it to current issues, we tried to show its relevance to the problem of incomes policy. No central control of profits is possible until the employers' resources are subject to effective inspection, and we put forward that the best people to-this ‘are the employees of the firms concerned. This slogan has been widely misunderstood. People are rightly apprehensive about appearing to condone state intervention inté"fnions! life. But after the resolution adopted at the TUC, we feel that this issue is still the key one, Perhaps our old slogan needs correction. Very well. How about this one? .
"No negotiations on incomes policy without opening the books!"
Can we hope that the left can gather round this programme to push next year's TUC further to the left?