IN A FURIOUS exchange Employment Secretary. Norman Tebbit accus ed Tony Benn of creating a 'time bomb of dis sent and encouraging wild among youth.
wild expectations? We are a rich country ... is it a wild expectation that people should have the right to work?
In a further statement Tony Benn declared that 'the real crime is that three million people are out of work and that while the spending £10bn on Trident, it leaves yours poopie to rot on tne streets This confrontation between the policies IVY COVERTERLARG INE Labour left arose from the 3000 strong youth lobby of parliament on 25 February organised by the Labour Party Young Socialists and the YOP Trainees Rights Campaign.
last week Tory expectations' In reply Benn came back: "What are these The lobby and rally highlighted the dangers young people This ory govern They showed that young people face: • unemployment rising to 50 per cent in some areas • government subsidy to the bosses which encourages them to pay their young workers less than 140 a week in some cases as little as E10. • risk of physical harm because trainees aren't covered by the Health and Safety at Work Act. At the YOPs lobby on 25 February • militarisation through army-run holiday camps for young compulsion by withdrawal of security unless youth go on training schemes.
the declaration presented to Employment Secretary Norman Tebbit on behalf of the lobby, the possibility of more inner city unrest was pointed out:
"You seem to be wan ting to guarantee social upheaval and a sharp risc in strikes on the one hand GIRL, 10, LED and despite the efforts of JOHN HARRIS socialists to channel the anger of youth into positive political channels the real an emers ban last summer's urban unrest on the other Four main demands were made of the government: trade union rates of for trainees: quaranteed lobs at the end of the scheme; free trave to work for YOPs; and five weeks paid holiday a year Youth don't have to be "trained" to sweep floors BUM SaUSIO USENE DUE under the YoPs of them do They need genuine skill training on socially useful projects building the schools, hospitals, homes and railways The trade unions have to recognise the threat to the working class as whole if the union-busting tactics of the Tories are MAGGIE unchallenged If the bosses are paic to hire non-unionisec young workers in place o unionised workers then the affects will be enormous, both for the super-exploited youth and the organised strength of the working class.
Already government wage cutting over the last years threaten reduce real income to 4 per comediate tales to Immediate the forthcoming conference to defend the rights of youth and the trade unions include: • a massive campaign to recruit young unemployed into the unions; •the right of trainees to elect their own represenTaEVES •the LPYS to lead the labour MOVEMEN paign for unionisation of YOPs