Workers Press no. 1031

workers press

GIVE AN INCH —THEY TAKE A MILE

TORIES ADVANCE

AS TUC RETREATS

IN A SERIES of wee views top Tories strategy clearly: the working-class living s rights. A SERIES of all-out, one- day strikes beginning on the day Phase Two of the Tory pay laws comes into force was decided on at a meeting of London hos- pitals' shop stewards at the weekend. The meeting was called in response to the arrest of two pickets at St Mary's Hospital, Praed Street, Pad- dington. They plan to stage a mass lobby of the court by Lon- don hospital workers when the men appear on May 7. A march is planned for March 31. Union officials were not present at the meeting and have not commented on the new wave of unofficial rank- and-file action. At least 30 hospitals in up to 17 towns will be affected by the one-day strikes, the dates of which will be kept secret until the last possible moment. Mass marches will be held in all the towns on the day of the stoppage. Hospitals taking part will be largely those who have played a small part in the fight for the f4 a week rise for ancillary workers. Shop stewards will meet again next Friday to finalize their plans. A committee has been set up to co-ordinate action in London, to advertise meet- ings and to issue a bulletin.

AN ALL-ROUND, £6-a- week rise for local authority workers will be manual advocated at the General and Municipal Workers' Union conference at Scar- borough on May 21-24. motion -from The the Scottish Region's Bath- gate (West Lothian) branch -asks the conference to approve such an application.

INCORPORATING THE NEWSLETTER • MONDAY MARCH 26, 1973• No 1031

DAILY ORGAN OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE SOCIALIST LAE

of weekend speeches and inter-

NOTICE

out their have spelled NO Vehicles To Br Parked Here z or about : the more the union leaders The Medical Roum Area der the government will hit at

RESERVED FOR

Robert Carr, the Home Secretary,

AMBULANCE

said at Newcastle: Violent pickets,

UNITS

armed criminals or terrorists are The striking at the heart [of society].

government is determined that they shall not win.' Maurice Macmillan, the Employment Secretary. told a constituency party meet ing at Farnham, Surrey, the time had come the of present system wage bar- end calme based on tree nerouanons Derween employers and unions. Lord Carrington, the Defence Secretary Party chairman, told the Con- and lory Central Council Newcastle: The next six months are going to be deci sive to our political fortunes.

'We to be under sustained are going attack • It is the period when we shall be told that stand firm, so the government stand hrm. While his henchmen were laying it on the line, premier Edward Heath was en- his 'one-nation' AL Yorkshire, Swinton, yesterday he offered deal on if the pay union Chiets would give up everv right to members' interests and take their their place in a corporate state.

But whereas Heath has said he will see secretary Victor Feather and the

THE RESCUE

attempt union hospital trapped readers a Doul Tne sever miners Workass acred said in ad- Lofthouse York- colliery,

BY DAVID MAUDE

already he has shire, entered fifth day Its

OUR LABOUR

vance won't give that he yesterday. them a thing.

CORRESPONDENT

possible breakthrough For all the trimmings, the nara centre Lory pre mier's message here was the The chiefs-with workers defending their union Conservative Labourite their 'left' and same as to the sweeping ve hoods With New- hangers- changes in the law on picket- Centra Council CommUnIST Party castle on Saturday. have already encour- aged this mood by severely surrender' *no THEY INTEND to go ahead undermining the pay strug- he in six days' time with mak. speech. Stressed UnaT gle at Ford's. there would be no relaxa- struggle

CYCLY

Talst tion of either the state With Phase Two of the criminal living standards laws due to become law pay laws or the Industrial Rela.

offence. Hence their vicious tions Act. the al the end of this week, and spiteful action last civil servants' leaders are Exuding confidence that rheav arainst power workers talking about end The power workers'

TUC

backing Toe

HOW

their industrial action. had already leaders made down all along the line, he In the hospitals the union carefully-judged unem vicums or une maws chiefs still by concluding long- 1970 are refusing to echo or nis November when their term settlement, to the United warning £5.50 immediately, having and file. be that governments claim was Nations hours Heath's made rank within must prepare for civil war.

'freeze' announcement A government climbdown November 6 last Predictable ycar on pay would open the way Now the second stage social divisiveness and this settlement, due to have told the The Tory reaction to all he been paid last Monday, has Inusuce.

COUNT

this cil. be lost on Feather. which Is predictable: been stopped. An order from will not be lost on THEY BELIEVE the May 1 Employment Secretary Mac- is that the Tories organized millan forbids are

DIC®

protest being payment un- pared to meet such a situa-

TUC

of the Wirevea squib. 'It not going laws becomes operative on Following calling-off change the government's April 1. of industrial in the Heath declared This kind of action , Tory Ministers designed to delight the Tor

BOBU

radio on rnaay nignt. cock - a - hoop

THEY

PLAN,

Home faithful, present tough that Feather and the General Secretary Carr stressed, the image wavering are on the CounCIl

TUR

inamicate and Vietnize middle class ano make clear 4р

IST LABOUR LEAGUE

for to the disaster area was In folled when rescue teams ork- came up against a solid wall teer day of sludge. There is round-the ngu a clock vigil (above) at the unti ugh pithead by close relatives kno heir to Feather and the TUC the General Council that there are to be no concessions however much they bleat about 'special cases' under the pay laws. Defence Secretary Carring- pol ton, in his speech to the Central Council yesterday, dealt specifically with this point. Carrington's anxiety about *six months of sustained at- tack' is not sparked by any action of the union leaders.

With Heath and Carr, he believes the TUC General Council is sewn up. Challenge Their fear is that the working class, which is forced to struggle whatever its leaders do, will take up the political challenge thrown down to it and make it impossible for the present government to continue. Yet it is at precisely this point that the Stalinists of the British Communist Party move in to try and disarm of the trapped men and miners who have volun- teered for rescue duties.

Plans to hold an official Inquiry are being stalled until the fate of the men is ves known. UC the working-class movement.

Saturday's 'Morning Star' declared that the gasworkers leat industrial action 'has made a considerable dent in Heath's fraudulent incomes policy. It continued: 'If they had continued and stepped their fight, and been given industrial backing, especially by the TUC, they could have smashed Heath's policy to smithereens. Now the hos- pital workers should get such support. Concluded the 'Star': 'Every section of the trade union movement should pre- pare now to make the day protest and stoppage which the TUC has called •.. a 24-hour General Strike demonstration of working- class power.' This is utter treachery. In the first instance it is a complete cover-up for the TUC General Council, and for the gas union leaders who split their members

TURN TO BACK PAGE

workers press

GIVE AN INCH —THEY TAKE A MILE

TORIES ADVANCE

AS TUC RETREATS

IN A SERIES of wee top Tories 1 views strategy clearly: the working-class living s rights. A SERIES of all-out, one- day strikes beginning on the day Phase Two of the Tory pay laws comes into force was decided on at a meeting of London hos- pitals' shop stewards at the weekend. The meeting was called in response to the arrest of Mary's two pickets at St Hospital, Praed Street, Pad- dington. They plan to stage a mass lobby of the court by Lon- don hospital workers when the men appear on May 7. A march is planned for March 31. Union officials were not present at the meeting and have not commented on the new wave of unofficial rank- and-file action. At least 30 hospitals in up to 17 towns will be affected by the one-day strikes, the dates of which will be kept secret until the last possible moment. Mass marches will be held in all the towns on the day of the stoppage. Hospitals taking part will be largely those who have played a small part in the fight for the f4 a week rise for ancillary workers. Shop stewards will meet again next Friday to finalize their plans. A committee has been set up to co-ordinate action in London, to advertise meet- ings and to issue a bulletin.

AN ALL-ROUND, £6-a- week rise for local authority manual workers will be advocated at the General and Municipal Workers' Union conference at Scar- borough on May 21-24. motion- from the Scottish Region's Bath- gate (West Lothian) branch -asks the conference approve such an application.

INCORPORATING THE NEWSLETTER

• MONDAY MARCH 26, 1973 • No 1031

CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE SOCIALIST LAE

DAILY

ORGAN OF THE

of weekend speeches and inter-

NOTICE

ries have spelled out their NO Veledes To Bu : the more the union leaders Parked Heie is t abut Hie Nedual Run Area eder the government will hit at iving standards and democratic

RESERVED TOR

Carr, the Home Secretary,

AMBULAN::

alc striking at the heart [of society]. The determined that government is shall not win.' Macmillan, Employment Secretary. constituency party meel- ing at Farnham, Surrey, the time had come gaining based on free negotiations berween employers and unions. «nO OrV the sere neet six monts are foing fo be aeli- Newcastle: sive to our political fortunes.

under sustained 'We are • It is the period when we shalf every case is special. Just so the government While his henchmen were laying it on Iaud. winton. 'voluntary' pay-if the chiefs would give up everv right to defend Thelr place in a corporate state.

But whereas Heath has said he will see THE RESCUE altempt for trapped jeaoers thess he kass a case th saad ein an- Lofthouse York- colliery,

BY DAVID MAUDE

fitth day he has shire, entered its

OUR LABOUR

That yesterday.

CORRESPONDENT

possible breakthrough For all the trimmings, the centre mier's message here was the chiefs-with workers defending their Labourite and sweeping salicas ve lhoods Wito hangers- changes in the law on picket- New- LOmenuniSt mariu castle on Saturday. already encour- 1ng aged this mood by severelv THEY INTEND to go ahead the pay strug- in six days' with mak- no relaxa- struggle ll1 d Cvoky laist tion of either the state pay Two of the criminal living standaras laws due to become law laws or the Industrial Rela.

offence. Hence their vicious the spiteful al the ena or tnis week, and action last leaders are rudav dranst bower workers.

end The workers' the backing

DUWCI

SHOW

their industrial action. leaders had already made down all along the line, he In the hospitals the union included carefully-judged mem vicus or me chiefs by concluding long- still refusing echo or nis Novemoer term settlement, when their warning to the United decisive action. All the ake mundenby the raik and fle.

having claim was $5.50 immediately, that governments Nations hours Heath's must prepare for civil withın war. 'freeze' announcement on A government climbdown November 6 last Predictable ycal on pay woula open tne way

NOW

the second stage social divisiveness and this settlement, due to have told the coun- The Tory reaction to all intustice. he Monday, has een paid last be lost on fearhier. cil. The this waich is predictable: been stooned. An order from will not be lost on THEY BELIEVE the May I Employment Secretary Mac- the ories organized millan forbids alc

DIC-

protest being by payment un- pared to meet such a situa-

TUC

of the Dav rase tion. squib. 'It going laws becomes operative on is not calling-off Following change the government's April 1. Ime industrial in the Heath This kind of action Ll. . uc aic gas industry. Tory Ministers designed to delight the Torv radlo on rriday night. cock -a -hoop

THEY

PLAN,

Home faithful, present tough T0at and the General Secretary Carr the Feather stressed, to wavering image on the run. council art Intimidale Vuuuze nooe ciass dne make cedr No 1031 • 4p

IST LABOUR LEAGUE

the disaster area was teams folled when rescue came up against a solid wall teer day of sludge. There Is round-the- a clock vigil (above) at the ugh pithead by close relatives kno to Feather and the TUC the General Council that there to be no concessions are however much they bleat about 'special cases' under the pay laws. Defence Secretary Carring- pol ton, in his speech to the Central Council yesterday, dealt specifically with this point. Carrington's anxiety about 'six months of sustained at- tack' is not sparked by any action of the union leaders.

With Heath and Carr, he believes the TUC General Council is sewn up. Challenge Their fear is that working class, which forced to struggle whatever its leaders do, will take up challenge the political thrown down to it and make it impossible for the present government to continue. Yet it is at precisely this point that the Stalinists of the British Communist Party move in to try and disarm of the trapped men and miners who have volun- teered for rescue duties.

Plans to hold an official Inquiry are being stalled until the fate of the men is known. the working-class movement.

Saturday's 'Morning Star' declared that the gasworkers' industrial action 'has made considerable dent in a Heath's fraudulent incomes policy. It continued: 'If they had continued and stepped up their fight, and been given industrial backing, especially by the TUC, they could have smashed Heath's policy to smithereens.' Now the hos- pital workers should get such support. Concluded the 'Star': 'Every section of the trade union movement should pre- pare now to make the day protest and stoppage which the TUC has called ... a 24-hour General Strike demonstration of working- class power.' This is utter treachery. In the first instance it is a complete cover-up for the TUC General Council, and for the gas union leaders who split their members

TURN TO BACK PAGE

Danish unions prepare second wave of strikes High Court summons to print work-in leader PAGE 2 Workers Press, Monday March 26, 1973

WHAT WE THINK

Aren't our bankers wonderful? PREMIER EDWARD HEATH paid a hand- some tribute to British bankers in the Commons the other day. In reply to a ques- tion about the banking world, he declared: 'I do not think there are many in the world the honesty of the would criticize British banking system. To this there were Conservative backbench cheers. Heath went on: 'In fact, for many decades it has been the envy of the rest of the world.' To the worker with an overdraft or the small shopkeeper seeking a loan this claim-'the envy of the world'-might seem an over- statement. An exaggeration. A gross dis- tortion even. It is perhaps understandable why Heath is so They contribute flattering to the bankers.

mightily to his party's election cofters and, after all, he was one of them—a paid direc- tor of a firm of merchant bankers until his election to the premiership in 1970.

What have the bankers done to earn Heath's glowing praise? In all unfairness it must be said, very little. That is to say-nothing.

They have, of course, been responsible for bleeding the country dry and exporting vast sums of capital to Common Market coun- tries, Spain, South Africa and Australia.

By shifting investment abroad the bankers are deliberately setting out to crush the stan- dard of living of the British working class who, they feel, are overpaid and overfed.

But when it comes to wages and eating, the City bankers do very well indeed. Their salaries float in the £50,000 a year mark- just under £1,000 a week.

And they think nothing of taking the wife to a restaurant where the bill is anything up to £30 or £40.

Yet these gentlemen don't produce anything.

They're just money managers. The manage other people's money and cream off a vast profit for themselves. Putting it simply, they The of British are parasites. bankruptcy capitalism is more directly attributable to them than any single sector of society.

Yet Heath has the cheek to call them 'the envy of the world'. If this is the case, the time has come for bold decisions. The rest of the world can have them.

We must ex- them, to Spain, Luxemburg, South port Africa. If they decline this chance to spread their abroad, we native honesty and integrity Their must expropriate them. money and placed houses must be nationalized under workers' control. Only then can the working class see the books, the balance sheets and discover the extent to which the parasites have bled us into bankruptcy.

* UNDER

WORKER

CONTRI

Briant Colour gates under control NEGOTIATIONS were under way in Copen- hagen at the weekend as the national strike and lock-oüt involving some 250,000 Danish workers entered its sixth day. The talks, between Leif Hartwell, chairman of the employers' federation, and Thomas Nielsen, chairman of the trade union confe- deration, lasted for SUDANESE President Jal Britain as the Queen's gues visit starting today. His v from British imperialism 1 served its interests well sinc on May 25, 1969. The visit shows that the Sudanese regime now has excellent relations not only with the Soviet Union, China and the countries of Eastern Europe, but also with Britain and the US. British Communist Party leaders enthusiastic were backers of Numeiry's regime while he was preparing to drown the Sudan Com- munist Party in blood. Sudan CP leaders were brutally put to death after a farcical show trial follow- ing the July 1971 coup attempt which was defeated by Numeiry with the aid of Libya and Britain. Executed Abdel were Khaled Magoub, general secretary of the Sudan CP, and Shafie el-Sheikh, secre- tary-general of the Sudanese Trade Union Federation. Others who died were: Colonel Babakir Al-Nur; his chief aide Major Farouk Hamadallah (both kidnap- ped in Libya from a British plane bound for the Sudan); Colonel Monehim Ahmed; Lt-Col Osman Hussein; Cap- Muaweya Abdel Hay tain and Major Hashem Al-Atta.

Thousands of communists and trade unionists were rounded up and thrown in- concentration desert to camps where the survivors remain under frightful con- ditions to this day. 'THE WORK-IN goes on what Colour Joint Chapels leader the weekend within hours of to appear in court on April 4. f He has been ordered to appear at the Chancery Division of the High Court at 2.15 p.m. to surrender all company documents the and accounts. Liquidator's • spokesman Mr H. B. Blandford Baker said: "The writ says that Mr Freeman will be appre- hended if he does appear.' He added: 'This is not an idle threat. One does not say action will be taken and then not take it.' The legal move follows last week's hitch in the

BY FOREIGN EDITOR J

several hours on Saturday.

They were held under the mediator auspices of the appointed by the social- democratic government, Wechselmann, Sigurd who met both sides for an hour on Friday. It was the employers' re- jection of a compromise Wechselmann proposed by which precipitated the con- frontation. lent Jafaar Numeiry is in i's guest for a five-day state • His visit is an accolade ialism to a man who has well since he came to power Numeiry could never have taken office, let alone car- ried through his counter- revolutionary policies, with- the backing of the out Stalinists not only in Mos- but in London and cow, Khartoum itself. The British Stalinists sent delegations to the Sudan un- der Numeiry to boost the regime: Idris Cox, of the Party's International Committee, wrote an article in the 'Morning Star' in October 1970 under the heading "This government backs the trade unions' Yet. Numeiry's first act on taking office in May 1969 was to introduce the death penalty for strikers! Two weeks after Cox's article appeared,. the regime jailed Mahgoub and purged left-wing officers from the armed forces. Numeiry has now gradu- ated to attacks on the Palestinian Liberation Or- ganization. The United States State Department congratulated him for his treatment of the ed; Black September kidnapping lay • of two American diplomats.

Numeiry claims Al Fatah, the largest Palestinian guer- rilla organization, staged the kidnapping and subsequent assassination of the diplo- mats. The eight captured guer- rillas now face the death penalty. on whatever happens,' Briant leader Bill Freeman said at lours of receiving a summons

BY IAN YEATS

talks with potential buyer Mr Peter Bentley. applying to the High Court for a warrant for ex- ecution of the possession order granted last month, the liquidator is making it clear that he wants a solu- tion one way or another. Either. the buyer comes up with sufficient cash or the nine-month-old work-in by 105 men and women at the Old Kent Road factory is brought to an end and the assets realized on the open market. Mr Freeman said: 'I have

DITOR JOHN SPENCER

The employers ada- are mantly refusing to pay wage increases to bring pay into line with the rising cost of living. The strikes and lock-outs are the most extensive to hit Denmark in 37 years. The 250,000 engineering and transport workers al- ready involved are to be mc joined on April 3 by a second wave of office wor- A GROUP of right-wing Tories have launched a campaign to bolster Enoch Powell's support in the Tory Party. They are printing and distributing containing leafiets Powell's views on indus- trial relations and council rents. The campaign strategist says it is designed to win support from 'the ordinary intelligent man in overalls' Mr David Lazarus, chair- man of Brent Conservatives, said the idea stemmed from a meeting of 'leading indus- tralists and others' who were concerned about the way the government case was being put. THE OFFICIAL IRA rejec- ted the Tory White Paper on Northern Ireland at the weekend. But they said their cease- fire would continue except for the policy of retaliation actions taken • by the British army against the people of the north. A statement called for the withdrawal of all troops Counties and from the Six for Britain to renounce all A 50-STRONG demonstra- tion against rising prices through Orpington marched on Saturday calling for a General Strike to force the Tory government to resign.

The march was backed by the Socialist Labour League, the Young Socialists, the Labour Party, the Labour Party Young Socialists, Bex- Bill Freeman (right foreground no intention of going to the High Court. If they want me they will have to come and get me. He added: 'The papers kers, shop assistants, airport and power workers. Long queues formed out- side wholesale and retail grocery stores. Motorists stock- were piling petrol which will be virtually unobtainable once the petrol station workers strike. The strike comes less months after than three Danish entry into the Com- be mon Market under Anker Joergensen's minority social- democratic administration.

The leaflets will be sent to the chairmen of all Tory constituency associations for distribution. 'Mr Powell's logical yet lucid arguments appeal to the ordinary intelligent man in overalls,' writes Lazarus. "This is the man-the working man who wants to think for himself-whom The leaflets deliberately play down Powell's noto- rious anti-immigrant views ('I see rivers of blood' etc).

Nor is there any mention of the fact that Powell is pathologically against the closed shop and is in favour of stronger police action to smash pickets. claim to sovereignty over any part of Ireland. It also demanded the re- lease of all internees and political prisoners and an end to repressive and anti- democratic legislation. The only long-term solu- tion was the establishment of a democratic, 32-county, socialist republic, the state- ment said. ley Trades Council, the Artists' Union at Ravens- bourne College of Art and local factories. Speakers included David Grant, prospective Labour Party candidate for Orping- ton, Tom Shanahan, secre- tary of St Pauls Cray Ten- ants' Association, an d spokesmen from the SLL, the CP and T&GWU. oreground) ... Work-in goes on are not at the works. They are distributed among mem- bers of the committee. We shall burn them rather than hand them over.'

SALES BOOST FOR

BUGGING DEVICES

The Confederation of British Industry will make no immediate moves to set up • a Confederation of British Business-an amalgamation of the CBI and Chambers of Commerce. This was revealed yesterday by CBI president Michael Clapham at a London Press conference on the proposals of the Devlin Commission which inquired into industrial and commercial representation.

Clapham broadly welcomed' the proposals, but he rejected some of the recommendations and gave only qualified sup- port for others. The CBI, he said, would undertake a number of dis- cussions with large companies in various sectors of industry to find out their views on rationalization. But on the recommendation of the setting-up of a Con- federation of British Business, including Chambers of Com- merce, he said the report had not taken sufficient account of fundamental differences be- tween the two organizations.

Clapham rejected the idea of cutting out smaller firms from membership of the pro- posed CBB. Even the larger members were against this, he said, and there were no guarantees that the 4,300 smaller businesses in the CBI would set up their own organization anyway. Below: Michael Clapham, pre- of the Confederation of sident British Industry. Ancillary Workers at the Hull Royal Infirmary are among those involved in the present selective strike action for better wages. John Pettenuzzo, laundry worker, told Workers Press: I came out for more money.

Now I realize it's political.'

Bob Nicholson, NUPE laun- dry steward, added: 'We've been out three weeks here. I think we've got a stranglehold and it's being stepped up in other places. It's got to blow soon.' The workers accuse man- agement of deliberately exag-

BY ALEX MITCHELL

British private security firms are buying elec- tronic bugging devices on a large scale although their use in this country is strictly illegal. It is know that the agents of some overseas manufacturers are in Britain plying these secretive wares. One such firm is Ultron Micro Wave Inc of Farmingdale, New York. Workers Press has obtained a copy of a brochure which Ultron sub-agents are distribut- ing in London in their sales drive. The 14-page booklet gives a complete guide to bugging and listening devices though their cost is modestly not mentioned.

The main buyers appear to be private security firms. In collecting evidence and dos- siers for their clients these private police forces are in- creasingly using bugging equip- ment. Many make their own but these devices gear are usually adaptations of models imported from either the US or West Germany. The increase in the demand for these items has been notice.

able over the past four years.

This can be explained in two ways. First of all, the earlier equip- ment was very unreliable. It was difficult to record a con- versation either on a telephone or in a room which could then intelligibly be understood when replayed. The latest equipment trans- mits and records more dis- tinctly and is more durable.

Secondly, the boards of companies are be- many big "security con- coming more scious', as the salesmen put it.

They are worried about indus- trial espionage, particularly in the pharmaceutical and chemi- cal industry. These weapons have also been turned in another direc- tion-against shop floor or- ganization. About six months ago Workers Press was told that a leading security firm put a phoney "militant' into an engineering works which was expecting trouble over a wage claim. His job was to infiltrate the shop stewards' committee and discover who was likely to fight the company's plans.

He privately reported to management the names of the militants and they were fired on trumped up charges. gerating the state of the fouled linen. 'When we went in to clear the backlog, two of the women had nothing to do', we were told. About half the hospital beds in Yorkshire are closed by the strike action. Any threat to send laundry to prisons is bound to cause an escalation in industrial sanctions. Mr Nicholson went on: 'With regard to the Tories, those earning over £5,000 a year will benefit greatly from the new tax system. I'm mar- ried with two kids and I earn just over £1,000 a year so I'll be paying about 30p more tax.

"They should cancel the tax ag- concessions to the rich. I think

V $ IN: 20

SO33YB0L

tuame! The agent told us he used recording equipment to tape meetings of the committee.

When Workers Press asked the man for proof-positive of his story he got 'cold feet' and decided not to co-operate further. From his statements and information, other however, we have no doubt that such activities do go on in industry.

And why not? The ruling class is in a desperate position.

Its parasitic system of industry is crumbling but it tries to cling its profits and to privileges. To defeat the working class some of these reactionary em- ployers will not stop at bug.

devices, ging telecontrol and uniformed security. If neces- sary they will arm their guards as they do in France, Italy and the US. the result of the miners' ballot will be for a national strike and it could lead to a General Strike. On April 1 if we're still out we will be breaking the law.' Mrs Emma Grace, aged 56, a laundry worker, said that Heath didn't know what it was to manage a home on ancillary workers' "My husband pay. who is a pensioner has £6.95 and I put out £4.05 for rent.

That only leaves a bit to live on. I work to keep us. After stoppages I take home £13.50.'

Another woman laundry worker said, I have three children. I had to come to work because you just can't manage with today's prices.'

Workers Press, Mo The Ultron Micro Wave Room Microphone (top left) Half the size of a cigarette pack, this miniature transmit- ter is sensitive enough to pick up a whisper across a large room and broadcast to a re- ceiver with exceptional fidelity.

Powered by a single mercury cell; range a quarter of a mile; battery life 40 hours. The Ultron Micro Wave Body Transmitter (top right) Specifically designed and con- structed so that it can be car- ried by a person with no wavering or loss of transmis- sion. Range is up to half a mile and its battery life is up to 20 hours. L

LES

Now available from New Pa 186a Clapham High Street, Monday. March 26, 1973 PAGE 3 The Ultron Model 350 and Model 700 Telephone Transmitters (bottom left) These are two unique devices enabling the operator to moni- tor both sides of a conversa- tion 'exceptional audio with fidelity. Using the latest tech- nology they are designed to achieve maximum range with- out deteriorating phone quality.

Stereo Pocket Recorder (bottom right) This 11-ounce recorder has 106 minutes of tape time. It can pick up sounds up to 75 away. The entire unit is feet small enough to fit into a shirt pocket. The brochure says: 'Used extensively by law en- forcement agencies, this is now, for the first time, available to the public' By LEON TROTSKY Paperback. £1.00 Illustrated of leading pen-portraits Sharp figures of the Second Interna- tional in Russia and Europe, for the first time published in an English edition. The translations were first commissioned by the Socialists" 'Keep Young paper Left' Their enormous success has led to the completion of the translation of the whole book, which is the first part of Volume 8 of Leon Trotsky's 'Works' pub- lished in the Soviet Union in 1926. It provides the most vivid picture available of the historic figures of the Second Inter- national, their strengths and weaknesses, written by an obser- ver who was also a participant in the daily struggle of the Euro- pean and Russian working class.

• New Park Publications h Street, London, SW4 7UG

PAGE 4

Workers Press, Monday March 28, 1973

LUCRATIVE

'OWN LABEL'

ВУДА

ANNOUNCING...

WRITINGS OF

WRITINGS OF

TEOL

LEON

TROTSKY

TROTSHY

History of Russian Revolution Trotsky—a documentary by Six volumes of Trotsky's writings Francis Wyndham during special gift pack Le ves cu or intee voumes ana wavia King £8.00 including postage £1.70 including postage £1.65 including postage Please tick those you require. Amount enclosed f Name Address Complete form and post to: New Park Publications, 186a Clapham High Street, London SW4 7UG A New Park Publications Booklist is a vailable, free, on request.

label has increased the neces- Once the big food bosses sity for the big brand to trembled at the thought advertise and keep their share of 'own label' brands sold of the market. When Heinz by independent beans compete against Tesco the beans, Co- beans, Sainsbury's supermarket chains. beans etc. more and more meant For years beans has TV space must be bought to Heinz-and here was Sains- persuade the public that Heinz bury's retailing almost exactly beans are unique. the commodity only same Own label brands, there- much cheaper. The magic halo fore, succeed the most in what built around the brand up are called 'low interest' mar- by of multi- leaders years kets. million pound advertising was This is the ad-man's des- suddenly threatened. cription for markets where it At first the food combines is difficult to confidence-trick resisted pressure from the re- the housewife into believing tailers manufacture cessed foods for the own-label has some Brand X magical to Brand spurious superiority threat from market- -but like Fine Fare or groups Own labels also flourish in Sainsbury's to withdraw the fields where the manufacturers franchise of the manufac- enjoy high profit margins, and turer's product lead to a rapid there is a potential for large of mind. change price-cuts. 'own By the mid-sixties Cereals could be onebut label' was an established fea- Kellogg's an incredible make ture in every supermarket.

fortune their cornflakes myth This lead to the of so far have successfully and 'structural competition'. De- fended off the label fenders own of capitalism had to challenge by refusing to pro- admit that monopoly, espe- duce for the retail chains.

cially within the food indus- 'Mintel' found that own had wiped out price try, labels are generally 10 to 30 competition- but they argued per cent cheaper than branded the retail end of the trade had goods mainly because of re-introduced it via the 'own cheaper packaging and larger label' brand. size than the brand leaders Now no one uses this argu- They examined a range of ment. label goods in Manufacturer and retailer own January 1973, where have settled down in and Packaling was cosy identical and the latest quality was partnership, The average 'Min- about the same. evidence uncovered by price differential was 13 per tel', the marketing intelligence cent. The main journal, shows that retailers components for this difference were.

had begun higher to enjoy margins on own label brands • No selling costs for the manufacturer of own labels- -higher in some cases than 2 to 4 per cent. the traditional brand leaders. So long as the public are • No advertising-2 to 8 subject to the advertising pro- per cent. paganda war the advantage of • Lower product quality. price reductions on own label • Cheaper packaging goods is less than effective.

'Mintel' survey 'Mintel' say that consider- A showed ing these cost savings, it is that opinion was firmly surprising that own label pro- against the view that own label was equal in quality to ducts not cheaper than al c the brand leaders. This pre- they are-this is because the chains make higher margin on judice is not particularly own labels compared with the based on fact or knowledge of The profit, foods but on the promotion branded goods. undertaken by "the big com- therefore, that normally goes food bines like Heinz, Kellogg, Uni- into the pocket of the Imperial Tobacco and manufacturing monopolies, is lever, going instead into the pockets so on. of the retail chains. In fact the advent of own 'Mintel' figures on own label (OL) versus brand leader (BL) Tesco Sainsbury's Fine Fare product BL OL BL OL BL OL 10.5 13.5 11 14 11.5 jam 14.5 16.5 14.5 milk powder 6 beans (16 oz) 13.5 14.5 12 14.5 13 frozen peas (16 oz) 10.5 9 10.5 Cornflakes (12 oz) 9.5 12.5 Flour (3lb) 10 13.5 10 13 42 Coffee (8 oz) 42 54.5 55 (All manufacturers' recommended prices in case of brand leaders.)

The Tories have begun In these days of state wage an advertising campaign to recruit controls and soaring prices, youth to become sparetime life is very difficult for the commandos. working man and his family.

This drive is going alongside But spare a thought for the the recruitment into the Terri- Things are going huntsman. Volunteer Reserve torial Army badly for him too. (TAVR) which now has more Take this gruelling report than 70,000 men armed and from the recent meeting of the trained to regular army stand- Cheshire Hounds. ards. The 'Chronicle', local These developments are the fol- being presented as if they are newspaper, reported in line NATO develop- lowing incident: with Wrenbury This is done deliber- Black Firs, ments. Gorse all Mosses and Starkey ately to create the impression failed to hold. Taken to that the part-time army will on The Heald and finding hounds be used against a foreign or killed in covert. fox invading force. viewed on In however, was private, army right-handed officers are only too willing to land running a circle. He crossed the Higgins- admit that the recruits are field road down to the brook being brought up to strength 'internal security'. on Mr Latham's where he was for They marked to ground. talk about the possibility of a 'Baddiley Gorse, Ravensmoor 'national emergency'. were all blank, The advertisement for the and Dorfold dis- and this ended a very part-time commando reserve appointing day.' says: This is all double-Dutch to "The basic training is one us. But our hunting correspon- evening week. You'll learn dent that it means that shoot, become skilled says to in Cheshire gentry failed unarmed the to combat, listen to slaughter many foxes in this talks etc, to get you ready for particular sweep. Life's tough, your training sessions in the isn't it? field"'

Apartheid is rapidly bringing medical services in South Africa to crisis point. The decision of the Trans- vaal to implement province apartheid in hospitals means that no non-white nurses can be employed in 'white' hos- pitals, nursing homes and old age homes. There are already 1,100 hospital beds empty because of staff shortages and 'white' hospital building plan add 13,000 new to beds is now in peril: The J. G. Strij- dom Hospital in Johannesburg has 550 beds which have never been used because of a shortage of nurses. Sister Irene McFadzean has resigned from the Johan- nesburg General Hospital in protest against the exclusion of non-white nurses. She said: the bureau- If through with crats go their threat then predict that many hospitals will be forced close and that the to entire hospital South system Africa will She said that the apartheid 'a slight on measure was the entire nursing world. • I call upon all nurses to stand four- People square in this crisis. who are dying don't care what colour hands save them'. No allowance If the lives of white patients are being jeopardized through lack of nurses, the situation for Africans is much more acute. There are fewer hos- pitals, poorly equipped and lacking doctors other trained staff. Yet Africans have to pay for hospital facilities more than whites, at least in the Transvaal. A member of the provincial council, David Epstein, has pointed that while the out number of in the people family is taken into account in assessing what white The state of anarchy patient can pay, in the case of which now exists in the non-whites no allowance is made for size of family. relations between Since complete apartheid in national currencies has fewer 1966 African doctors created the conditions for have been trained. Today only dozen qualify each year: a wholesale collapse of that means one doctor to credit internationally. one-and-a-half million every The first shocks could be 600 people. About white felt in the Euro-currency mar- doctors qualify each year out of a total population of under ket which involves large four million. pool of 'hot' money, mainly in Only out of South dollars, one amounting to some Africa's six medical schools is $90,000m. allowed to train African doc- This of money consists tors. When African doctors do funds held on deposit through qualify they are paid less than bank outside their country whites. of origin by non-residents of An African intern starts that country. It is therefore out at little more than half free from completely the ex- the salary paid to the white change controls operated by doctor. individual countries. It is here that the big banks Committee and the multinational corpora- their funds in tions invest becomes a Senior If he order to gain short-term inter- Medical Officer he can expect est and also fin- acquire the from 6.000 to earn to 6.600 for their international ance rand (there are about 2 rand trade and investment. £1), while Indian to an The Euro-currency market coloured doctor can go up to has grown 100-fold over the R7,200 and doctor white past 15 years and now dwarfs will from R7,200 to carl the resources the R9,300. even largest central bank. A multi-racial of group The total volume of paper doctors the Transvaal is in being traded on this market trying to upgrade the salaries of black doctors and has set is estimated be to at least one-and-a-half times the total up a committee to campaign combined reserves of gold and for this end. donation has foreign currency held by been received from the the white Common Market central banks.

Association of Surgeons. The example of the Tohan- It is at least eight times the City size of the reserves of a com- nesburg which decided in October paratively wealthy central pay all its doctors on the same bank like the Bank of France.

scales, following one-day The countries involved have a strike, has not been followed in fact made almost no effort elsewhere in South Africa. to control the Euro-currency Workers Press. market because they the dollar for its strength and recog- world-wide usability. nized that it was essential to its maintain the scale of world Ironical though it may seem, trade. that was the beginning of the The proliferation of domes- Euro-dollar market; the world- tic restrictions on the purchase wide usability of the dollar of foreign exchange, designed laid its foundation and remains to protect the national cur- its keystone.' forces rency, increasingly These conditions which gave traders to borrow what they rise the development and to Euro-currency want on the expansion of the Euro-currency market. market have now been Despite numerous transformed. warnings pletely about the instability of the The dollar is longer no Euro-dollar market govern- usable, strong or universally ments have also been afraid to and far from wanting to hold take any action against it for dollars the their assets in fear that it would simply bankers and financiers have form, change its move else- been desperately trying to dis- where and become even harder pose of their dollar holdings.

to control. On August 15, 1971, four Instead of their controlling months after O'Brien's Chicago the market, the market is now speech, the American govern- able to dictate to governments, ment stopped selling its offi- as the West German govern- cial gold reserves for dollars.

ment learned to its cost on This marked the end of the 13 and again February on Woods Bretton post-war March monetary system and created The basis for the expansion an untenable situation for the of the Euro-currency market vast pyramid of inflationary keynote in the Euro-currency was explained in credit in Chicago speech on markets. 1971 by Sir Leslie From that day on the Euro- O'Brien, governor of the Bank dollar market was doomed.

of England. Karl Marx in As wrote He said the first participants 'Capital' 483) (vol 3, page in the Euro-dollar market back it should never be for- in the 1950s were the USSR gotten that money, in the first place in the form of precious and other East European coun- which tries had reasons for metals, remains the basis from not holding their dollars dir- which the credit Wever detach set system can ectly with banks in the United •States. Once the link between paper 'But though they held their money and gold was severed banks in reserves with other by presidential decree the countries, they insisted all the basis of the Euro-dollar credit same in holding them in the system was destroyed. form of dollars. They valued No wonder then, as O'Brien Press, Monday March 26, 1973 PAGE 5 • Left: Sir Leslie O'Brien, governor of the Bank of England. commented to his Chicago 'there are many audience, observers who are uneas!' about the market's stability.

'Can we be confident of the stability of the market?'

O'Brien asked. It extends across national frontiers, so that there is no one national banking authority that can supervise its opera- tions, insist on sound practices and stand ready, in emergency, to be "a lender of last resort" •By the same token, it can- not be easy for lenders, whose interbank lending is unsecured, know much to about the creditworthiness or the full financial commitments of the ultimate borrower. 'One big failure, it is some- times said, could lead to a chain reaction bringing down all in its path.' The most significant passage here is O'Brien's reference to the absence of a lender of last resort. banking parlance In this means someone-in Britain, usually the Bank of England— who is ready to buy for cash unmatured paper of certain types in the hands of other banks. The need for such an ar- rangement arises where the banks have liabilities to their depositors which are payable at short notice but have loaned money which does not fall due for repayment for a longer period. Clearly, if a bank in this position is unable to find someone who will advance money on the strength of the unmatured IOUs in its pos- session it will be unable to repay its own debts and faces the prospect of failure. That this is not a remote prospect is shown by the rela- tively close watch the Bank of England maintains on what it terms the 'maturity balance' of London banks in the Euro- currency markets. This has revealed-as this month's Bank of England quarterly review demonstrated -that compared with 1971 the banks' short-term liabili- ties have increased while the proportion of their loans fall- ing due in the long-term has also risen. The result is that many of the banks' short-term debts are not covered by equivalent repayments of loans they have made. In addition the stand- ard of creditworthiness re- quired of a borrower has de- clined considerably. As the 'Financial Times' put it on March 5: 'The pressure competition for volume of business has led to .:. the extension of credit to an ever- growing number of borrowers who a few years back would have been regarded as mar- ginal by most lenders.' All the conditions are thus being prepared for a major failure of one or more of the firms involved in the Euro- currency business. Yet the banks involved are not acting as individuals, they belong to one or more of the 'multinational consortium banks' which have sprung up to deal in Euro-currency markets. The capitalist world's banks are so closely linked together through these consortia that one crash could rebound round the world, affecting in part- cular the US commercial banks which have muscled into the Euro-dollar markets, and being transmitted back into the Fed- eral Reserve system of the United States. The system of credit inter- nationally today is more exten- sive than at any time in the past. It has had its entire basis removed by the collapse of the post-war monetary system. The slightest disturbance could now be enough to bring down the entiré edifice, creating an unprecedented collapse with enormous revolutionary impli- cations.

HOW TOM JACKSON WORKS WITHIN THE SYSTEM

PAGE 6 Workars Prose, Monday March 26, 1 general Tom Jackson,

UPW

Office secretary. Above: Post Worke quite tra th, it scares tike Jackson said. The executive council of the Union of Post Office Workers is preparing a document for submission to the Tory government's corporatist-style Pay Board in relation to Phase Three of Edward Heath's state control of wages legislation. The aim of this, according to general secretary Tom Jack- son, is 'to try and achieve the best settlement we can get'.

Jackson's advocacy of accept- ing Phase Two of the pay laws Monday March 26, 1973 in the hope of getting a 'fairer' deal under Phase Three is an indication of the increasingly corporatist attitudes and pro- cedures adopted by the leader- ship of the 200,000-strong

UPW.

The recent special conference in fact,

UPW

of the was, directly dominated by the anti- working class legislation of the Tory government. All discussion of the Tory pay laws was removed from the agenda by the executive.

Discussion of wages was per- mitted only after assurances from the union's solicitors that it conformed to the require- ments of the Industrial Rela- tions Act. In his conference statement on the union's £5.50 across-the- board pay claim (he refused, incidentally, to name a figure), Jackson called on the TUC to be 'more flexible in its attitude being at the it than was moment. Instead of calling for an all- out fight for the wage claim, Jackson insisted that a deal be struck with the must government'. he said, two There were, alternatives facing the Labour movement. to negotiate 'a One was better deal' with the govern- ment on the basis of statutory control of wages and prices.

'massive all-out The other was industrial action to change the mind of the government'. bring Industrial action to down the government is im- possible, according to Jackson.

It would simply replace Edward Heath with Enoch Powell. 'A general election might be forced, he told his mem- bers, 'and in the weeks before it there would be fighting on the picket lines, and the lads would be out in the streets.

'In this situation the Labour Party would win. The not Industrial Relations Act would on the Statute Book remain would have an and Britain even more reactionary govern- ment than at present. 'After the 1968 uprising in France, they faced an even more reactionary government.

Weimar At the end of the Republic there was fighting in the streets-and then Hitler came to power. 'Do not any of us believe that any of us have the ability to force a General Election in circumstances, these bring down the government bring back the Labour Party!

Jackson's choice clearly is for the working class to permit the Tory boot to come down firmly on its neck. Now 47, Tom Jackson be- came general secretary of the UPW in 1967 and joined the General Council of the TUC in the same year. By October 1969 he was applying for a closed shop agreement with the Post Office in line with the Donovan Commission's report on the unions. The Donovan Com- mission was set up by Harold Wilson and Barbara Castle to lay the basis for their anti- subsequently union plans in In Place of embodied Strife'. That, in turn, became the Tories' first model for legal attacks on the unions.

The Donovan Commission proposed closed shop agree- ments where unions had already agreed to discipline or expel who took unofficial workers action of any sort. In April 1970 the UPW issued a joint statement with the employers on productivity and declared: "The schemes believes that improved union productivity and efficiency will result in improved pay.' This coincided with an announcement from the Post Office that 1,600 manual sort- ing offices were to be closed and replaced by 120 fully- mechanized centres. One year earlier, during a strike of overseas telegraph operators, the union had sent a letter to 'The Times' which declared: 'Our organization has always technical develop- welcomed ments inside the service in which our members work. We have, for instance, years co-operated to the maxi- mum possible extent with the introduction of Subscriber Dialling (STD) Trunk which reduced enormously the need for telephone operators. 'Our record in the postal side of the business is equally impressive We have always 'welcomed developments which would reduce the size of the labour force. It is the policy of our union so far as posts are concerned to seek a gradual reduction in the number of staff employed on the basis that those left in the service will be better paid as a result. 'We are one of those rare examples of a union which is prepared to face a change and has policies deliberately de- signed to reduce the labour- intensive nature of the Post Office.' This opportunist policy of collaboration with the manage- ment was to bear bitter fruit in the following two years.

In early 1970 there were a number of unofficial strikes in support of the union's claim for 'a substantial increase'.

The membership considered 'substantial' to mean a rise to a basic wage of £20 and were incensed when the leadership accepted f2, which brought the basic to just over £18. One of Tackson's major allies in controlling this opposition was an executive council mem- Maurice Styles—a ber called munist Party. In November 1970 there was a spontaneous outburst of anti- Tory feeling when Lord Hall was sacked as head of the Post Office Corporation. Workers felt that Hall would be replaced by someone who would take a stronger line on wages and jobs and pave the way for the 'hiving off' of profitable parts of the service, such as the telecommunications section. But the crucial confrontation came in 1971 when the UPW submitted a claim for a wage rise of 15-20 per cent. The Post Office offered a mere 7 ner cent. later increased to 8 per cent. On January 15 the executive council of the UPW mously voted for strike action.

Jackson announced that this 'the had been done with maximum regret and im- mediately wrote to Employ- ment Minister Robert Carr pleading for conciliation.

The next day he told a Press cor.ference that the union 'was dispute with not government'. was the This, of course, the real direct opposite of 'As Workers Press situation. declared on January 16: "The Post Office workers have now entered a decisive fight and it will be necessary for the whole labour move- ment to come in behind them against the Tories. most leadership, prepared to go to the end to defeat the govern- ment and to call for support from the whole labour move- ment can win this strike.

'The TUC is now called upon to support the postal workers by every possible means. The financial resources of the TUC must be put at the full dis- posal of the postal workers, because their fight is the fight of every trade unionist.'

But the following day Jack- , told 2,000 of his West son Midlands members that he found the strike 'sad and repugnant' and declared that would 'go anywhere and he talk to anybody' to bring it to an end. At the same time CP mem- ber Styles was telling a Leeds meeting: "The struggle is not against the government. The government is determined by elections.' In a deliberate cover-up for misleadership, the Stalin- this ists' 'Morning Star' told its readers that meetings and advertisements were 'the way to defeat the government's plans'. And on January 19, the Stalinist daily carried a half- strike-breaking advert page from the Post Office Corpora- tion. The central feature of the strike was its political nature as the government prepared its its anti-union legislation and prolonged onslaught on all basic democratic rights. To deny the political nature of the strike ana lo reruse mobilize the organ- entire

ILCU

WorKing Cass bennett was

NUIKCI

pave way for defea we had suspected sen said.

its influence upon those me Po one the that agreement been reached 1s not the taul ot the Ministrv or the Minister born or wnom nave workea could be monster inflation is by bringing about a progressive and substantial reduction in the level of wage settlements.

'VERY

DECENT

INDEED'

"The nation has been held toll noto too and connive at unreason able for the settlements Yet jackson described bar. ber's Cabinet colleague Carr 'verv decent indeed'. anc told Dirminenam posta workers I feel Depare ente Labour the urged conculation com- leaders promise, the feared, not so much the Tories, the power of the working UPW's assistant general Department ment. Ine unions Minister was fair hearing, the Office was not behind they ost with the then want 1s, the me te in Jackson's hones. of a tavourable outcome the Wilberforce inquiry into ine Dower workers clalm, • set- ting a precedent for the post.

comin February walked with Wice saying that the expected his turn their the execs de red executive reduced its caim ¿ per centi 17 it February took hours before five-and-a-half 31-member the Co March out with them. On the entire executive-including CP mem- Maurice Dick Styles, and Lawlor Clements- 5)hvoocritically is deplorable that the executive thought it wa was necessary to on and the the terms proposed, yet nothing workerS PrOBI about the CP members on the execuuve nor about its own totally support Jackson the dis- throughout voThe Ucla executive lack of undere cove be nee blames struggle - and they certainly shamefully had i been eit TUC. But the the lurch by the central reason lor me cereal the rerusal to recognize of thi political nature welded fog ther which Stephen Johns Stules told (Workers February Press, 'We got the impression that if the l ince had Post come forwara with an increase blocked by Mot would nave been Carr. view of Tom unis was the Jackson the nanonal execute and 1 share it . I share the riew adyanced by he enem Theemy hosting there tre no the govern- business ments, Styles denied that inance unions ilke the Triple Alliance you its me stike strike because the government! upported And he continued: * As ta bringing the government down, I think that a government go- mini- General ourike would probabl vill nanas aown be the nature I don't voter. the union that tal left will win it. his belief that the Stressing Tories could not be removed industrial action, Jackson 'Given stated his taith. those circumstances, work within But Stems Jackson's working with- increasingly with the enmentsures the not recommended surprisingly Office's actly, Post hina pro- ofter-y ner cent with ductivity strings.

REDUCE THE

LABOUR

FORCE

Jackson's executive immedi- ately recommended acceptance and embarked on an intensifi- policy cation trading obs tor wages Despite this, executive the sought etill neontiate with the Post (ince Cornoration or have de- which a pian could stroved 25.000 iobs within six more easy the aim of hiaher wages for smaller work farce told the Jackson same con- ference that in cetending its nday March 26, 1973 PAGE 7 unemployment members from the union 'had the full support of management. So his full-blooded collaborationism that he appar- National Industrial would before Relations Court, even if the TUC ex. pressly torbade it. Ins, ne sale. was necescarr lo prevent une rost omce tror elis oracrea to recognize tr _ in order • Bite Services Asia. Culado so, ed said Fackson, in a circular would 'dislocate services at are trying was issued in The industrial ac ion ved February glacey civil service take grades It is our understanding that in the majority of areas civil will service DIcket lines the wish ot the

BANE

taking place. the most glaring films rae tota om arena of reformist tra bankruptcy unionism at a time ory government is forced bi internauona to take back every gain working class has apparent men completely w backs the time comac united class action to support nis members. From then on it is but a oI Short stens lete acceptance of the Tories' course, tive refuse and he is neve the 'Morning Star No wonder could ay to a group of Leeds post nen, in the spring of last vear The Communist Party is like a tame pussycat. Stroke it and do anything you want.' Only ConscIous strugge revolutionary leadership in unions prevent

WOT-

Koendom being handed over foot, to Tory corporatiss struggles -in particular the basic rights question of forcing the Tories warrar he mercy of leaders like lon jackson

STALIN'S FELLOW TRAVELLERS,

PAST AND PRESENT

Stal demand death esponsibat hot members and neporters or the plaint parkernan dismisses the poltical meaning of the Moscow trials and

PAGE 8

Workers Press, Monday Marc

BY CLIFF SLAUGHTER

PART TWO

The social democrats who assisted Stalin were not slow to recognize his gifts in return. The Webbs appreciated Stalin's influence in assuring the defeat of the General Strike through his defeat of Trotsky's line. And 'Tribune', comment- ing on the Stalinist massacre of the militants in Barcelona, wrote: 'There is no doubt that since the liquidation of the Cata- lonian rising' Republican Spain has become not weaker, but definitely stronger.' All this, the real political 'fellow connection between travelling' for Stalin and the betrayal of the world revolu- tion, Kiernan ignores. He wants to be able to conclude, in best fellow-travelling style, that what the fellow-travellers re- ported 'had a positive influence for good on the west'. Not only that! the • . . achievements held up to view by all these writers, scholars and artists, have injected new vitality into western as well as Afro-Asian veins.' This conclusion is a reflec- tion not of the objective reality, of Stalinist treachery and the necessity of struggle against it, but of the actual wishes of the situation and middle-class intellectuals rep- resented by Kiernan. They seek way of stabilizing and every justifying a situation in which Stalinism imperialism and achieve a modus vivendi, with the working-class controlled.

Somehow the balance of power and the potential of technology will enable the bureaucrats and reformers to steer course to progress a (advisad by the intellectuals), while the workers are protected from foolish revolutionary attempts and kept with their noses to the grindstone. This reactionary Utopia is even more dangerous than it was when represented by the fellow-travellers. It has taken one section after another of the Stalinist intellectuals into the camp of the bourgeoisie.

Stalinism today is playing the same counter-revolutionary.

role as between the wars.

The fact that Kiernan makes so vigorous an apology for Stalinism is therefore ominous.. wh It means that the political key of the revolution- preparation ary forces in Britain, as else- be con- where, will need to ducted in every ideological field. Kiernan can even write the following as his description of the 'appeal' of socialism to the fellow-travelling intellectuals: 'It was the rainbow promise art and literature and science finding again at last nday March 26, 1973 Stalin signs a death warrant at the conc thus dismisses the responsibility of mer a genuine place in the collec- tive life from which they had been estranged; of the word made flesh and dwelling among men, serving mankind But it was precisely the lie that this vision had been or could be achieved in one country by betrayal of the revolution that sustained Stalinism! It was the role of these intellectuals to blind those under their influence, by means of this vision, to the of Soviet art reality and science. It is simply lie that this of 'rainbow promise' was coming to life in the USSR. On the contrary, the Stalin- ist repression, its national its crushing out narrowness, of the historical truth, its de- struction of the independent initiative of the proletariat, its growing dogmatism in every field of learning, wrought de- struction in literature, art and science, shown even as especially in Stalin's last years in controversy over Lysenko's genetics and Marx's theories of linguistics. Whereas Kiernan to some extent conceals his own stand- point in this review (though it is easily deduced from his vitriolic attack on Caute), he has been more explicit else- where, and we can find the key to his strong feelings if we refer to his article 'Notes on Marxism in 1968' ('Socialist Register' : 1968). Speaking of Marx, Kiernan working says: "The class on which he pinned his faith has turned out to be, once acclimatized to life among factory chimneys, as unrevolu- tionary as the French peasantry after 17893 And so the struggles which t the conclusion of one of the famous purge-tri ity of mombers and supportars of the Stalinist the proletariat undertook in Marx's day were only due to the unfamiliarity their new of 'factory chimney' environment?

Of course, if the working class has 'turned out' to be 'unrevolutionary' then of course the 'example' of 'socialist con- struction' in the USSR is for the edification of reasonable in- tellectuals and administrators, as the Webbs thought. No wonder that from this Kiernan concludes that 'in the west... Marxism faces a long future as a minority move- ment'. Once again we see the in- tellectual's resignation before the power of the ruling class bureaucratic col- laborators. The only thing that is difficult to see is why Kiernan thinks Marxism has any future at all. But here again there is reason. The reformist in- a tellectuals continue to lay claim to the heritage of Marx only to prevent its being taken up by the working class. This determination they naturally share with the Stalinist bureaucracy. Behind Kiernan's politics (and we are interested in what Kiernan represents, in not Kiernan as an individual) lies the fact that he remains completely committed to a philosophical position totally opposed to dialectical material- ism, the philosophy of Marx- The revolutionary role of the working class derives from the objective contradictions of the capitalist mode of produc- the working class's tion and position in that system. What does Kiernan say about those contradictions? According to him: Con- ich tradictions meaningful for men • purge-trials. Kiernan dismisses the political me • Slalinist partles. do not reside in the thing-in- itself lie. in the material world, existing independently of men, C.S.], but in their way looking at it or feeling it' (!).

In other words it is the way you think or feel about capital- ism lor the Stalinist bureau- cracy) that determines whether it develops through internal contradiction! And if there should be any doubt about this interpretation, Kiernan tells us on the follow- page: But it as true of capitalism as of everything else that there's nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so.'

This subjective nonsense allows Kiernan to dismiss the political meaning of the Mos- Trials, and the respon- coW sibility of members and sup- porters of the Stalinist parties, including himself, with a fine ethereal judgement: "The portrayal of human motives that emerged from the treason trials, a nightmare but a naïve and childlike one, reflected a genuine bewilder- ment about man's inner being.'

BLAME

Such is Kiernan's dismissal of any responsible accounting of the past, any preparation for the future of the revolution.

Because he will not under- take this responsibility, face up to the reactionary role of Stalinism and fellow-travelling, he can blame everything, in of time-honoured fashion, on the working class itself. so: 'The new ruling And class thrown up by capitalism survives, as its predecessors did, by force or fraud, and, chiefly, by the gullibility and indolence of the ordinary man.'

It is not surprising that with en this cynicism goes that 'wor- olitical meaning of the Moscow trials and shipping of the accomplished fact' which led so many fellow- travellers (as Caute points out, very few of them ever claimed be Marxists) to consider to Stalin to have been right as against Trotsky. Kiernan writes: 'It was a true instinct [?] that made Lenin hope so ardently for simultaneous re- volutions in the belligerent countries of the first world war. "Socialism in one country" became the right policy when this hope faded, but it made socialism in other countries, similar means, impossible....

As always, the man who is a complete idealist, telling us one minute that 'only thinking makes it so, , will immediately capitulate with resignation be- fore 'things as they are' and recognize that the socialist revolution is 'impossible' We might use Kiernan's own expression, then, and say that it is a 'true instinct' that makes him react so violently to the record brought together by David Caute. With all its limitations, his book 'The Fellow Travellers' convincingly demonstrates that the intellectual supporters of were anti-Marxists, Stalinism people doing their best to adapt whatever they could bring from bourgeois scholar- of ship to the service of the Stalinist bureaucracy. They preferred this bureaucracy, with all its repressions and betrayals to the proletarian revolution. They represented the left wing of the bourgeoisie, pioneering cultivation of the counter - revolutionary bureau- cracy as the effective most instrument against the inter- national working class.

FRENCH CP DEFENDS

The monetary crisis of recent weeks has re- vealed the French Com- munist Party as the strongest defender of the franc and the firmest opponent of any revalua- tion. It does so on the grounds will handicap that this French exports, decrease em- ployment and 'raise the bar- riers which protect our money against speculation' ('L'Hu- manité, March 13). The de- cision to float the currencies of the Common Market coun- tries against the dollar was bitterly attacked as a capitu- lation to the United States. Promises made in the past by Giscard d'Estaing, the 'not to Finance Minister, allow a revaluation oi the franc which will weaken our competitivity international and result in the franc becom- ing a satellite of the dollar quoted with evident ap- are proval. But Giscaird d'Estaing is then criticised for having gone back on those promises.

The Party has given tacit support to Gaullist monetary policy in recent years, a po- licy inherited from General de Gaulle's war on the dollar of the early 1960s. Defence of the franc, 'our money' the party organs as put it, is a sop to middle- class rentiers, small property- owners and peasants. It rests narrow nationalism upon which avoids any analysis of international the monetary crisis. Comments on the monetary USA will flood the markets of Western Europe', says 'L'Humanité', and also with anti-German feeling: the franc has been chained to the mark.

Whatever happens in the next few weeks, writes Jack Dion in that paper 'France will be the loser in every way'. • It is characteristic that the real gravity of the crisis of world capitalism is concealed in articles appearing in the party daily. Instead the appeal is to nationalism and to some above-class interests. 'Growth will slow down', Dion writes, and there will be an increase in unemployment. The only criticism of the government is for its alleged capitulation to the United Dion writes that States. •France has the means to stop speculation against a fall or rise in the franc. These means exchange con- have names: trol and the two-tier system.'

As he claims that every country could employ such methods with success his must wonder why readers there is a monetary crisis at all. The attempt is consciously being made to play it down while pleading with the Gaul- government to continue on its previous course and not to capitulate to American The noon-hour Vietnam Vigil outside the American Embassy is to end on March 28. This, according to its organizers, will be known as 'Suspension Day'.

The name does not indicate that the organizers are to symbolically hang themselves in Grosvenor Square, but simply that 'as an act of hope propose to suspend the we vigil for that day but we shall remain vigilant' Nixon, however, cannot re- Giscard d'Estaing, the French Finance | pressure and be forced to buy dollars. On those terms, the party will continue the tacit sup- port which it has given to the government's foreign eco- nomic policy as well as to its policy of detente with the Soviet Union and the East European countries. Support for the franc is the indication that the surest They threatened Nixon • with the words, 'We shall return'.

lax for one moment. Every imperialist war- step of the mongers is being carefully watched and instant retribution Finance Minister, whom the CP quote with app Communist Party has passed long ago to the defence of the bourgeois social order of which the money is a main pillar. The party thus conceals the full extent of this crisis and fosters illusions that jobs can be saved by preventing an up- valuation of the franc. Communist The French Party fears that the repercus- will follow if they step out of line. Who can believe that the aggression against the people of Vietnam could possibly con- that British tinue now the Campaign for. Peace in Viet- has delivered its ulti- nam matum: 'At the first sign of resumption of direct American military activity on any scale, we shall return to the em- bassy.'? Campaign is also to The send an official deputation to the Embassy to demand the fullest implementation of the.

Vietnam agreement, to 'plead' for the safety of the prisoners in Saigon and to 'urge'" America to make maximum reparation for the destruction perpetrated against the people of Vietnam.

The deputation will be led by (who else?) Fenner Brock- way. Brockway is a member of that alert, wide-awake, anti- . war centre, the British House of Lords. Workers Press, Monday March 26, 1973 PAGE 9 • with approval, then criticize, for going back on his word.

days of the sions of the floating of Euro- Popular Front and the 1930s. currencies de- pean valuation of the dollar will be i also oppose Ironically, it devaluation more inflation and higher un- every which will make franc, including the last one employment in 1969. It was these devalu- it more difficult, now that the enabled French to contain ations which elections are over, goods to establish a compe- the militancy of the working titive position in foreign mar- class. The party has, of kets, helped more recently kees revaluationore reche mark course, been an upholder of the sta- bility of 'our money' since the and the yen. Where is Britain Going? Paperback 37Łp i Problems of the British Revolution Paperback 35p Lessons of October Paperback 60p In Defence of the October Revolution Pamphlet 15p Marxism and the Trade Unions Pamphlet 25p Death Agony of Capitalism and the Tasks of the Fourth International Pamphlet 10p Postage: 10p per book, 5p per pamphlet.

Order from: NEW PARK PUBLICATIONS 186a Clapham High Street, London SW4 7UG

PAGE 10

Workers Press, Monday March 26, 1973 Jim Slater is the head of that malnutrition City the of London's asked. fastest moving financial 'A distraught Zulu father on Natal Tanning's Boscombe conglomerate. He and his Estate, earning 24p a day said: erstwhile partner, Peter "My child is dying but I can- Walker, now Secretary buy milk. not must earn for Trade and Industry, more money. 'The farm manager dismissed began Slater Walker the malnutrition sores as "flea- Securities in the early six- bites" and said that he himself received plenty of milk. Any ties and quickly became that was left over after he had millionaires before reach- fed the dogs was "given to the ing 40. Bantu": On reading these reports While Slater's knowledge of Slater 'horrified'. said he m making is boundless, nor i money 'Neither my colleagues his knowledge of world affairs knew anything about conditions is, apparently, sadly lacking.

of South African employees of Most people, you would have and that

NTE

has company thought, know what the apart- been regarded by Slater Walker heid regime is up to in South simply as an investment' Africa. Every schoolkid knows. In other words, while Slater Not, however, Mr Slater. and his cronies were raking in When it was revealed that the profits, they couldn't care workers employed by Slater less about the health, wages, South Africa Walker in were welfare and conditions of their wages, Slater on starvation workers. his arms threw horror up In This is the damning indict- and said he would launch an of capitalism, ment a system immediate investigation. This which is totally impersonal.

It is what the 'Guardian' reporter is only concerned with profits found when he visited the extracted from the backs of the Slater Walker subsidiaries: working class and nothing else.

'On two wattle farms owned The Mr Slater same was by Slater Walker SA, I saw Times' "The recently lecturing several children suffering from readers about making industry open sores, distended stomachs socially and big business and weakened limbs. responsible' interpreter 'A Zulu and a While Africans wither and University Natal lecturer of die his farms South on 1n said the Africa, Slater plays the philan- accompanying me children had thropist. kwashiorkor, disease caused by protein and world When last year's vitamin deficiency. chess tournament broke down *The farm manager of New- of the inadequacy the over lands Estate near Pietermaritz- Slater stepped prize money, forward and donated £50,000 burg controlled by Slater Walkers subsidiary, Natal Tan- Just shows you what a big- Extract, acknowledged hearted person he really is!

ning

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LETTER FROM A SEAMAN

The Department of Trade and Industry will hold a commission of inquiry in- to the stranding of the 'Esso Cambria' in the Persian Gulf in August 1970. The investigation will open on June 11 at the Seymour Hall in London with Mr Gerald Darling, QC, as Wreck Commissioner. The 'Esso Cambria', laden with 241,045 tons of crude oil, left Persian Gulf on August 29, 1970, for the Fawley Refinery in Essex.

The next day it became stranded off Jazirat Tunb Island. There was no loss of life or injury but oil spillage polluted the sea and nearby coastlines. Workers Press has received a letter from a reader who is familiar with this type of shipping accident. He writes: Comrade Editor, Today the media is full of reports of the oiltanker World Splendour' which went and threatened to aground spill its huge cargo of oil.

This reminded of an me incident which might interest your readers. It concerns the previous ship to bear the name 'World Splendour'. Like the present one, she was an oil- tanker, and sailed under the Liberian 'flag of convenience', being owned by the Greek millionaire, Stavros Niarchos.

It would have been some- time during 1958/59. I was on ship steaming close to Gibraltar, when a report was received . vessel in our that a vicinity had suffered an ex- plosion. We rushed full speed to give assistance, arriving at the reported position in time to witness a further explosion.

The forepart was submerged and the remainder of the ship was a raging inferno; much oil had been spilled and was burning on the sea. We lowered all of our boats and spent some 3 or 4 hours searching and picking up sur- vivors. Many of those who had not been injured by the ex- plosions had jumped over- board and been burned. Oil was everywhere, and in the heavy sea that was running, it got everywhere, even in our mouths and most of us were vomiting. The owner of this Splendour' 'World did not allow us to tow her the few miles into Gibraltar, prefer- ring instead to wait for a

CABLE TO SPAIN

One of Europe's largest under- sea telephone cables will be carrying telephone calls be- tween Britain and Spain in 1975, the Post Office announ- ced yesterday. The British Post Office and the Spanish Telephone Com- pany (CTNE) have agreed to share the cost of the multi- million pound cable designed to carry • up to 1,380 calls simultaneously. Edward Fennessy, managing director of telecommunications, who signed the agreement with Spain, said: "This cable new will help both Spain and the provide better tele- UK to communications services and demands of ex- to meet the which being pansion are brought about by the increas ing commercial and social ties between the two countries.'

Shipping millionaire Niarchos, who own tug to attempt salvage the longer journey to Marseilles.

But she sank on the way. After the incident, our cap- tain sent a message to 'money- bags' Niarchos asking if he would like to recompense all of us involved for the oil damaged clothes that had to be destroyed. We never heard of any answer to this request, and needless to say had to replace the clothes ourselves.

Not long afterwards, I was transferred to Lloyds Signal Station' on the Rock of Gib- raltar. One of our jobs there was the relaying of messages from ships in distress. On re- ceiving the initial distress call, we would then have to pass it on to all interested parties, Lloyds London, local agents, and all salvage companies who operated in the area. Our instructions were very fair and explicit. All salvage firms were to be informed simultaneously so that none of the 'vultures' had an advan- I would like i abol FIll in the form below an

SECRETARY,

SOCIALIST

186а CLAPHAM HIGH ST, I

Name.. Address. who owned the first 'World Splendour' tage in getting to the wreck before the others. We also had to edit out any unnecessary matter from the distress call before passing it on, such phrases as: 'Many casualties' "three men washed overboard', 'five men adrift in open boat', etc., were not necessary.

Many times I witnessed a and brotherhood concern between seamen that went any national way beyond differences. But this was not always apparent due to the rigid control exercised by the parasitic few in their pursuit was shown in of profit, as your recent article on the fish- ing industry. Only through the building of the revolutionary party can the working class go forward to socialism, production not for profit, but to meet peoples' needs. and a society that has regard for workers who pro- duce the wealth. Fraternally, A Reader. ike information about elow and send to NATIONAL

CIALIST LABOUR LEAGUE,

GH ST, LONDON SWA 7UG.

SLL LECTURE

SERIES

The Socialist Revolution in Britain Middleton (nr Manchester) Langley Community Centre Middleton 4 p.m. Sundays: April 1 and 8 Lectures given by Cliff Slaughter (SLL Central Committee) The Socialist Revolution in Britain: 2. The roots of capitalist crisis: Marxism and the contra- dictions of capitalism. Britain and the world crisis. 3. The state and revolution.

Reformism and revolution in Britain. The fight for democra- tic rights today means prepar- ing for working-class power.

Basic reading: Perspectives for transforming the SLL into a revolutionary party. Marxist Analysis of the Crisis.

Problems of the British Revo- lution (Trotsky). Death Agony of Capitalism and the Tasks of the Fourth Inter- national, Communist Manifesto.

'Forward to the Revolutionary Party? LEWISHAM: Monday March 26, 8 p.m: Deptford Engineers Club, Cross Road. 'Build Councils of Action'. WANDSWORTH: Monday March 26, 8 p.m. Kings Arms, High SW18. 'The Fight against Road, Stalinism'. WATFORD: Monday March 26, 8 p.m. Trade Union Hall, Wood- lands Road, near Watford Junction. ABERDEEN: Monday March 26, 8 p.m. West Front Room, Music Hall, Union Street. DUNDEE: Tuesday March 27, 7.30 p.m. YMCA, Constitution Road. LEICESTER: Wednesday, March 28, 8 p.m. Pineapple, St Mar- garet's bus station. LINCOLN: Thursday, March 29, 8 p.m. Albion Hotel, St Mary Street. Socialist Labour League

PUBLIC MEETINGS

The Road to Workers' Power Build the revolutionary party

PRESTON

Sunday March 25, 8 p.m. Windsor Castle Hotel, Egan Street

SALFORD

Wednesday March 28, 8 p.m.

The Angel, Chapel Street.

ATUA

Central London branch Censorship, the media and the Tory government. Chairman : Royston Bull David Speakers: Stuart Hood, Maude and other speakers from Fleet Street and ITV to be an- nounced. London Film School, Floral Street, Covent Garden. Sunday April 1, 7 p.m.

PAPERBACKS CENTRE

is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. today -for all your books, peri- odicals and newspapers. 28 Charlotte St London W1. ABOUT 600 hospital • ancil- lary workers and water board workers from west and south Yorkshire marched through Leeds on Saturday chanting 'Heath out!' They marched to a meeting at the Grand Theatre in the city centre to hear National Union of Public Employees' general secretary Alan Fisher.

AS WORKERS from Gulson Road hospital, Coventry, return week's to work today after a stoppage, two other local hos- pitals start a one week's strike.

These are the Whitley Geri- atric Hospital and the Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital. Next Friday, March _30, all hospitals in Coventry, and Nun- Rugby eaton will hold a 24-hour close- down. At a meeting last week Coven- Trades Council decided to try call a demonstration in support of the hospital workers. affiliated and factory organiza- tions are to be asked to join the demonstration. A UNION official has warned that if there is another allega- Westmorland area tion in the that a patient had died from lack of emergency hospital treatment, there would be an immediate stoppage by ancillary workers at the hospital involved, until the claim had been fully investigated.

Mr Colin Barnett, north-west divisional officer of the National Union of Public Employees, was commenting after last Thursday's remarks by York coroner Mr Anthony Morris that a woman had died because her admission to hospital was delayed by the ancillary workers strike.

'Things can never be the same in hospital • industrial relations, he said, 'and ancillary workers can never be treated the same again. 'No matter what the TUC does, we can get support from other trade unions, we can't because win on our own. We've got to get support from other workers.

'We are not asking for en- gineers and miners to come out for us, but to show their sup- port.' He said it was not an easy fight because they could not close the hospitals completely.

The public had to be kept on the side of the ancillary workers.

He went on: 'The pay laws are BBC i 9.38-11.55 Schools. 12.25 Cywain. 12.55 News. 1.00 Pebble Mill at one.

1.30 Woodentops. 1.45 Pets and vets.

2.05 Schools. 3.35 Television top of the form. 4.00 Pixie and Dixie. 4.10 Play school. 4.35 Jackanory. 4.50 Blue Peter. 5.15 Yao. 5.40 Sir Prancelot. 5.45 News. Weather.

6.00 NATIONWIDE.

6.45 TOP OF THE FORM.

7.10 STAR TREK. Amok Time.

8.00 PANORAMA.

9.00 NEWS. Weather.

9.25 PLAY FOR

TODAY:

"Speech Day'. By Barry Hines. With David Smith.

10.15 FILM 73.

10.45 COME DANCING. 11.20 NEWS.

11.25 VIEWPOINT. 11.45 Weather.

REGIONAL TV

CHANNEL:

9.30-11.52 London. 1.15 News. 1.30 London. 2.00 Schools. 2.25 Film: 'Five Finger Exercise'. 4.20 Puffin. 4.25 London. 6.00 News. 6.15 Maverick. London. 11.15 lottery. 11.45 News, weather.

WESTWARD.

As Channel except: 12.05 London. 12.57 News.

1.00 Lon- don. 6.00 Diary. 6.35 Date with Dan- . ton. 12.10 News. 12.13 Faith for life.

SOUTHERN:

9.30 12.00 News. 12.05 London. 2.00 Cartoe " Rabbit Trap. 2.30 2.10 Trause 4.25 Lon- Film: The don. 6.00 Day by day. 6.40 London.

Workers Press, Monday March 26, 1973 PAGE 11

ONLY SIX

FOR OUR

MARCH FUND

THIS IS the toughest and most dund. We time for raising our Fund. have six days and, you can see, we still £1,750 ne Ver noe laen We target to collect. appeal to

FROM

OUR OWN

Transport and General all of dear readers. There you,

CORRESPONDENT

Union official from the moment lo HOT WebLe. co-ordinating We everything you must commllce salu. acn. reach our target before the end nere WaS demo in enemer The percentages do not not talr. yesterday [Friday] and of this week. help the lower-paid workers. engineering factories We are confident that you will the government claims that the callic not let us down. This month, so OuL In allernoon. Hal s nol public have a General Election? benne Laen Jer s The transport should far, has been a magnificent one enoucn come out as well.' The Mr Ambler, national executive He said the May Day strike Empire Pool member Confederation Wembley, con- was too tar awav. But he could Health Service vinces is big sup- MIlLDIOyCeS anle very recommend stop- OniV Token said: cHaman _The and before that date. He called fol Workers Press •The ancillary workers have our policies. for one-day ston Yorkshire. of sudden rush blood But the ancillarv head- workers In -IL c lack 1000 any complacent way. The meeting cheered the news their bellies that drives them that the private wards in Leeds Tones are not stuing back al dil They have pressed on ruthlessly had nanax been cosed their attacks against the down by the strike. Infantry Tommy Wright,

NUPE

WOTHE

Class every General ligni back In stewaro Ine Leeds way we can. Help us expand our Infirmary, said: district. circulation ee Start He said that workers who had 'The government says been the least experienced in the hude drive short datater money. memoer. trade union movement been diately complete our March the Pay Board are getting £16,000 Fund. Collect extra amounts— turned the infantry of the If the government is so hillu a year. all you -rush all your the can- Omegonv. it has Taloc ot the suiC suvaull immediately to: Terry Mallinson,

COHSE

•onatons Dublic. Waynel try it out witn national oficer. govern- Salo the workers Press ment had lost all credibility and strike, March Appeal Fund in way, demanded independent 186a Clapham High St, in- political strike. It the government He can be overthrown, so much the London Sw4 ZUG vully. allacke. ine

WILCD.

hunting in the capitalist Press.

better.'

WORKERS

Coles complete return on De Vigier's statement times as expediently as Monday, April 2. Cranes, Sunderland, went on: with their 'Serious negotiations avoidance disputes the scene ot a 12-week Under of the battle for jobs, voted with shop stewards and minimum dis- the resumption de Vigel location. ocas are overwhelmingly at accept a was foreen to start Wednesday, mass meeting at Sun- union document whịch April 4, on how to make • Overtime working. the honouring Centre calls for derland Civic the • Mobility of labour. wul Ks a viaole oro- on Saturday-only six aereements unions

DOSLON.

no victimization. • Reduction of non- against - to remove agree with the company productive time. In an adjoining docu- that changes in method the pickets and slalll ment de Vigier set .out De Vigier added: a return to work from ot production would be accepted.' items listed une Colnday Lems today. accep- In addition the above are examples and which were also They then staged ted by the officials and pany insists on the fol- not intended limit march through shop stewards. victory Iwiiz oulnis. ine cuesdons waico ine must management may wish tne main streels. De Vigier said there There to raise in the future. cod be it ol return …ne basis tor the re. sumption was worked to work only one out at meeting last issue-that of time- the local hotel riaay al Ixing ln assemoly between the owner could be shop oles Crees vigier, Mr vital This was Alphonse comoany was o renain company executives, Len competitive. Edmondson, executive The second THE LABOUR Party in Scotland yesterday point councillor the from calls for 'negotiations pledged support for the TUC in its national day

AUEW.

ane olrel with shop stewards and of protest on May Day. national and local trade with an union union officials. An emergency resolution carried at the annual independent Scottish conference Labour Party Department ot the joint statement rom the Dunoon, Argyllshire, welcomed the

TUC

deci- signed talks atter the Croiovanent assemi sion and called on bly shop times to take all sections of the Labour callea lor the return support the staff and essential place on March 20 and Party to national day of protest vices today followed 30. against the government's wage control policy.

BBC 2

Play school. 5.25 Open

7.05 TAKE

caren waldok. Be

ANU HICK

SUMMARY.

Weather. 7.35 L.00K

STRANGER.

Lorr s

8.00 AIRAS

JONES.

8.55 CALL MY

BLUFF.

9.25 DAVE ALLEN

AT LARGE.

10.10 SIR

MORTIMER.

Digir Mor eople Irchaeologis Wheeler timer

11.00 OPINION.

11.15 NEWS. Weather. David Smith is Ronnie Warboys in Barry Hines' 'Speech Day'- lalks Dartmouth.

BBC

for 1's Pay roddy. 11.00 sticks. 6.45 London. 11.45 Big ques GandRA of songs. Farming.

ATV

MIDLAND:

9.30 London. 12.00 London, PHili 4.25 L0. presents. 1L.i5 Shirieys world. London.

TYN LTES

Mews. 2bl Gallop 11.45 Stories. Weather. Royal 11.00 room. Swis onden. Romper room. S.20 Em Girl' 250-3. Com/amaden. abor- except; 6.00 6.22-6.45 Film: night. 11.2 y. .30 075°0 on30 emmerdale 00 Calendar Wea About 1l.15 Outsider. Weather.

PAGE 12 Workers Press, Monday March 26, 1973 Pit ballot can challenge Tories If they decide to make that it has, third week's holiday, has shattered this BRITAIN'S miners start balloting to- a stand, started much sooner some mines. easy 'old pals' act. reduce Perhaps an overtime ban to It will be a decisive ponucal chanenge morrow in a pay fight which could the Tory government. Heath has already coal Yorkshire officials and the rank earlier than it has been.

made issues government decide the fate of the state pay laws and file militants are now working flat can on'v survive if the working class and Miners the last for a YES vote in the ballot which remember period out and the Tory government. the unions are smashed. The miners are autumn when NUM leaders, including the now target number one. now Lofthouse colliery, disaster seems president Whic Two choices face the miners— Yorkshire-a appeared in joint platforms with Coal of miness have added seven ming coth trom the Among militants key talking about launching • THEY either accept the challenge of Wednesday's ballot Board members killed backing coal Tuesdav and from alca the hour and vote YES to reject the paltry —is an attitude of tense anticipation.

enough a joint Initlauve mu tne. mausery.

howes is remineer pay offer fixed by Heath. to the Yorkshire colliers of the totally un- The Coal Board has been up to its old This antrude on me ban or me umor they their exhausting, just reward get for • OR they vote NO and turn "down their tricks. Overtime has been vastly increased lent itself perfectly to the massive boost dangerous and back-breaking work.

the Tory board needed to lull productivity the union's recommendation to treat in a calculated make earnings alicall lu seem greater than they really are.

Workers Press asked two of the 1,400 pay oner witn tne contempt it deserves.

toe mmer mmo a lase sense or security.

specially Haws she long sought-tier Heath's which why they But more involved. Every Miners are also questioning tactics.

Phase wo. Glasshoughton inan inis Is worker in the country is looking to the build-up to industrial action could have were voting YES for strike action.

SATIONAL UNION OF MINEWORKERS

-Most of the

YORKSHIRE AREA

MASS MEETING

lads will vote strike'

• COME AND HEAR YOUR UNION'S CASE

ON WACES AND CONDITIONS

BY STEPHEN JOHNS

18G CHEMA PEEL STREET. BARKSLEY

PETER

BOLDERSON,

married with five at Glass. girls, is an underground worker houghton colliery, Yorkshire. He has worked

* WAY, 25 MARCH, 173 AT 1AM.

in the pit sine he left school.

All the lads I talk to want the strike and they are going to vote to reject the offer.

OPEN 10.15 a.m. Most know will vote tor strike. The big trick has been overtime.

At Glasshough- been us ton the trying to keep sweet with this. been working over- time up to £15 and f20 a week. It's quite blatant. They have been getting ready for this one for some time. There is no doubt that this has been a deliberate policy ot the NUB Something should have been done about this ban been aru. over unle Have The Yorkshire imposed. council of the union passed this ages ago, but I think this was squashed by the right wing in the union.

Trevor Parsons, also from •Glasshoughton, sald: The political aspect of this struggle has also 'been a big factor. or men realize lucy are not entering into a situation like last year's strike. Miners urged: Reject offer- just a matter of It S strike. Everyone knows, single miner in Glass- every houghton. that it is the gov- ABOUT 2,000 Yorkshire If the miners vote against Core bepit, they at the Saltley ernment you are taking on.

did the offer of question of what miners yesterday heard forms birmingham, in last year's strike. leadership they their leaders call for strike austra

WONC

Have decided by the national Asked about and police over their £5 to £7 claim.

vital. the miners are 100K- Mr Scargill. executive, said changes the as in laws ing coalfield At rally in stop mass Heath will make this luest Involve Over• reynanons well. Barnsley • they were urged to time bans as well as national picketing, he said: one strike I was decisively reject the Nanona . during the last or-break issue. Coal Board's pay offer dic- He discounted a sugges- strike agreed: them the retel tated to by Tory Yorkshire supposed to have laws

TON

were The government knows bal- 'go it alone' if other areas peaceful picket- KOvernment wiel unev protecting there two issues tomorrow and Wednes- voted industrial alc against ing day. Involved struggle. 'New laws acuol.

«ONT

mean We either win and hit the After the meeting, acting against anything to the miners, win a victory they smash Yorkshire secretary of this government we need of the surelicil section us.

NUM,

unity, he said. Arthur said: absolute working class. Scargill, about this since the Can anyone have No the *If they 'We told them they either at meeting One doubt General back up the national raised the Strike indusviat methods industrial they

CACCU

tive in opposition the call silent Joe Gormley. made miners striked to pre- they can. en. This 15 hat them out Tory and Yorkshire vote on the overnical This the crunch. then. decisive; is taking on this government. Top: Rescue or they accept The NT carol so took orner he d It Opportunities al- sectiento defend ters board's areas in Britaio.

NCB

and take sections workers would biggest the Have I don't want to be nega. ready been lost. At the TUC workers at the duced standard of living.

miners The miners and tive. special conference will vote to reject this offer.

Lofthouse pit police Theat lucy

TORIES ADVANCE AS TUC RETREATS

Then an overtime wanted all-out are reminded should go immediately Strike action. stop the NCB about the NUM But withdrawn. I Was for this confrontation. think this cholo have been

FROM PAGE ONE

that is required is a 'demon- League denounces this ballot by a put to the meeting and not When the strike day treachery. miners now straton Alter decided should out decided in small, secret dis- we go poster for tha their everyone can go bac into struggle, with a phoney secret ballot.

ask the factories, cussIons. Feathe hospital workers who yesterday's Secondlv. anle even more As we have the other workers to strike with can go back to his talks with WaS seriously, it suggests that the have already been highting This will May Day protest. meeting. tasks facing the workins Cabinet out with the Tories for four- US. heath and the lory The and every not can go on plotting fresh at- and-a-half anners merely industrial, must re- Above : Class al C Heath one inch. worker know that tacks on the working class.

under ceive full backing. and not political at all.

this government unions Parsons added: Glasshoughton All that has to be got rid This policy would leave out on Mayh, bue make That we say: all There is a lot of talk verate. the Stains STory the miners completely out miners Trevor General Strike, dictated to you the ana about policy'- the limb and to open the start of a General Strike and up. from prices go up people

WIO

USt Lne Parsons (I) would affect government itself can be lett force the Tories of choice but o cical words to avoid taking We have no intact. every labour section oi the office tors kee looking to th and Peter and put Labour action. WOr- movement. are looking to the With this erspective, of government the latest of •SO- way

IT S

Bolderson. it follow that all The Socialist Labour cialist policies. lead. course, avoiding political reality and miners

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13th ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF 01-720 2000

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YOUNG SOCIALISTS

CIRCULATION

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SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, APRIL 14 & 15, WINTER GARDENS, BLACKPOOL 01-720 01-622 7029.