target the trade priorities for their trade union work. working class. unions The Socialist Conference has never been strong in the unions, not least because it emerged in 1987 as an opposition to new realism, the bedrock of which was al- ways in the top levels of the trade The exception has been a section of the NUM leadership under Arthur Scargill and Peter Heathfield, reflecting their distinctive political line within the trade union movement, and the support given to the miners' strike by Tony Benn others now at the center of the Potential trade union support for the Socialist Conference has always been at regional and local level and amongst the rank and file, rather than at national level. The Ben- Socialist Conference movement
Hillsbough, the Herald of Free Enterprise, Piper Alpha, Kings Cross, the Clapham rail crash, the escalation of accidents on building sites and the drop in safety standards in industry all have a common factor in the kind of society the Torick are tring to build. They have weakened trade union organisation - which at the end of the day is the only real safeguard of safety standards. The Health and Safety conference, organised jointly by the Socialist Conference and the Solidarity Network, was a uscful contribution The Socialist conference should see the democratisation of the unions as a major cam- paigning priority, fighting for democratic inter- Democratising the unions to understanding this problem. today. The very right to strike in this country is weakened, but is still more than strong cough The Socialist Conference has a good record faced by the trade union movement in Britain to take on these laws and defeat them - the Network. A successful rally was held last year The trade union movement has been problem is that the leadership is opposed to any of solidarity with those in struggle and is well prepared to give solidarity to the dockers, par- ticularly through its links with the Solidarity in Finshury Town Hall and a series of rallies are planned - in London, Liverpool, Hull and Glas Solidarity with struggles now seriously threatened by these laws. gow in support of the dockers. such achion. nite movement of the early 1980% had strong support amongst the rank and file of the trade unions. despite its tendency to look more fowards left wing full-time officials. Much of that support is potentially still there, although it has never been properly addressed or or- cluding rank and file miners, it did not address Recond Conference was better, but Scargill was no trade union side to it. Although it was at- The first Socialist Conference had virtually tended by a large number of trade unionists, in- their problems or give them a perspective, The Despite these weaknesses, there has been a clear willingness in the Socialist Conference to not there and did not organise his potential sup- ganised.
nai union procedures, adequate information to: members: mass meetings and democratic bal- Inting procedures free from the influence of the courts; the regular election of all union officials, and the democratisation of the block vote at fcctively on such policies in the unions, it needs to be much better organised, The Trade Union policy group needs to be strengthened and regional policy groups should be set up. There Socialist Conference should support and help to organise left groupings and Broad Lells within the unions, and should give full and ac- If the Socialist Conference is to campaign ef- is already a positive initiative in the West Mid- lands to organise along these lines. The tive support to trade union rank and file move- Labour Party conference, tems, The Socialist Conference needs to be able ing participatory techniques such as 'quality circles" and "team leaders" imported from the to address these problems if it is to become a fective strategy against privatisation and the at- tacks on the health service. Privatisation is an Under Thatcher the employers have intro duced a range of new working practices includ USA and Japan. They have introduced Socialists in the unions have to discuss an ef- The employers' offensive Privatisation and the attacks on the NHS Dexibility, multi-skilling and new force in the unions. take on trade union issues, and some progress has been made. Now new opportunities present present wave of disputes it is clear that there is realism" continues to dominate the leadership in both the trade unions and the Labour Party, opening for the Socialist Conference. There is themselves. Whatever the nutcome of the a significant change of mood in the working class, which opens up the possibility of a fight- What makes a Socialist Conference trade union initiative important is that despite this which are in fact still moving to the right In this leadership in continued retreat, there is a clear already evidence of regeneration of rank and rise in the level of militancy and struggle, "new situation, with the rank and file on the move and
ber can provide an important forum to discuss trade union movement in the 1990s. It should The conference of trade unionists being or- ganised by the Socialist Conference in Novem- these issues and the general relevance of the elect a broadly based trade union steering com mittee which can organise and develop the If this is done seriously, this type of work by socialists in the unions can also play a key role in the political fight against Kinnock's new realism in the Labour Party. That is the chal- Alan Thornett SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 16 June 1989 lenge before this year's Socialist Conference. various aspects of trade union work. issue in many of the present pay rounds, where for sell off. Opposition to the cuts in the NHS and the NHS White Paper could he organised Far more effectively if socialists become more The Single European Market in 1992 is a bargaining structures are being changed ready thajor challenge to the trade union movement in Britain. The Socialist Conference should be opposed to the EEC and ihe measures it promotes against the working class —not on the hasis of defending British sovereignty'. but from the point of view of detending the inde- involved and active in health campaigns. file organisation The Socialist Conference is effective reply to Kinnock's Policy Review, Conference must have a campaigning stance must be seen as the main force tackling new by for the best placed of any political current to To fill this vacuum, however, the Socialist and a class struggle line within the unions. It realism in the unions as well ax in the Labour Party. The Socialist Conference har to have an and that debate has to he had out in the trade unions and at union conferences. This invoives the defence of unilateral nuclear disarmament and the fight for the implementation of such a policy when Labour is in office. I also calls for promote such a devclopment. Page 10
*the Maoist goods for leadership economy exchange develop- created an which failed to produce peasantry, ment of with the and for the Pade 11 agriculture. CHINA SUPPLEMENT PHIL HEARSE offers a historical overview of the developments in China, and an assessment of the issues at stake and the factional struggles in the leadership which emphasis closcly paralleis some of the dehates which took place in the Soviet Union between the Stalinists and the dustrialixation and relations between industry and the peasantry. By putting in other words trying to force the pace of industrialisation beyond what was sustainable by a poor coonomy based crealed an cconomy which failed to produce goods for exchange with the peasantry, and for the mechanisation The significance of this one-sided Left Opposition over the pace of in- on agriculture - the Maoist leadership It is true that thanks to collectivisa- tion, agricultural productivity in- creased. But by the mid-1950s the im- balance between heavy industry and Light industry and agricultue was ch- vous, with agriculture lagging way behind. After a fierce debate on the way forward in 1955.7, (the so-called "rootification campaign' and the let a all the emphasis on heavy industry Behind the