confronting Tory years of 'hard Labour', character, power.
and action.
of spill Cover into government itself.
they voted Tory!
socialism Heath government.
bosses their and force them into leading action.
all be all THE WORKING class faces the challenge of the organisational strength intact. This is revealed not only by the way in which workers responded to attacks on their living standards during the five but also by the struggles that haye been launched since the Tories returned to The enthusiasm shown by 2 million engineering workers for strike action for the national claim, and the decision by workers in Scottish shipyards to fight closures by refusing to release completed ships, show the sort of feeling that exists for militant Moreover, there's an increasing tendency for ooposition to individual attacks bv the lories to general opposition to Few if any workers in industnal heartlands are today prepared to admil A determined lead by the union leaders could build the sort of movement that destroyed Ut that there can be little doubt. A massive campaign is required to build a movement among rank and file trade unionists which can really put the heat on the union leaders and puffing about this being These people the the future.
the right-wing bureaucrats they will The right-wing union leaders will resist building a real movement; so will their counterparts in the Labour Party leadership. For all their huffing and the most reactionary government since the war, they have called on the trade union movement to recognise Thatcher & Co as the democratically elected government and to be prepared to negotiate with it accordingly.
are more concerned with the sovereignty of a so-called democratically elected parliamentary government than with the democratic byerwicHulg majority the population: of women whose abortion rights are under attack; of black workers threatened by the Nationalities Bill; of trade unionists attack from the Prior proposals; of all workers whose living standards, jobs and services are to come under the Thatcher axe; and of the people of Ireland and southern Africa who continue to be denied the democratic right to determine their own If workers had taken the same position as these over the vears. then we would never have established the rights we have today, Inese rents were won trougn struggle and The defended through struggle. The position of the union bureaucrats — of negotiation and collaboration with Thatcher; of only being policies cost-of-living increases;
against them.
last few years committee. throuchout the leit wing around fighting policies. organisation.
The Indian of the Southall Association unity and action.
the blame? The are busy fighting AS readers This period, or if of September nearly CYCL fund-raising B. Drummond N. Levallois Southampton IMG Steve Rose Camden IMG R.Roffey N. Owen Reading IMG WEEK'STOTAL OVERALLTOTAL instead Black of prepared to build mass action to strengthen their hand at the negotiating table — is an obstacle to building the sort of movement that can defend our hard-won rights and destroy the Tory government.
Moreover, they showed in their support for Callaghan's incomes policy, in their signing of the Concordat, in their endorsement of the last Labour government's anti-working class programme, that they have no intention of promoting the sort of socialist policies - that can provide workers with lasting gains from their struggles.
Measures such as protecting wages, benefits, and services from inflation through automatic nationalising without compensation and under workers' control all firms declaring redundancies; measures which positively discriminate in favour of women and black people - these cannot be won by collaborating with the bosses and the Tories, but only by mobilising action Forging a new leadership committed to such a class struggle perspective is a vital task. Over the the left has not been up to it. This should not be à cause for demoralisation but a spur to action. In every union, in every shop stewards must set about organising a democratic and united community collected £20,000 for a former Indian Prime Minister. Can't they do something for their brothers and sisters.
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