Stand on unions stays

Press, 29 February 1984, Page 11

Stand on unions stays

NZPA-Reuter London Britain’s Conservative Government has rejected last-minute demands to reverse a ban on trade union membership at a secret spy centre despite the threat of nation-wide protest strikes today. The Foreign Secretary, Sir Geoffrey Howe, told Parliament that the Government stood by its decision to outlaw unions at the Government Communications Headquarters in West-

ern England that monitors Soviet bloc radio traffic. The Government ban, which affects up to 10,000 employees at the centre at Cheltenham, has prompted protests among Britain’s 10 million trade unionists. Many were planning strikes and mass rallies today that could disrupt transport, industry and Government departments. Headquarters’ staff, who include radio operators and translators, have until to-

morrow to decide whether they will accept a £lOOO (SNZ2I6O) pay-off to quit their unions or seek transfer to non-secret departments. Those who refuse either option could face dismissal. The Opposition Foreign Affairs spokesman, Denis Healey, challenged Government assertions that unionism at the headquarters posed a threat to national security. Mr Healey said senior civil servants were up in

arms at suggestions that membership of a trade union implied that they had divided loyalties in matters of national security. Sir Geoffrey repeated Government allegations that industrial disruption at the centre had hit Intelligence gathering seven times between 1979 and 1981. More than two-thirds of employees had already accepted the Government’s offer to abandon membership.