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 elections 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 candidate, Michel Noir in Lyon, who. took a firmer stance against electoral pacts with Le Pen's racist National Front than did his party's beadquarters) or because they have been expelled from their party - such as the right-wing exPS 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
UP D about Labour's policy review on immigration. Instead he limited himself to criticising the existing racist and scxist laws, for which he admitted previous Labour governments bad some respon-
The degree to which trade unions are involved in immigration cases varies a lot. Some unions do nothing, even when a case affects one or more of their own member. Some just give legal help but refuse to campaign to stop a deportation or to unite a
Nalgo is probably the most advanced trade union on immigration, and since 1982 has fought several successful campaigns for itsmembers. In the advertising for the April 15 conference Nulgo argued that trade unions should not only fight for trade union members, but for all black people*. 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 management principles and are scomful of socialist values.
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 envisaged at its founding conference last December. This movement encompasses parts of the Juquin Committees (formed to support Pierre Juguin's Presidential campaign 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),
AT E That would be a qualitative step forward - meaning that unions should support all anti-deportation campaigns, and lead to a policy of opponing the deporta tion of anyone from Britain, regardless of their status. Whetber Nalgo will Implement such policies still has to be seen.
By 1992 the European Community (EC) will become Portress Europe. An "iron curtain" will ensure that non-EC citizens will get the same treatment in all EC countries. A person who has, for example, been refused entry in Athens will not be able to get into any other EC country. Information is already being systematically exchanged among EC govemments to ensure this.
1992 and the Single Market Act are an attack on all workers, hut particularly an aftack on millions of immigrant workers. In the which announced at its congress in mid December its intention of fusing within the coming year, In addition there were a small number of unaligned militants and some members of the Revolutionary Communist League (LCR) as well as some CommunistRenovateurs (MCR).
In total this represented some 2500 of the 8000 militants who organised with Jaquin for the Presidential clections. Officially the LCR and the MCR did not participate in the launch.
Ironically, the disappointing result obtained by Juquin in the Presidential elections created the impetus to launch the new movement, before the remaining enthusiasm disappeared altogether.
The constitution of the now movement was debated last November and the LCR vigorously opposed the text. Alain Krivinc of the LCR, explained: "At first, Juquin's candidature was an attractive proposition. It enabled two different cultures to work together. Unfortunately, the election result won little more than the usual hard left votes. In these circumstances, we think it would be wrong to suhmerge the revolutionary character of the League into a more heterogenous body when we do not yet know how it will evolve. However, the LCK does
USA employers are subject to sanctions for employing "illegal' labour, In 1977 a Labour govem ment select committee called for the same to be introduced in Britain! With the advent of 1992 such a policy could now be on the cards for the whole of Europe,
If the trade unions do not begin to tackle immigration issues, they will be cutting their own throats as well as betraying black workers. The new laws will ensure that millions of inuigrant workers will be left to the mercy of the police, the courts, and the most unscrupulous employers, creating a two-tier workforce, where some have no legal rights, appalling working conditions and low wages, Such a situation will undermine the rights of all workers, whether members of
Finn Jensen not rule out the possibility of becoming part of coming part of a new unified organisation in the future.
It is perhups not surprising that so many disparate elements of the hard left, some new (such as the MCR) and some old (such as the LCR) and with varying degrees of organisational control, were miable to sustain the momentum for unity indefinitely.
The fact that they worked together for the Presidential electons, and in some cases during the municipal clections too, is an encouraging sign. Now the priorities of the LCR Lie for the time being in building struggles in the working class, where it has been very active of late, intervening in the national nurses strike as wellasin smaller local disputes. A recruitmemt drive is also taking place in the Nord/Pas de Calais region, where membership cards are being issued on an experimental
While strengthening its profile in the working class and building its party base, the LCK is looking to the European elections as an opportunity 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