UNIONS LURCH FURTHER RIGHT Shop floor workers bear the brunt
THE decision by the TUC to call an emergency conference, in February, to reverse its own position on ballots, is a major step. This is not just retreating in front of the EETPU and AUEW but letting these renegades dictate policy. This proposal was voted for by the right wingbut also by "lefts" like Ron Todd of the TGWU, previously a key figure in opposing concessions to the right.
There is more than just this issue at stake. It is clear that the refusal to accept Tory money for ballots was the only progressive thing that the TUC has done since the beginning of the miners' strike, and the only decision of the 1982 Wembley Special Conference which remained intact. Otherwise their record has been one of unbroken retreat and betrayal.
They have not responded to the NUM's call for a lobby of Parliament over the victimised miners, or done anything else in detence of the NUM or its members' jobs.
In the meantime the extreme right has been very active behind the scenes and they are now pulling the "left" with them.
Now, in the name of "unity" in the trade union movement the EETPU and AUEW are being appeased at the very time their leaderships are trying to bring US-style "business unionism" to Britain.
The EETPU has already signed a single union agreement with Eddie Shah. It has offered Rupert Murdoch a similar deal over the movement of his printing operations, whilst the other Fleet Street Unions are holding out against his vicious terms.
The EETPU leadership held a fringe meeting at the CBI conference, showing that its own efforts to persuade employers that it is better to have EETPU-style "trade unionism in order to keep out the real thing.
By TONY RICHARDS
Both the EETPU and the AUEW offer single union agreements to new Japanese firms. These usually have no-strike or binding arbitration clauses. The ETU has just signed one single union agreement with a firm in Wales employing 300 workers - 200 of whom are already in the TGWU!
The EETPU is also thumbing its nose at TUC policy to have nothing to do with the bosses' "union" in the mining industry, the UDM, and defying other unions to take action against them. A stand must be taken to deal with these renegades.
But instead of standing up to this scab development in the heart of the TUC, most of the "Left" union leaders are running before it.
They are halfway to accepting the "new reality", arguing it is impossiSocialist Viewpoint No. 10 February 1985 p7
ble to defeat the Tories after the miners' strike.
So instead of fighting the Tory anti-union laws they are in fact changing thir policies in line with them. The calling of a special TUC conference is the clearest example of this.
Before this, the TGWU leadership had already decided to call its own conference to change its policy with regard to election of executive members.
And for the first time ever, the TGWU and other unions involved are holding a national ballot of Ford workers over their pay deal. Until now they have always voted by mass meetings.
The retreat reaches into the public sector. At the Neasden hospital occupation, NUPE and COHSE meekly acepted an injunction that stopped their members even effectively picketing at their own place of work.
Meanwhile the victimised miners have been virtually dropped by the trade union movement. Even the joint committee between the South East Region TUC and the Kent miners has been ended. It has been left to the newly organised Justice for the Mineworkers campaign to organise a national demonstration and lobby of parliament on the anniversary of the end of the strike.
On the shop floor of industry, a massive speed-up and attack on agreements has either taken place, or is now being introduced. Alongside this are moves to break trade unionism and victimise active trade unionists. In virtually all instances union officials have supported new speed-up agreements and changes in "working practices"
Where struggles have challenged employers' moves to smash or victimise by he leaderships of the they have been isolated by the unions involved very little assistance given to them.
In Fleet St the SOGAT leadership said they would not negotiate under threat with Robert Maxwell. Then they proceeded to give away 200
The Mirror workforce that remains will not only have to do the work of the 2,000 people who have left, but Maxwell is also talking about moving some of his northern print work down
. This is a huge speed-up. disagreed with a new "conditions of work" document that is similar to the draconian one which has slashed jobs and conditions with union endorsement in British Leyland. At Vauxhalls they have agreed a document that stipulates filling jobs of people on strike! This charter for scabbing is what the employers have been trying to get into large manufacturing industry for a long time, and represents a major victory over trade unionism.
The recent successful Swan Hunter strike on the Tyne was also about a new conditions document which, like all the others, attacked relief breaks
things as demarcation. Again these workers had to fight it on their own - but in this instance they
There is hardly a single engineering plant that is not under similar attack. Trade unionism is under fire in virtually every industry.
In the furniture employers -noldswick and Morris's in Glasgow -are leading the onslaught on national agreements by moving to smash their trade unions. Similar attacks on the
Forgemasters in Sheffield, the Slate
quarry strike in North Wales, and in
the French Connection strike. All of
these workers are either sacked or
under the threat of the sack.
They go alongside individual vic-
timisations, most of which never get
reported, but which even stretch up
Laughing: Hammond and Laird put one over on the TUC. to senior or leading stewards like Bob Cullen in the Austin Rover plant in Cowley. The clearest case of this attack on activists are the 550 victimis-
Privatisation of services and some industries is doing all these things at one go. It usually means ending trade
clearing out activists, attacking all conditions, and speedingup as well as lowering wages.
First of all it is important to show
connection between these attacks. They are not the work of an individual vicious employer but a concerted attack by the capitalist class on the working class, aimed at making us pay for their crisis.
Secondly we must recognise that this is clearly orchestrated by the Tory government. Yet we must also remember that many of these moves were first pushed by the Callaghan government prior to 1979. It was a brought MacGregor and into British Leyland for example. Most of industry is only following what they did.
We must not just support these various struggles but actually bring them together. The best medium for this is the victmised and imprisoned miners. Their fight is not just a moral issue.
The battle over the miners at the Labour Party conference was about all victimised workers, and against the mind of management attacks that Socialist Viewpoint No. 10 February 1985 p8
| are taking place in industry today. Kinnock's attitude confirms that he, like Wilson and Callaghan before him, will be in the forefront of the battle for "profitability" of British industry at the expense of the working class - and therefore the offensive will continue.
So raising cash for the victimised miners is not only more necessary because their predicament has got worse, but also the battle for their release and reinstatement has to be stepped up as part of the political fight against Kinnock and class
With his attitude to the miners Kinnock is getting ready for a government in which he will run things for the capitalists.
This is also his reason for the witchhunt in the Labour Party, which relies on the weight of the union leaderships. The union bureaucrats know that a class collaborating Labour government that goes against the working class will be resisted. This is the reason the GWU and CPSA leaderships have already begun a witch-hunt within their own union. They will no doubt be swiftly followed by others. The witch-hunt will spread from the Labour Party into the unions.
It is not enough just to show that we require to develop a new leadership in the unions at all levels; this new leadership must be based on a completely different approach from that of the reformist union bureaucracy.
We do not accept the capitalist anti-union laws and state. We do not accept the right of employers to close factories or institute speed-up or victimise.
We must develop our alternative. In all the struggles we are in we must develop our programme to bring forward the struggle for workers' control and the independent interests of the working class.
In the struggle around ballots we must develop real, participatory democracy in the unions at the workplace. The Tories get credibilty for their ballots solely because of the contemptuous, manipulative way that the right and left treat trade union
In the fight against the power of the state, the power of the workers' movement must be used. The power of strike action and mass pickets should be mobilised against injunctions and other legal attacks on the unions. In the process of this we will develop police and thug attacks and threats to pickets like those at Silent Night.
In opposition to the reformist and Stalinist leaders who put forward class collaborationist policies to solve the crisis of particular firms, argue for a working class solution. They put forward calls for import controis, often together with the employers. This is a chauvinist solution, lining up with "British" bosses against other workers. Such schemes usually argue to accept speed-up and some job losses to "save the firm".
In the fight against closures and speed-up, we challenge the figures put forward by the employers, and demand they open the books to elected committees of the workforce. We demand to see the full financialdealings not only of the individual firm, but of its suppliers and of the banks that lend them money.
The capitalist system is in crisis. But the "bankruptcy" of one firm often brings added profits to others, while workers carry the cost. Firms threatening redundancies or closure should be expropriated without compensation.
Instead of speed-up and job losses we are in favour of shorter working hours through a system of worksharing on full pay. This should spread to include the unemployed.
This is where we differ from the lefts, like Scargill. They are happy to accept the limited role of the unions. This leaves them as just part of the capitalist system. This is why Scargill is opposed to workers' control.
At the same time as we are fighting for a Labour government, we are saying that only the working class policies we describe can defend workers' real interests. So we must fight for the removal of Kinnock and for the establishment of a real workers' government.
Laughing: Kinnock
The crisis of leadership in the working class goes down from the Fighting on miners
By ALAN THORNETT ON January 1. 1986. almost 9 months after the end of the great miners strike of 1984/S. there were still 550 miners sacked and eight still in prison as a result of the strike. The imrisoned miners are: French from Betteshanger, serv. ing 4 years: Chris Tazey. BetThompson, Frickly (3 years):
Sables, Armthorpe (18 Shirebrook (2½ years: Sam Beardsman. Markham; Russell Shankland and Dean Hancock from South Wales serving 8 years.
The labour movement has a clear responsibility not to turn its back on these miners victimised for putting up the greatest fight in detence of jobs seen anywhere in Europe since mass unemployment became a standard organised labour movement over the last 10 years.
These men are the symbol of the defeat of the strike. They have been used by the Coal Board and the Socialist Viewpoint No. 10 February 1985 p9
topmost ranks to the lowest levels. There are strikes and struggles taking place all over the country, with some sections, like the teachers, who never normally take action, being involved But the effect of the problems of leadership and of mass unemployment, a vicious government and a deep capitalist crisis, has meant that these struggles are not more widespread
The working class is being forced to look for political solutions. They must not be left in the hands of the "professional" politicians and TUC tricksters that confine that political solution to one which advances their careers while the capitalist system itself continues to exploit and oppress the working class. for victimised Peter Heathfield: backing March 2 demo government to punish the miners tor the stand they made. Most of them are not only victimised in the short term, they are blacklisted in the long term
some probably for the rest of their lives.
Those who have turned their backs on this problem - both in the official movement and by withdrawal from
-2nd March
- should think the Support Groups about what it means. This issue now goes far beyond the NUM. The ranks of victimised workers are growing all other employers follow the time as NCB methods. Silentnight and the Ffestiniog slate quarry strikes are ex- amples of it. If there is a lack of resolve on this issue in parts of the labour movement who should know better the NCB has * not relaxed its line. Where there have been reinstatements they have been There have been no token. reinstatements in Kent. In Scotland and the Midlands miners who have Industrial at their cases won still being Tribunals not are reinstated. In Silverwood in South National Justice for the anniversary of the 1984/85 Miners' Strike 2 years since the Great Strike began 1 year since it ended. over 500 miners remain sacked and some in gaol the NUM's assets are still held under receivership the NCB continues to ignore agreed procedures more than 30 pits have been closed or are currently threatened 15,000 jobs have been lost ¡Demonstration 1.30pm Jubilee Gardens, County Hall, London SE1 call for 10 the release and reinstatement of all sacked and gaoled miners reimbursement of the NUM's stolen funds • review of cases of gaoled miners and to show solidarity with the support movement, which has not gone away and which includes women's. gay and lesbian, and black support groups: members of other trade unions and labour movement organisations campaigning groups of miners, and the national and international support network At 6.00pm banners to be exhibited can be taken to the Albert Hall Rally 4.30pm Hyde Park Speakers: Peter Heathfield (Gen Sec NUM). Anne Lilbur (President WAPC). Tony Benn MP. Liz French (Kent gaoled miner's wife;, Martha Ossamor: (Broadwater Farm Defence Cittee). Dennis Skinner MP. Roy Bullin (Coalville NUR). (to be confirmed): Arthur Scargill (President NUM), Ron Todd (Gen Sec TGWU), Enc Clarke (Gen Sec Scottish NUM). Tony Banks MP (chair of GLC). Sean Garretty (EETPU Fleet Sti. Ken Cameron (Gen Sec FBU) Concert 7.00pm at the Royal Albert Hail, Kensington, London Songs from the sifuggle, including those from the Heroes LP produced by North East Miners Support Groups, with special guest stars. Produced by the GLC Doors open 6.00pm
Yorkshire management said they would consider reinstatements if the pit improved its productivity. They withdrew this offer after the pit broke the European productivity record.
The NUM is fighting to defeat the UDM and to restore is bargaining power in the pits. Every issue including the wage review is used to pile on the pressure. The labour movement has a responsibility to support that struggle not least by ensuring that the UDM is ostracised from the whole movement trade unions and Labour Party at all levels. Arthur Scargill - who represents the best class struggle traditions of the strike - must be detended against a
growing campaign against him within Mineworkers Campaign Stalls: exhibition of miners banners Socialist Viewpoint No. 10 February 1985 pl0
the NUM itself
NUM activists need a new focus and organising centre for the left in the union after the open right wing role of the Communist Party during he strike and since. Groupings like the Yorkshire Miners campaigi Group need to be built and extend d. Nor is there much time for this. NCB voluntary redundancy policy is being systematically and selectively used to tempt militant activists out of the industry and weaken the fight to re-establish the union.
Despite these problems, and pit closures which are taking place with sickening regularity, the basis for a fightback against the defeat of the strike is there. Des Dutfield, a militant during the strike, has won the residency of the NUM in South Wales. The vast majority of militants who fought for the strike are still there. Many pits like Betteshanger in Kent are holding the line against closure. Horden in Durham has won a reprieve after a vigorous campaign; so has Darfield in Yorkshire, after battling against closure for months. It can be done and the fight has to be stepped up both organisationally and politically. The struggle needs to go beyond the present profitabilty arguments and back to the principles on which the strike was tought.
There are positive developments in the support movement as well. The National Co-ordinating Committee of Support Groups has been strongly
(Top) Horden colliery and (above) Darfield Main have
BU established with about 25 to 30 active groups supporting it. Some groups are stepping up their activities or even coming back into existence. International support is building back up as well. A delegation from France
attending the last meeting of the Co-ordinating Committee - outlined a plan to establish a network of suport groups throughout France. There is talk of wide European co-ordination.
At the same time there has been a major development in the National Amnesty Campaign - now renamed the National Justice for Mineworkers Campaign. ean saved by campaigns.
Benn — promoting Justice for Mineworkers Bill.
The NUM have given the Campaign official backing and proposed a new broader structure for it. Billy Etherington, from the NUC Executive, is now chair, and Ed Fredenburgh continues as secretary.
There is a new steering committee which comprises 10 representatives from the NUM Areas: 10 from the Campaign Group of MPs; 10 from Women Against Pit Closures; 10 from the miners' support groups and 10 from other labour movement bodies. The National Co-ordinating Committee of Miners' Support Groups have two places. Arthur Scargill and Peter Heathfield are Honorary Presidents and there is an impressive list of Honorary Vice Presidents.
The remodelling of the campaign is linked to a new Bill for the current Socialist Viewpoint No. 10 February 1985 pll
parliamentary session entitled the Justice for Mineworkers Bill, which will membery. bresented as a private
Bill by Tony Benn on February 27. The NUM have called for a lobby of parliament on that day.
In addition to this, the campaign has called for a major mobilisation on Sunday March 2, the anniversary of the strike. There will be a march through London to a rally addressed by Peter Heathfield. In the evening there will be a concert in the Albert Hall.
These initiatives are extremely Important for the whole of the labour movement. A big response could give a new impetus to an issue which will not go away and which will effect the whole labour moment for a long time to come.
Epic struggle by "an
-Socialist Bookshelf ordinary man" The case of the Legless Veteran: James Kutcher, (A Monad Press book distributed by Pathfinder Press). "IN most repects, I am an ordinary man. I have no special talents. I never showed any capacity for leadership. In school my marks generally put me in the middle sections of my class. sometimes lower. I never rose above the rank of Pic. in the army. Often, when I get into a dicussion. I don't think of the right point to make until hours afterward. I was active in a political organization for over ten years and never made a speech in all that time. I am a "Jimmy Higgins' by nature, the fellow who collects tickets at the door and sweeps up the hall after the meeting. People like me usually get their names in the papers twice - when they come into the world and when they go out. And yet I have become a public figure of a sort. A thousand separate items about me have appeared in large newspapers and small mimeographed bulletins from New York to California. Hundreds of organizations representing millions of people have taken time out from their regular business to discuss and pass resolutions about me. Lawyers have labored long hours drawing up involved legal documents for or against me. The highest court in the land may some day hand down a ruling that will have important effects not only on my future but on the liberties of the whole American people. I, who used to be too shy to make a motion to adjourn, now have made hundreds of speeches at meetings and over the radio; and the astonishing thing about it to me is that while I still have no special oratorical abilities, people have shed tears, lost their tempers or risen to their feet cheering when I talked to them about my struggle with high officials of the government of the United States." Witch Hunt News
& bulletin detailing the extent of the
use in trade union and Labour Party witch-hunt in the Labour Party. For
branches. Produced by Labour Left (
ordination in conjunction with the
ampaign Group of MPs. Availabl
O copies for £1 - from LLC. 57. Lofting Rd. London NI IES.
Please send any information you have
on local witch-hunts to the same
address to keep future issues of the
bulletin up to date.
HOW this change came about, why it was worth writing a book about and what happened in the end are the subject of the 200-odd pages which follow these opening paragrapns
ames Kutcher lost both his legs it World War II. As the witch-hunts of the post-war McCarthy era mounted he was sacked from his clerical job with the Veteran's Administration because of his membership of the Socialist Workers Party (USA) and it was 8 years later (1956) when he finally won his campaign for reinstatement.
The book shows the importance of using such openings as are afforded by the bourgeois courts, while never relying on them for a satisfactory solution to a campaign. It shows the Importance of building a defence movement around the point at issue and not a set of political positions not immediately relevant.
It shows the importance of not con-
fusing the defence of those victimised Socialist Viewpoint No. 10 February 1985 p12
Reviewed by Keith White.
Othe need to endorse their with political outlook, and it underlines the importance of avoiding the "special case" argument.
Perhaps most importantly it con firms the old slogan "An injury to one is an injury to all" - through an examination of the record the American Communist Party which refused to fight (and indeed supported) the witch-hunting of Trotskyists - and thereby weakened the defence of themselves when their comrades' turn came round.
You don't have to agree with so-meone or a particular organisation before you defend their right to exist and organise for their politics.
These lessons are vividly ilustrated in this most accessible and moving account of one revolutionary's fight against the witch-hunt.
The promise of the opening paragraphs (quoted above) is more
than fulfilled in the rest of the book — and yet when the first edition was ready in 1953 no American publisher
would risk taking it and it had to be
published by the British Trotskyist
movement. Such was the fear
generated by witch-hunting.
The story is told in a simply
straightforward style, but if this is one
of the "easiest" books you are likely to
read, this fact does not detract from
the seriousness of the issues with
which it deals or the important
political lessons it can teach us.
• NETSTEN-
HE AT PERE
vicaragua Solidarity Campaign.
20/21 Compton Tee.. London NI