European elections as an op- portunity to campaign with militants in other parties such as Lutte Ouvriere and the NG, in order in present a united front at Dawn de Kock SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 15 May 1989 which announced at its congress in mid December its intention of fusing within the coming year, In addition there were a small num- ber of unaligned militants and some members of the Revolution- ary Communist League (LCR) as well as some Communist- Renovateurs (MCR). In total this represented some 2500 of the 8000 militants who or- ganised with Jaquin for the Presidential clections. Officially the LCR and the MCR did not par- ticipate in the launch. Ironically, the disappointing result obtained by Juquin in the Presidential elections created the impetus to launch the new move- ment, before the remaining en- thusiasm disappeared altogether. The constitution of the now movement was debated last November and the LCR vigorous- ly opposed the text. Alain Krivinc of the LCR, explained: "At first, Juquin's candidature was an at- tractive proposition. It enabled two different cultures to work together. Unfortunately, the elec- tion result won little more than the usual hard left votes. In these cir- cumstances, we think it would be wrong to suhmerge the revolution- ary character of the League into a more heterogenous body when we do not yet know how it will evolve. However, the LCK does over the 50 per cent required. The shift to the right in the PS was evident from the election of many supporters of the Prime Minister, Michcl Rocard Newly- elected mayors, such as Catherine Trauman (Strarbourg). Guy Ravier (Avignon) and Jean-Pierre Sueur (Orleans), are committed to the mixed market and manage- ment principles and are scomful of The impression given by the media that the Communist Party had only marginal support is not bome out by the facts, The PCF started off with control of 67 large towns - the same number as the RPR: it finished with 53 (the same number as the UDF confedera- On the other hand, the various parties on the hard left achieved varying degrees of success. The 'New Left Movement" (Nouvelle Gauche, NG) fell far short of achieving the sort of unity en- visaged at its founding conference last December. This movement encompasses parts of the Juquin Committees (formed to support Pierre Juguin's Presidential cam- paign last Summer) as well as the FGA (Federation pour unc Gauche Alternative) which had al-. ready dissolved itself in anticipa tion of fusion with the NG and the PSU (Parti Socialiste Unifie),
socialist values. ONJUNE 18, for the sixth time in a year, electors in France will be expected to vote, this time for clections to the European Parliament. In the March municipal elec- tions in France and the Overseas Territories, the Socialists were widely credited with having made considerable progress. This was hardly surprising since they had such disastrous results in the last municipal elections in 1983-they could only do better this time. The balance of left and right more or less retumed the situation to that which existed before 1983. with local power shared almost equally between the two blocs. However many mayors elected on the ticket of the PS (Socialist Pasty), the PCF (Communist Party) and RPR (Conservative coalition) were 'dissidents", either because they didn't toe the party line (as in the case of the RPR can- didate, Michel Noir in Lyon, who. took a firmer stance against elec- toral pacts with Le Pen's racist Na- tional Front than did his party's beadquarters) or because they have been expelled from their party - such as the right-wing ex- PS mayor of Marseille, Robert Vigoureux, or the ex-PCF mayor of Le Mans, Robert Jarry, who was clected in the first round with well
Page:4
ABORTION LEGAL Pro life, pro women, and pro choice TE DA OMEN April 9, well over ON SUNDAY 300,000 women and men filled the space below the Washington Monument to hear a starry array of speakers
supporting abor- and entertainers rights. before filling Pennsylvania tion
Page 5 abortion rights - had woken to the To mark the march a video had answer to the infamous A Silent Survival' ishearing an elderly man in tears as be reads a letler his heloved sister sent him wlien he was only 14, trying to explain to him why she was seeking a (then gusted, I suppose that most of all 1am determined to fight back and Irealise that with this choice I have to accept the risks that go along take some time for you to accept the need for such a struggle on the part of your special sister and all women in their struggle.' Ho was rever to see his sister again. She lost her personal battle, but her generation, their daughters and granddaughters are in fighting thousands who died with her will Leonora Lloyd ('Abortion for Survival' it available for hire from NAC. Details 01- the moves. What came over clear- ly from the demonstration was that women - whether they remem bered the days of illegality and believed a icturn to them was im- possible or they were young enough to have grown up with danger that these rights could be been produced, a pro-choice Scream'. For me, the most touch- ing moment of Abortion for illegal) abortion. "And whilst I am scared, angry and sometimes dis I've become some sort of a rebel: with this battle.. Lask for your un derstanding even though it may She and the Fighting for abortion rights in the USA taken away from them. never be forgotten. mood today. tionists pay. demonstra- problematic hundreds of anti-abor: sing hymns and lie down in front of clinica, whilst others surround women attempting to tures, modeis, dolls and other methods to try and dissuade them. The pro-choicers are fighting back junctions, persuading the police to use their powers to prevent harass- ment and obstruction, eto-tomore inventive ones, such as the time when the rescue' leaders had the tables turned on them - pro- choicers surrounded their head- quarters, thus preventing them Anti-abortionists are increas- ingly using these same tactics in Britain, too. A Boumemouth clinic run by BPAS has been "picketed" by "pavement counsellors" at least once a week and we need to to prevent the situation escalating as it has in the States by Ieaming from Over the past few years in the States the anti-abortionists have grabbed the headlines and made three clinics were fire-bombed. enter them and use disgusting pic- asing a variety of tactics from in- tion. leaving for five hours! the struggle there. Campalgning against the Alton Bill in Britain. to reclaim for itself the 'pro-life' lerent speakers, was that it was were on your own. Campaigners for choice were the ones fighting for the overall agenda that would mean real choice for all women. Typical amongst the speakers was main concem is homelessness, who denounced the anti-abor- tionists with blazing anger for their Intally anti-life attitudes. A num- ber of speakers- urged by shouts from the massive crowd - drew at- Barbara Bush, known to be pro- choice, but silent on the subject since her hushand became Presi have been increasingly using violent tactics, though their main- stream supporters publicly give lit- necessary for the pro-choice side label. Anti-ahortionists were only for foetal life- after that, baby, you actress Valerie Harper, whose tention to the missing woman.- American anti-abortionists te support to these methods. During the period of the CHOOSE SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 15 May 1989 comparing it for size and - even anti-abortion demonstration of civil rights demonstration of 250,000 with which many were judgment of the Supreme Court on Webster-v-Reproductive Rights Services which could overtum the historic 1973 court decision that America. It was the imminence of this case, heard on April 26, that led to abortion being the main theme of this demonstration called by the National Organisation of day. Further local demonstrations were held in many parts of in New York thousands of women Taid coat-hangers on the steps of One theme at the rally, beard tally dwarfed the biggest-ever 75,000. It even topped the 1963 American women awaited the led to abortion being legalised in Women and brought so many hundreds of thousands out that America on the day of the hearing: again and again from many dif- cast of speakers 1000 had bed kept its audience @ expected - which O would have stilla cheering for three. Only around: could see, right up to the Capitol, topped the previous pro-choice march- Avenue and its surroundings as far as the eye where a second equally starry but the numbers to- тоге - spint.
1945, even before the war had ended, 10,000 London dockers were on strike. Again in that September a strike which started in Birkenhead spread nationally, lasting six wooks, This was posed by the new Labour govemment, the Tories, the Liberals, the Communist party and of course every "right thinking' trade union of- over a national pay award and was bitterly op Decades of betrayal that led to the dockers' last stand FEATURES gently needed dockers. When the interests of fort, something had to be done. Consequently, the dockers and the employers were registered, would seriously affect the docks. For the first time in over two decades unemployment had virtually disappeared, and the govemment ur- the bourgaisie were threatened and the inef- ficiency of casualisation jeopardised the waref- FEAT The National Dock Labour Scheme is under assault from the Tories. with the PENNINGTON, who was an official of the 'Blue Union' on the docks in 1954-55, looks at the history of the scheme and the struggles of dockers for connivance of the employers. Here BOB
The situation was explosive. A militant prove safety. Employers dock labour force wanted reforms that would would provide a guaranteed pay who used the ports for importing or exporting times, and cut down on Therefore sympathetic to provide a stable Tahour end casualisation per- goods favoured speed up turn-round packet and jobs, and im- measures that would were measures that would disputes. They manently. their and the labour force was given a guaranteed These war-time measures showed that the improved conditions. Right until the last war and the Nation- al Dock Labour Scheme of 1947, casualisation had been a Mayhew, the Victorian philanthropist, wrote of the hinng system, saying: Then less hands, high in the air to catch the eye of him whose work To look into the faces of that hungry crowd in to scourge on Britain's begins the scuffling and scrambling forth of count- voice may give them see a right that must ever be waterfronts. remembered".
terests. They were anxious to get rid of the old Labour force - as long as it did not antagonine anarchic system that had plagued the docks for ycar. They even wanted a better deal for the force, whilst being op posed to nationalisation. The mnion bureaucracy They wanted to retain a power by government favour system thal gave them decree - much preferable in their eyesto having to mobilise the membership in struggle - and The Labour govemment saw its job frm the outset as being to reconcile these different in- nationalisation either. which provided them with privileges and perks The 1947 compromise not did the employers too much The labour force kept demanding better wages. - Liverpool dockers, 1950 How, asked the advocates of nationalisation. ping companies and stevedoring firms - who violable. However the real question washowto was an obvious case for nationalisation. A single employer would have been in a far better position to forecast incom- could a multiplicity of firms, made up of ship never consulted with each other. on such mat- lers - plan anything so complex as the overall old system was neither necessary, nor was it in- ing work and distribute lahour accordingly. replace it. There tolerate much longer the continuance of the The system of casualisation must, if possible, Casualisation had its roots in the fluctuating that degrading and humiliating system can be seen by the report of the Shaw Commission in 1920 which argued; 'I men were merely spare oning might be appropriate. But society will not employment of human beings on these lines. nature of dock work and in the employers' con- parts in an industrial machine, this callous reck- be tom up by the roots. It is wrong. It was not until the first world war that entry on the Jocks was regulated but the "free call" was still the way the overwhelming majority got their jobs. How little im- provement had been made to
No single section of the conflicting groups It was certainly an improvement on the part, Thus the 1947 National Dock Labour that the scheme was a concession granted to the dockers and not the best means of sniving the On the other hand there was no leadership from the unions or Labour's left, that was able, or Scheme was from its inception a compromise. As Lord Devlin said later: *The misconception was strong cnough to impose its own solution. The climate of opinion in 1947 would not have but hardly represented the dockers millenium. industry's labour problems has to be Nevertheless the scheme was a step forward. tolerated a full-blown retum to the old methods. The worst aspects of casualination had gooc even wantedto lead a campaign for nationalisa stomach for nationalising the docks, nor did it even have the semblance of a plan for such an tantly accepted the principle of a maintenance payment, bur wanted to retain control of hiring. and firing and the administration of docks and harbours. The trude unions were not ad all in- clined to give up their ray in administering the register which determined who got hired The full time officials particularly enjoyed the posi- tions that legislation had provided, secing this as an extension of their self-perceived role as At the base, among rank and file dockers. there was a strong mood of militancy. In March The post war Labour government had no But it had promised to end casualisation, and had to come up with a solt- tion. Under pressure, the port employers relue- mediators between capital and labour. At the base, among allocation of labour? undertaking The arrival of the second world war saw a were only trading for profit, they saw no reason why men should not make tbemselves available for hire when, and only when, there were ships to lood and unload. Because the unions did not tion simply an getting the best deal within the system, they were unable to mount an effective Ernest Bevin, former General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union (TG WL), became in 1940 Min- ister of Labour in Churchill's coalition govem- ment. He, along with the rest of the govemment, was seriously worried that labour shortages viction that it was the only economic way that demand and supply could he matched. Ar they challenge the profit motive, and naw their func- Wartime measures challenge to casualisation. changed situation.
A TU LL Dockers bad wan some job guaranteed pay packet. The trade unions had the right to control 50 per cent of the register, which meant they security and a minimum
Page 7 destrial Relations Court over the picketing of stoppage: The govemment was forced to find a After the Pentonville Five were freed, the national dock strike continued, demanding the extension of the National Dock Labour Scheme to all unregistered ports. It was a miltant strike with extensive picketing of the unregistered During recent picketing at these places it has been seen that ships work with casual labour employed for a pittance of a wage, and that sometimes the crews work the cargoes'. At the same time, in Turner's own port of Hull. employers were insisting that there was a When the Aldington-Jones report appeared mined effort to bring container work into the docks; but the reality was that in retum for a guarantee that existing dockers in the scheme ports would have a "job for life" (provided they resisted the pressure to take redundancy), the dustry would be split. Tumer commented "Docker see this report as a palliative. Some- thing more substantial is required about dockers' futures before peace can come". The Daily Mirror estimated the proposals would mean the loss of 2000 jobs by the end of the There was bitter resentment from the dock- dockers' work was being done by unregistered Liverpool dockers struck, and the strike spread. Eventually five unofficial London dockers' leaders were arrested and imprisoned in Pentooville for refusing to stop picketing Midland Cold Storage. A wave of strikes then hit the docks, the print, and other industries; even the TUC threatened a national one day face-saving formula in the face of such resis- ports. Terry Tumer, a Hull docker, kept a diary tions on some of the unregistered wharts; il war a sell-nut. It talked ahout making a deter- unregistered ports would proliferate and the in- Heaton's Transport in St Hellens, where of the 1972 events and he records the condi lance and the dockers were relcased. Jones sells out surplus of 500 dockers. labour. practices. This set the scene for a number of bitter disputes. The unrest on the docks was was introduced. This accepted containerisation on the employers terms and laid the basis for a tablishment of inland container bases, which would in effect be inland ports doing the job of registered dockers. Dockers began picketing the new unregistered ports; and as a result the years, and thus under the constant pressure of the members. Report-backs invariably went to Ficials had to operate on a mandate from the were controlled from above. Although the 1955 Liverpool, the successful strike of 1967 should chair was Jimmy Benbow, an old-time Bloc By the mid 1960s, following the retum of a Labour government, the employers and the port users were exerting enormous pressure for dawned, and the technological revolution was arriving in dockland. Who better to make sure it did, than Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who had boasted of Labour's intention to apply the white heat of the technological revolution' to British industry, He and his Minister of Labour, Ray Gunter, appointed Lord Devlin to report on the docks. Phase one of his report completed the abolition of carual labour, in retum for the introduction of productivity deals and the end cipline and attacked so-called "restrictive denounced by Gunter as "communist led': Wil- son echoed this when he told a dinner of Lan- don wine merchants "Everyone here will en- dorse his (Gunter's) words' - and not In 1972, under the Tories, Devlin stage two proliferation of unregistered ports and the es- TGWU was fined by Ted Heath's National In- union. All its officials were elected every three membership, unlike the TGWU where they recognition strike failed, the Blue Union still retained a presence in the northern ports, In be credited to the unofficial committee, whose change. The age of containersation had of the piece work system. It also tightened dis mass meetings ratber than to branches. The of Devlin strikes again surprisingly they did! TGWU. only to be told our hands are tied', We do some 'untying". Thus the Blue Union came (known on the docks as the "White Union'") to Union. The Hull dockers sent a message to dockers in Hull have resented the way that the TGWU has handled our disputes. Time after of Hull have decided that the time has come to break in history' followed. Around 15,000 to 16,000 dockers in the Norther ports joined the NASD. In Birkenhead, out of a labour force of about 2,500, only two or three stayed with the White Union, The appeal of the Blue Union in the norther ports was that it was hated by both The NASD was a relatively democratic The Blue Union played a role in the life of employeis and TGWU officialdom. In 1954 These were led by unofficial commitice, variably dubbed the Blue Union after the colour TGWU. It was a time when dockers were in a favourable position to build on and extend the gainn of the scheme, but the opportunity was not taken, The TGWU, particularly under the ultra-right wing leadership of Arthur Deakin and his short-lived successor, Tiffen, preferred to collaborate with the goverment and the employers than to allow scope for a politically militant leadership, and so the advances that the docks out of all proportion to ils size, and was a constant thorn in the side of the thousands of dockers in Liverpool, Birkenhead, Manchester and Hull, casperated with the Ar- hur Deakin and the refusal of the TGWU Eglit the employers, decided to join the Blue Liverpool which said: "For many years we time we have reported our grievances to the What Birkenhead dockers' leader Billy Jolinson was to describe as 'the biggest prison often in alliance with the National Amal- gamated Stevedores" and Dockers' Union (in- bers were then solely based in London, and al- ways against the official leadership of the of their membership cards), whose 7,500 mem The break to the Blue Union SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 15 Mav 1989 could have been made did not take place. the employers and the White Union. sented on the various boards set up under the scheme, and on the Of course the class struggle kept insisting on betler wages. work was available. In the carly years of the scheme there were national unofficial dock strikes in May-June 1948, April 1949, 1950, Febaary-April 1951 and could determine the recruit- ment of half the labour force. continued. The labour force safety improvements and an in- creased Tail-back guarantee to provide a decent wage if no May-July 1949, April-May The unions were also repre- October-November 1954. disciplinary boards.
power of the unions in the cducation sector, "racial equality (though they will he allowed to which will be forced to negotiate in small, provinion, from school mealsto in service train- by the goverment), support for children with "special educational needs" and supply coverto allow "facility time' for teachers with union responsibilities. LEA's will be unable to lay down policy on such issucs as gender and provide guidelines) and, other than the distrihu- tion of funds, their anly real function will be the inspection of schools to ensure that the nation- This will have disastrous effects on the single workplaces, since national and local ing of teachers (other than that funded directly al curriculum is being delivered. A new ERA for education? FEATURES towards supporting "progressive' no- leadership has been more interested in defeating and marginalising the left in the union than in mobilising teachers in The combination of ERA together with the The past few years have seen a ferocious attack on working class educational in- terests by the Tories, culminating in the passing of the 1988 Education Reform Act (ERA). The Labour leadership, clothed in its new realist garb has either been silent on these attacks or bent under the pressure of the Tory offensive tions such as regular testing! The NUT defence of their interests. Jones - co-architect of a sell-out.
of LMS, taken together with open enrolment an increase in competition between schools and between individual teachers. The NUT (and posite of the strategy needed -especially when, as in the case of the Highbury Quadrant teachers, it is unwilling to delend militants The vast majority of people emplyed in education are women. The effects of the ERA come untenable and unenforccable. The effect and the possibility of opting out, is likely to be other unions) will need strategies for prevent- ing this. In particular, the tendency of the NUT agreements on conditions of service will he- to look increasingly to case work" in the op The ERA and women within its own ranks. The keystone of ERA is the introduction of There is genuine dissatisfaction, both among defeat of teachers over pay and conditions, the defcat of left Labour councils and the defeat of (ILTA); which has been the vanguard of left teachers, mark a qualitative defeat for the work- ing class, and hence the successful installation Local Management of Schools (LMS). More than the national curriculum or even national testing, this will change the face of British of key elements of the "new Tory cducation". Local management of the Innet London Teachers' education. dington-Jones reduced registered dockers When this was announced there were riots outside and dockers stormed the meeting room. Jones was physically attacked, for which dockers were later disciplined by the union. The National Port Stewards Commit- tee tried to keep the strike going - but it was ers at the report. Jack Jones called a nation- al docks delegate conference of the TGWU to try to get them to accept the report. There were thousands of dockers outside Transport House when the conference took place, and great battles with the police. Aftera long hat- tle Jones swung a majority in his favour. impossible against the weight of the TGWU. The dockers' fears had been right Al-
tendering. These are issues which the left must As with the proposals for re-organisation of and, in particular, of LMS on them are likely to be disastrous. Equal opportunities practices may well appear to be (and may objectively be) more expensive. Rights to maternity leave are likely to bo under carly attack - indeed, there are arcady signs that it will not be guaranteed in all cases. Part time, temporary and cantal supply posts are overwhelmingly held by women, and these, too, are likely to be increas ingly threatened. Dinner supervisors and clean- ing staff will also be under attack with the in- troduction of compulsory competitive take up and force the unions to fight on. Opting out powers are handed over, the overall effect of will be severely constrained by lack of funds minister expenditure cuts and/or spend time and effort on fund-raising from private sources. management of schools by Local Education greater power to schools and to parents and goverors, the Tories hope that they will win consent to other changes. In this contest, it should be noted that while some genuine ERA is a centralising one. The Act provides the of State with well over 300 new powers, including the power to lay down detailed programmes of study. Moreover, the power which govemors will have under LMS and govering bodies will end up having to ad- teachers and parents, with the bureaucratic Authorities (LEAs). By offering apparently Secretary from 60,000 then to 9.000 today. It was also the end of the Blue Union, which had played a militant role in these events. One of the most apt comments amd about the Bluc Union came from Morris Foley, a former TGWU full time official, who said: "This bone of the union movement as far as Lon- culmination of dwindling membership caused by rodundancies and an erosion of their negotiating rights finally forced the NASD into amalgamation with the TGWU. frontation with a hard-line Tory govem- ment, today's dockers are once again up union (the NASD) had done a lot for our in- dustry. They were for many years the back- Now that the chips are down in a new con Unfortunately don was concerned'.
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 15 May 1989 ment and conditions of service. Under LMS employment will be in a somewhat ambiguous position — contracts will be with LEAs, while of the school's governors. However, none of Contracts will be with the school alone, and the NHS, opting our is a staging post on the road to privatisation. The issues raised by LMS will be even more acute in schools which have opted out, which will have total control of employ- hiring and firing will become the responsibility this ambiguity will exist in opted out schools: nise unions, to decide on the tems of their con governing bodies will be ahle to refuse to recog tracts and so on, without let or hindrance: and social services, LEAs will now function as trol of the LEA, and this will have to be spread very thinly to cover a range of "discretionary" Nevertheless, it is necessary for the left to LMS signals the end of effective local authority control of education. Where education has, since 1944, formed the major part of local authority expenditure, together with housing "clearing houses' for the distribution of funds to schools. Only 7 percent of the education budget will be allowed to remain under the direct con- develop a policy which allows genuine par- ticipation of parents and students in the manago- ment of schools. around there will be little if any chance to traditions of docks militancy have much to their own strength to ensure they are not held back by the likes of Todd and his co-thinkers among TG WU officials and executive mem- There is no scope for half measures. If the dockers are defeated or sold out this time come back again for another try later on: dockers have much to defend, and the strong offer other sections of workers confronting against a crisis of trade union and political leadership, and facing the need to organise today's ruthless employers offensive. Page 8 bers.
RE worship has in- towards the eg- black groups. This forms of religious worship in schools mously significant creased pressure tablishment of denominational schools for Mus- lims and other pressure must be resisted and all While all this represents an cor- EA opposed LL parents aspire to private education, there have ture by the BA have led parents to believe that decided to opt out so far are those under threat been some votes to opt out by parents in inner city areas (Small Heath school in Birmingham, their children's education will benefit from Baker's intentions in the introduction of LMS and opting out have been well thought out and, in the absence of major action from the While most of the schools which have of closure or those in wealthy areas where for example), where cuts in education expendi- The national curriculum and national testing being removed from LEA control.
, made a speech opposing the executive's almost certainly be opponng McAvay in the coming union elections from within the 'Broad Baker's ideas are based on memories of private schools. Left majority of teachers are dissatisfied with ERA. and flashpoints are hound to arise as LMS is in- PHOTO: John Harris/AFL basis for continuing attack on working ries within it the the fight. Whereas 10 years ago, the majority of teachers tacks on their pay and conditions of scrvice and on the ая a whole has seen the radicalisation of a large layer of class rights it car- voted Conserva- tive, loday the at- education system The teachers. ing. Although the members of the various working parties on the National Curriculum (Profs Black, Cox, and co), their reports have redrafting, and, in the cases of science and remains the possibility, particularly in the case unions and the Labour Party, are quite likely to be successful. But there is a contradiction within the introduction of the national cur- Baker's ideas on education are simplistic. and on testing have been hand picked by him for their record of conservatism in education not been in line with his demands. in particular, the Cox Report on the English curriculum has, In spite of sending the reports back for maths getting most of what he wanted, there bascd on his own memories of (private) school- for the most part, been based on the best prac- riculum which can, and should, be exploited. tice current in primary schools.
this proved critical in swinging the delegates subject of further dehate within the STA, and will certainly be discussed at a Conditions of ing for action were either narrowly defcated or Jarvis was able to arguc, at the end of con- ference, that such a situation did not provide a The defeat of the executive on issues of position on whether NUT members should apply for jobs in City Technology Colleges: However, there is still a long way to go. Ex- actly how to fight LMS effectively will be the Service Conference to be called by Ealing NUT in conjunction with other STA-controlled As- The resolutions at national conference call- only narrowly won, and General Secretary Fred democracy has led to the union's first everelec. behind the STA resolution. sociations in September. Recently the Socialist Teachers" Alliance (STA), which is the largest left grouping in the NUT, has begun to move away from a narrow ly to do with pay and conditions. It has produced a Charter for Education, which has been taken into the Chesterfield movement; ference and are among those leading the Women for Socialism day school on Socialist The STA is sponsoring a model resolution for this year's Labour Party Conference, which is based on the need foraction on education which spanned a wide range of issues, including salaries and conditions of service, racis, equal view of the task for left teachers as heing pure- STA members facilitated the education workshop at the Women for Socialism Con Feminism and Education to be held on June 10. is not confined to pay and conditions; and its resolutions to NUT national conference use of Section I1 funds. Testing will operate in tions of the Tories, The probiem with this will, This is not to argue that left teachers should content theniscives with trying to subvert the tant that every avenue for opposition to ERA ing. which will not be compensated for by the of English and particularly in primary schools, for progressive teachers to subvert the inten- of course be that the introduction of national thing which progressive teachers must oppose. national curriculum. Nonetheles, it is impor- should be used, and this is one which must not racist. Under LMS it is likely that schools with just as it did in the days of the 11 plus - some The overall effect of ERA is likely to be large numhers of black students will lose fund- testing is likely to lead to 'teaching to the test". Racism and religion
Page 9 followed later in the year with elections for Bernard Regan, and he will be fighting on a class struggle platfonn, paying particularatten- tion to the needs and rights of women, black and lesbian and gay teachers. In the current situation in the union, it is entirely possible that candidates could he elected to the posts of If this happens, it will represent a major move Debbie Epstein tion for the position of General Secretary, to be Deputy General Secretary. The STA's can- didate in the General Socretary election will be he will run McAvoy much closer than the NUT's leadership would like, and that STA Deputy General Socretary and Vice President. opportunities and Local Management of At NUT conference, the STA inflicted a number of important defeats on the exocutive, notably on union democracy and racism (with the executive accepting the STA resolution defeated). The STA effectively set the agenda for conference, with its resolutions being the *Broad Left' (which, in the NUT. means the right) leadership of the union is in disarray, with nate Doug McAvoy's moves to tum the NUT into another EETPU, and they were clearly divided on a number of crucial issues at con- ference. For example, Marian Darke, who will after their amendment to it was beavily sections of it opposing General Secretary desig main ones in virtually every section. racist (and sexist) ways, with large numbers of publication of Bernard Coard's How the West riculum as being positive, hoping that it will go Indian child is made educationally suh-normal Meanwhile, the clause enforcing Christian large section of the black community who tunity for their children. The concern of these black children relegated to lower streams carly on in their education. In spite of this, there in a regard the introduction of the national cur- some way towards ensuring equality of oppor- parents over the institutional racism of the education system, nearly 20 yeam after the in the British school system, is well-founded and mcans that we have to ensure that an anti- racist perspective is integrated into opposition SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 15 Mav 1989
cn FEA Apartheid's
Needless to say its terms & defunct Western Contact Group (Britain, US, are very favourable to relegated the UN's role to France, Canada and West South Africa, outside the framework of the UN. murderous role in Namibia Evidence of South African atrocities against Namibian freedom fighters is mounting. A documentary film, show- ing the bodies of combatants who had been shot in the head at point blank range, was screened in the US Senate on April 18 and is due to be shown on The South African military is hunting out and executing fighters from the People's American TV at the end of April.
British and US governments were portrayed as counterinsurgency unit and its local SWATE battalions went on the rampage, they were loving peacekeeping force, obviously protect- SWAPO fighters. The amcar campaign ugainst representing black people, were incompetent and could not understand or were misrepresent- of UN documents and resolutions concerning Sam Nujoma, came under personal attack as the colonial rule, In contrast, the South African, beyond reproach and obviously telling the In retrospect, it appears that South Africa's sequent attacks on SWAPO were well planned cide with Thatcher's unexpected" visit to Thatcher and Pretoria were in this together, with Thatcher, try to sabotage the peace process SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 15 May 1989 elevated by much of the media into a freedom- ing Namibia from maurading bands of SWAPO got into full swing, full of rucist and patronising insults, insinuating that SWAPO, ing what had been written down in the mounds Namibian independence, SWAPO's President, westem press tried to label him a "tribal leader" in an attempt to dismiss what the liberation movement and the masses of black Namibians have been struggling for over the decades of ercise was designed to give the South Africans pendence elections, It was also a chance to score a few military points against SWAPO and deliberate breach of the ceasefire and its sub- and well timed. They were well timed to cnin- long before anyone else that Thatcher would be before April 1 was certainly not news to the South Africans - they have been fighting a hush and to isolate SWAPO. It was a chance to test totry to demoralise and intimidate people in the days if not weeks in advance (Pretoria knew going to Windhoek). What is more, the presence of PLAN fighters inside Namibin But why would South Africa, in collusion hefore it had got off the ground? The whole ex- intemational credibility in theirtole in Namibia peacekeeping forces, and to get everyone used how far they could manipulate the UN to South Africa dictating the terms of the inde- Namibia's capital Windhoek on April 1 war against PLAN for the last 23 years. beyond reproach and General in Namibia in ef. Apartheid's gunmen patrol Namibia does not insist that Walvis Bay - the country's - in an integral part of Namibia It was annexed SWAPO has not even been party to any of the peace negotiations rince July/August 19821 fect organising them. The independence plan only deep water port and crucial to the economy. by South Africa in 1977 (using 19th century British colonial treatiesl), together with several off-shore islands. South Africa says it will negotiale the future of Walvis Bay and the is- Since then, the South Africans, backed by gued that they would not sit at the negotiating table with SWAPO. They got away with dictat- ing the conditions of the peace talks. SWAPO's gola, Cuba and South Africa over the future of Namibia's independence process was set to begin on April 1. No sooner had the formul Africans accused SWAPO of breaking it by moving PLAN combatants over the border quested that the UN Socretary General'sspecial representative in Namibia, Manti Ahtisaari, sanction the use of South African police unils By a stroke of luck, Margaret Thatcher was on hand to twist Abtisaari's arm into going along with this (and to denounce SWAPO In the world's press). Local South African police surrounded and attacked a PLAN unit at around the north later stated that the combatants had Force's (SWATF) 101 Battalion, were let out Reagan, Thatcher and co, Have consistently ar- absence last year at the peace talks between An- Namibin and the issue of Cuban troops in An- ceasefire come into effect than the South from Angola. The South Africans then re- 1lam at Okahenge in northern Namibia. Eyewitness accounts of the incident all repon that the South African forces opened fire first. The UN inquiry into the presence of PLAN in "no hostile intent'. Six local South African Defence Force (SADF) battalions, including lowed was over ten days of some of the worst While the SADF, its notorious Koevoet the notorious South West Africa Territory of basesto assist the police units. What then fol fighting in Namibia's war of independence. lands with a Trendly govemment. to mund up the PLAN fighters. one of monitoring the elec. colonial Administrator 'no hostile intent'. gola was a scandal. Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) in the north, while South African battalions are lining up along the Namibia-Angola border to catch respondent Simon O'Dwyer-Russell reported (April 9, 1989) that he saw 18 dead combatants, most of whom had apparently been shot in the SWAPO, church sources and local civilians cering the battles in the norther Namibia and hundreds have been killed or wounded) and a the is ever ty merely ending on mi any fighters who try to get back into Angola. Farlier in the month, Sunday Telegraph cor- This information complements what have been saying for the past few weeks con- For weeks now Namibians have insisted that it was South Africa who broke the ceasefire and that South Africa has been using the fighting in the north as a cover to conduct a scorched earth policy against civilians (in which policy against PLAN com- At the first news of the outbreak of fighting. ment that a very serious incursion has taken of the westem media (particularly the British, SWAPO. Without any of the facts at that time military sources, SWAPO was condemned as 1, and thereby breaking the formal ceasefire rows that have hroken out since have centred face af close range with small calibre wcapons?. the breakdown in the United Nations ceasefire. batants and SWAPO activists. But who lis along with Margaret Thatcher's pronounce- place...and we condemn it totally", the majority with The Independent taking the prize) launched into a scurilloux attack against being known, an: relying on South African which came into effect at 4am that day. The on the interpretations of the United Nations plan for Namibia's independence and its related resolutions and documents - UN Security Council Resolution 435 - and the supposed agreements reached at last year's peace talks, particularly in relation to the ceasefire and SWAPO has always argued that Resolution 435 (1978) was a massive compromise. Had they not gone along with it they would have been accused of trying to hold upthe implemen- tation of Namibia's independence. It was, in fact, a watered down version of the earlier 1976 Resolution 385, which was drafted by the now- SWAPO's military wing, PLAN. "shoot-to-kill'
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LONDSLIDE VICTORY VIVAPLAN FAPLA SCES 10F SWAPO Roma LamBo SeCTION PHOTO: John Liebenberg/NGCT
Page 11 in year after vear, but also in the formation of delays only a fraction of the UNTAG force was stationed in Namibia by April 1 and only 9 With South Africa's Administrator General, "right" to "interrogate" PLAN fighters and his gone over the border and what types of ly points. The whole set-up was a trap, the ar- embly points have been swarming with the South Africa has also recently admitted to hold- ing 28 PLAN prisoners under AG9 (which means detention without trial for an indefinite What will happen when people come out to vote at UN-monitored clection stations? Will the UN stand idly by and let people be in- timidated or even murdered for daring to vote for SWAPO? And who will be checking the hallot boxes to make sure votes are not rigged lies, such as the Democratic Tumhalle Alliuce (DTA) who will be taking part in the elections? I Pretoria had illusions that escalating its lerror campaign against the civilian population then they are mistaken. The north has long been a SWAPO stronghold and there is no indication that the escalation of the war in the last month has weakened support for the liberation move- ment. During the fighting civilians continued the SWATF and Koevoct as well as the deploy- ment of the South African-backed UNITA han- dits in the north. Duc to UN Security Council Louis Pienaar, calling the shots over their proposal that "verification operations" take place to find out how many combatants have weapons they are using, SWAPO quite rightly instructed its fighters to go back over into An- gola without reporting to the UNTAG assemb- South African military, and as mentioned car- lier, captured combatants are being executed The performance of UNTAG gives Namibians little hope at this time that there will be nne hundred percent "free and fair' elections. in favour of the small pro-South African par- in the north would break support for SWAPO handful of them in the northern war zone. South Africa is keen to isolate SWAPO: above, February rally in Katutura. of its paymasters, the imperialist countries, weeks is a glaring example of this. Ahtisman's sanctioning of the use of the South African recently, 'the same people are killing us. the UN Security Council (Britain, US, France, presence in Namibia has dramatically escalated not only in the number of conscripts being sent Once a LIN peacekceping force arrives in a colonial country like Namibia there is a feeling anong many in the west that everything is going to be all right. This is often based on the assumption that the UN is a neutral body whose interests are divorced from those of im- its will on the conflicting sides in a war and that everyone involved will be persuaded to abide by the rules and play cricket. In fact, looking at other colonial and neo-colonial situations, for cxample the Congo and Lehanon, the UN's his- lone role is precisely to come down on the side And the UN role in Namibia in the past few military (the colonial power!) to police' the heration movement was a terrible betrayal of the people the UN is supposed to be protecting. It was also in contravention of Resolution 435! As SWAPO Secretary for Information and Publicity, Hidipo Hamutenya, said in London On top of this, UNTAG has been shown up to be wholly incompetent through its lack of ces. But the source of this leads back again to the major powers. The permanent members of China and USSR) reduced the size of the UNTAG force down to 4,650, They were warmed by African states and the Non-Aligned Movement that this would be a problem. Even the original number of 7,500 is not enough and was based on calculations made in the late 1970s. Since then South Africa's military perialism, that it is ahle (and willing) to impose preparation in deploying its peacekeeping for- whether under South African or UN flags'. UN Capitulation Liberation movement being present. when the crunch comes. 1970s. Since then Namibia is the central issue in all this, not the location of SWAPO's fighters. And the key to procedure were never resolved by the UN, who up until the last minute fudged the issue, despite Pretoria and Thatcher, to deflect scrutiny of hroken the Geneva Protocol (August 5, 1988). forces should be north of the 16th parallel (in kind. It refersto PLAN forcesin Angola (not in Namibia). In any case, this was still a secret It is true that the heauty of such hurcaucratic documents is that they are often vague and their meaning can be manipulated, but the main point that SWAPO was again not party in the first started in May 1988 in London. To add insult to injury, South Africa, Angola and Cuba met near Windhock (inside Namihia!) and drafted the Mount Etjo Declaration (April 9) which South Africa's illegal occupation of stopping further bloodshed is the immediate withdrawal and disbandment of all South African military and police forces (including wah never any confusion on SWAPO's part about the provisions for PLAN combatants in the various UN documeuts and resolutions. Nowhere does it state that PLAN should not he in Namibia al the outset on April 1. When Resolution 435 was adopted it war envisaged that at the time of the formal ceasefire PLAN fighters would be be confined to bases in Namibia under the supervision of the UN Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG). Soutl African complaints against this requests from SWAPO to clarify the situation. these documents, announced that SWAPO had which according to them, stated that all PLAN Angola) before the peace process could start. This document does not say anything of thie here is not the interpretation of documents but place to the latest peace negotiahons, which made provisions for the withdrawal of PLAN forces from their own country - without the SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 15 May 1989 lead up to the clections. Koevoet and SWATF): document on April 1.
FEATURE tional Students Organisation (NANSO) have come out firmly behind SWAPO. to assist PLAN fighters by hiding them, whether the UNTAG assembly points were safe for the combatants, Churches fighters that the assembly points were a trap. The mass organisations of workers and students, the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) and its six affiliated unions and the Namibia Na- by going themselves to check out in Namibia issued warnings to the
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 15 May 1989 Union, Malet Street, London WC1 (nearest - Activists Meeting, University of London Africa will not only set back Namibia's task of against white supremacist rule inside South Africa A SWAPO victory and independence pressed, not only in Namibia, but throughout and the Anti-Apartheid Movement), c/o 13 Mandela Street, London NW1, 01-387 7966 tivities. Get delegated from your anion, - National Mobilising Conference, Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WCI In the long-term, the Soviet Union, the movements throughout the world should can- paign hard to assist SWAPO to win more than sure on them to make concessions to South reconstricting the country but will seriously af- fect the direction of the long-tem struggle in Namihia will be a massive victory for the op For information on how your trade union. ganised by the Namibia Support Committee The NEC is organising the following ac- sion against Angola and therefore Namihia's independence. It is also dependent on stopping all US and South African military aid to UNTTA. What must not happen is a sell-out of Namibia in the interests of peace in Angola and socialist countries and labour and socialist a two- thirds majority in the elections. Any pres- Namibia Emergency Campaign Gointly or prochment with the west and their need to scale down their involvement in southern Africa as a whole, want an end to the war in Angola. This is dependent on an end to South African aggres- Labour Puty, community group, cic can sup Campaign for 'free & fair elections and a SWAPO tube Goodge Street), 10.30-3:30pm. the region and inside South Africa (nearest the Holbom), 11-5pm. victory. port SWAPO write to the: Saturday 13 May Labour Party, etc: or 01-267 1941/2. Sunday 14 May Soviet diplomacy. brought buck into the international capitalist ly occupation of Namibia, and sanctions are The Soviet Union, in line with their rap- ment in Namibia. Thatcher, in line with her policy wants tu argue that Namibia's independence is proof of the correctness of this strategy. She will use it to argue that all sanctions against South Africa be dropped and that the apartheid state be dependence is close. Despite the set backs of the last few weeks, the independence process 1s particularly Britain and the US that Namibia's independence goes ahead. The US desperntely wants the Cuban forces out of Angola. British- hased multinationals (eg Rio Tinto Zinc) want to hold on to their massive economic involve- fold South Africa can no longer afford its cost beginning of Namibia's independence process would run smoothly. They know only too well what South Africa is capable of. Nevertheless, after years of struggle and sacrifice on their part, and years of South African aggression, super- power maneovering and UN dithering, their in- It is in the interests of the imperialist powers, stop them gaining more than rwo-thirds for the Constituent Assembly in Novemher, Without the two-thirds they will not be able to dictate Namibians in general and SWAPO in par- ticular were never under any illusion that the the SWAPO settlements, he uble to vote? Not of all racist and oppressive laws saying that only those specifically related to voting ready conceding that SWAPO will win a majority, is hell-bent on rigging the elections to script troops and thousands of regulars have been deployed in Namibia each year over the past decade, not to mention the thousands of UNITA troops that are now registering as ves may be penalised. Will all the Namihian youth who have been born in exile, mostly in Pienaar is also prevaricating over the repcal procedure need be abolished. South Africa, al- South Africans have in mind. This would mean that thousands of South African soldiers would be ahle to vote - on average over 30,000 con- Namibians! Meanwhile, Namibians themsel- Koevoet thugs in Eengola, northern Namibia. starting to bite Pretoria's nwn economy the terms of the future constitution. "diplomacy without sanctions" if South Africa has its way. still on course: you to make arrangements to travel twice to register, then on November I, to vote. Imyself The UN Special Representative has yet to approve Pienaar's proposals, but on past perfor- mance he may well go along with whatever the SWA [colonial name for Namibia] - first to will do so. Botesclaims that people will be able to vote if they were born in Namibia or if they and also that you vote. Even if you now live in the Repoblic of South Africa, I specifically ask June 26. Make sure that you register as a voter a letter to mainly white conscripted South the voting age be 21 - thus excluding masses port. He proposes that one year's residency in Namibia is sufficient to vote. Colonel Botes, in ticipate in the eloction campaign beginning on of exiled Namibians being able to vote. Louis Pienaur, who is drafting the election procedures (imagine! the colonial administrator is being given carte blanch to do this is proposing that of youth who form the base of SWAPO's sup- African soldiers in the "91 SWA" brigade sta- vices if they are under private ownership, not sation they will try to extract from a future The issue of voter registration will be a major hurdle. South Africa is trying to get as many dents while trying to place obstacles in the path tioned in Namibia, requests his troops "to par protest and have threatened a general strike if the policy is not reversed. If everything is govemment to undo the damage. And how much easier it will be for pro-South African to mention the demands for financial compen- govemment who will want to renationalise non-Namibians as possible to register as resi tions and future independence. For example, health, post and telecommunications, water and transport. The NUNW rightly claimed this plan was aimed at sabotaging the independence and through the capital Windhock on April I in privatised by the time SWAPO wins the clee- tions, how much longer will it take a new capitalists in Namibia to sabotage essential ser- South Africa's puppet government, hefore it resigned in March, recommended sweeping privatisation of public services including launched a campaign in opposition to privatisa- Thousands of workers marched The South African propaganda g machine, by focusing on the issue of? PLAN's presence in Namibia has E in Namibia they organised a mass rally - VC managed to deflect international atten- schemes to sabotage 'free and fair' elco- Together with the Council of Churches in commemoration of our fallen tion away from other South African have lived there for one year. freedom fighters" on April 9. Page 12
Congress of The recent elections to the that the only figures exempt from criticism are Lenin and Gorbachev In January, the party Central Com GORBACHEV