Workers Press no. 327

Negotiators barter with power court of inquiry Leaders capitulate

INCORPORATING THE HE SLAMER MONDAY. DEL

THE DAILY ORGAN OF THE CENTRAL, COMMITTEE OF THE SOCIALIST LABOUR LEAGUE What we think THatch 15 dephs to whit Union law behind class power ed than witch-hunt • wishes of

BY A POLIIICAL

CORRESPONDENT

the

ELECTRICITY - SUPPLY

ises of east workers, the workers nave over the last of cold because thes Tew cavs been made vic- ums or a rutiess campalet by government, press and television mpalen the main aim of this sitimate POWER WORKERS leaders yesterda lemand for Bon the capitulated and unanimously decided to

LUNC

strategy. divide call off the industry's work-to-rule in No, our tea derate torn and a legisla exchange for a Court of Inquiry into their Tor mater plent and sions this winter will strike dispute. as the height of opportunist Union chief This fast-moving barter came on the first arurdays Labou day of the government's national emergency.

Chapple Saturday's ed this vita Heading negotiations for the union side was the electricians' union leader Frank Chapple, whose -jerking soul provocations 'exchange plan was try see in, midle ass given wide publicity in Holding who the morning's press. Tory answer Industrial Relations Bi to Chappie Council to ransom? resign 'Court we bat on after talk their class righteous indignation of th on the mi or reference on ris per despiten the rendered by an A song number public nsisting on no minimum was of power units sold. This is the Tory answer THE THREAT of a full-scale recession in the There has been an overal United States is now very real, as President ce productivity of lations Bill. Nixon tries desperatelv and without success to Transport and both meathe total nas eat on of the trade cut unemployment and revive the stock market.

to ransom in the electricity.

Dest it per cented by al ed law and be sher

FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT

shameful failure even verbally • 10%5 workers out Por sold stead on ation to support the link eas to ver upwards and worker i rade set a state on a ne indeed over grainte ciations know last three years. peaking for the trade unio Insults

2S LO

The power men's fight is How Tories be en Pri the jobless cur sam! lacing even sectocketing pries, rents and tinues unabated, a emands not to be entirel with prices justified. modest to start with! per cen Lost confidence Le fight she ste the against of reference. wants to

KANC

that the le lURDERE Power back that he fare ceded. powerful union. If the council conceded t advisers electricity Except rachaps the tateme woul rade en ton side rights through law-and-order nom beth to Pur this proposit Court opting nsion the can hands continues " Nixoss - since Actual policy appoints he geran government who conting to reducen work durin en the mis Election I nor be able • such action on cut the healti real s limot derain unles end terms for Two face death sentence m Feather he can reverse the connie settlement. And they want to defeat th pensioners annot arrange a return-to- ro dermore of thes The industry aircra Presses noll racking are ther od tha Chemicals Times i dicate ated mood than lown this reactionary The Senate this week more stringent law: make vast The fight evil for tac Labour leader Lord George ithe panted reduced level DEATH sentences await Robert Jauregu pare to

TA WUNNERO FAC

Brown's earlier letter attacking N Vietnam ORRESPONDEr upersonic : strikers, one corresponden at least two ot the lo transport plant as men to tempt- the Burgos To last week. defendants at the Burgos The major Fadio and his cabinet wastelands heat the trial of Basque national- tored to be aire by en ists, according to latest *i roma 58 Indet the ntire workin iled hundreds of Vreaname reports from Madrid. scale abroasistance in Spain lion to 19,8 peak Ane Minister of Power has tuttle tie turned fact and Mano nandi the smuggle vastelands,

• PAGE FOUR COL. 9

news agency Onaindia morning. Them and tour of the ore chan reas dain Soh Saturday ice ary leadership in the trade actioners at Boors. No Italian newspapers and all ne accused. This is the only way to cleanse e Biscay Bank affected by ps chemical war Where che mind ludes the labour movement of the who launched a strike. the Burgos oppor- various to death ory They ontrol over citorial policy: cent waze increase Francos fring The daily paper that leads the fight against the Tory government PRICE 6d. THERE is nothing like a good dose of class struggle to expose the lies, myths and hypocrisy which make up the so-called freedom of the press in this country. The main purpose of the capitalist media - in news

BY MICHAEL BANDA

which the press plays a pre- dominant part - has always been to sustain the so-called proprietors were a virtual law inviolability, immut- unto themselves and treated sanctity, their workers as they pleased ability and permanence of the there was no cause for alarm; capitalist system and the 'right" *freedom there of then was the capitalist class to press' indeed. the exploit and oppress the work- home ing class at and the

SLANDERED

colonial peoples abroad. of the As the credibility When Vicky left Church to sink, the late the 'News Chronicle' because particularly among workers, of the censorship exercised on the has acquired press cartoons Kenyan position not unlike that of the on atrocities by the business in- Anglican Church in the 17th Fleet St hardly century as the central pillar terests, of the spiritual domination of whimpered. But when Jak's the ruling class in those days.

cartoon The purpose of the came under the critical expressed ess scrutiny of print workers out- by was succinctly raged by the most scurrilous of Popes--Mr Cecil one its launched King- -not so long when press campaign ago he said he was all in favour power, so long as it was

• PAGE FOUR COL. 7

of he who controlled it!

CHALLENGED

This monopoly power the E1,250 Dec. 'freedom of the press' - TO glorify capitalist oppression and slander the working class Appeal Fund an uncontrolled way was rudely and suddenly chal- lenged by the print workers of the 'Evening Standard' when reaches they held up publication of a Jak provocatively reactionary cartoon on the power workers.

£298 9s 4d Previous to this the National Union of Journalists' chapels Fleet St in held up several of editions certain dailies 1N THERE ARE 18 days to raise their campaign for increased the final £951 10s 8d towards salaries. the total so let's push ahead affront This to the with the campaign for the nalism of the feudal barons fund. Fleet and St Popes elicited The Tory press and TV are the following revealing out- whip it up against 'Observer's' trying to burst from the the electricity supply workers. managing editor Mr K. Obank: The Workers Press will answer •We have now journalists and fight back against their who see nothing wrong in lies and distortions. We will stopping the presses to force do everything in our power pay claim, suppress defeat this Tory govern- to It is a sad day for all of us when ment. Help us by raising as much the very who claim people as you before the Xmas can these ancient rights, who carry period. Post all your donations this torch, feel free to quench to: chapel it at the flick of a Workers Press Appeal Fund, 186a Clapham High Street, Oh yes, very sad indeed, London, SW4 Mr Obankl So long as the newspaper All Trades Unions Alliance Second Annual Conference Discuss

THE CHARTER OF

BASIC RIGHTS

The right to a job, to strike and organize, to retain gains made, to fair prices, to welfare benefits and to decent housing. Defend and maintain these rights in a fight to force the Tories to resign.

BIRMINGHAM

Sat. December 19 Digbeth Civic Hall, Digbeth 10.30. am For delegates' or visitors' credentials send 5s to Alan Wilkins, ATUA secretary, 53 The Hiron, Styvechale, Coventry.

Negotiators barter with power court of inquiry Leaders capitulate workers press THE DAILY ORGAN OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE SOCIALIST LABOUR LEAGUE What we think Pensions hypocrisy to which onwork Nowhere Labour government to rule or la because nod fond adequate clothing remained Socialist ond Socialist POWER WORKERS leaders yesterday capitulated and unanimously decided to Novembe call off the industry's work-to-rule in Noa, 35 as the trade union exchange for a Court of Inquiry into their so-called er will strike dispute. s the height of ous ronnis Union crat This fast-moving barter came on the hirst Saturday's Labour party per day of the government's national emergency.

Chapple sions rally dragged Heading negotiations for the union side was electricians' union leader Frank Chapple, whose 'exchange plan was given wide publicity in Holding who the morning's press. to ransom? seer to the terms of Robert • Carr reference. you work Transport If anyone manual shake, Peast 12 per 1855 leader sold as a ot nion should asso pay. ciationsheir them over Tories indura Concile elled at Paid or to be so tie est ernions step to reassure the public He said that they were pre Aged or tuton and commi

FRANCI

MURDERER

Power back this, the sai sit- uation forthwith, he After their le eist council , the union Leaders are tor a court cons, i would bloody per indicates during to dings. For and no reddy to mad to Telease of the Burgos is, The court will not be able or the vast seem recommend term tor even orieather Two face death sentence pension arrange retainer Notifie led in the Defend Burgos 16! Feather's total Chemicals opposition make vast DEATH sentences await

BY A

N Vietnam at least two of the 16 apitalis e and for exploit- defendants at the Burgos in Madrid and his cabinet wastelands то доков, і to trample trial of Basque national- age pensioners haVe already been ists, according to latest defeat reports from Madrid. istance in Spain class. "All this this context that th A Vitameser the lecide "agency news and arenaive seato ned yesterday. aas increased from accusend four of the other adership in the trad Thin is the only way to dienc pe ple mica been While the military judges affected by behind wada troy ouse this we send se tunism destroyed crops to ' the police prepare decisions were being taken worker powel. old

NEWSLETTER O. MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 19700 NUMBER 327

Union law behind power witch-hunt

BY A POLITICAL

CORRESPONDENT

ELECTRICITY - SUPPLY

workers have over the last few days been made vic- tims of a ruthless campaign by government, press and television. While the main aim of this has been defeat can pin power legitimate men's demand for €5 Want it has tocrease. annourer mince fion in tne lory strategy.

This divide the wOrKing-Cass movement the eve of anti-union Beris a. being enacted, and whip witgainst ment which bludgeon unionists in the trade commx stricoes. While itself with emercency powers me caota • encomed provocations and even violence against electrical-supply work.

by right-wing, middle-class forçes: Tory • answer the mace media presented every threat snarled by these of the expression of course, laneous i enteousinalsnacon or lat This is the Tory answer THE THREAT of a full-scale recession in the December 8 Serie President United States is very real, the against industrial lations Bill. Nixon tries desperately and without success to both the cut unemployment and revive the stock market.

Encouraged criminal inaction of the trade stands Unemplovment and Labour leaders on

NOW

FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT

per proposed law and by their cent. with more million workers out even than 4.0 of a job. to support the power workers, galloping upwards and workers But the scented AttortS tO create new

VICLON

winning big wage increases in jobs Inwaring Interest over mortant sector ol of libi against the rising cost rates and making money more the working cass. on the rising The men's fight Current price rises average Dower that facing every per the same as section of workers. inflation wage Rocketing prices, rents and General Motors agreement are unabated, with prices fares force all workers to fight 30 per cent over for substantial increases lathree years keep pace with the cost of Lost confidence The lost eintory emplovers nave This the front conndence the economy. a the fight against loss revealed very clear v which government. wants when recent easing tha stop ware increases. Yesterday's news Indicates of funds to that the part this hect ¡ermany plan may have succeeded. President and his advisers have no Every worker must under- stand: they defeat the and are crisis, soliton to une power turning more more for the day come brutal attacks workers after! rights through 'law-and-order' policies. plight of ost pees about His use of the courts against people, the sick an in trai workers in hospitals and children ex- are a hoo- posed to danger and brutally cynical critical and continues sham. • press 10 put it Actual policy

NIXOI

wants. boom Tecent v. •TO •UNi eco- nomu 1n

TO 1YS

potentia "The came inries who scolt for growth emnioument. stories the country for these while continuing to reduce in- lave stopped school milk and flation', efused decent pension •or he Burgos 16. Trafalgar Square to ncreased unemployment Election He has his eye on the 1972 Presidential election. where service. And they want to defeat the defeat almost certain unless the economic Preet orderine der the can reverse more these tide. things. The aircraft industry Saturday's letters s ind the well as presses indicate the Times the CrISIS nOW racking cultivated even capitalism. being "The senate thic weer con.

by siders compromise plan NO doubt reduced level for the which finance "Tabour leader Lord George. Robert Jauregui, from near- planned Ponwn'c enriar latter attaczino Eibar, shot during plane the strikers, one correspondent upersonic transport demons in support week. he Burgos last DO 1 "industrial action" major recipient under une nowadays all be one-sided and De bastions a held the the scheme if it goes through.

trial tow have bou heade. forgotten their company, will the hoeing nave enoovers seen aircraft which Chas cales once created Threat as in year peak of 67,250 fall from a 1968 From lock out million to €5,800 million this south coast, ANd another. 'The Minister of Power has Pablo Spanish-born artist solid sent mnessare

• PAGE FOUR COL. 9

The organizers arity demonstration at near. Valauris hacking the No Italian newspapers action support prisoners at Burgos. Only the strength of the NEWSPAPERS were not published in Italy yesterday. Journa- movement Saturday in now liste staged a 24.hour standc hetweAn the

SUDDOL

Drisoners Burgós and of their caim ner cent wore (increase ana more Franco's firing squads. control over editorial policy.

The daily paper that leads the fight against the Tory government THERE is nothing like a good dose of class struggle to expose the lies, myths and hypocrisy which make up the so-called freedom of the press in this country. The of the main purpose capitalist media - in news

BY MICHAEL BANDA

which the press plays a pre- dominant part - has always been to sustain the so-called proprietors were a virtual law themselves and treated sanctity, inviolability, immut- unto their workers as they pleased ability and permanence of the there was no cause for alarm; capitalist system and the 'right' 'freedom of then there of the capitalist class was to the press' indeed. exploit and oppress the work- home and the class at 1ng

SLANDERED

colonial peoples abroad. the of the As credibility Church When the late Vicky left continues to sink, the 'News Chronicle' because workers, press has acquired of the censorship exercised on position not unlike that of the his Kenyan cartoons on Anglican Church in the 17th atrocities by the business in- Fleet St the central pillar terests, hardly century as whimpered. of the spiritual domination of the ruling class in those days.

when Tak's But cartoon The purpose of the came under the critical press expressed scrutiny of print workers out- was succinctly by of its Popes-Mr Cecil raged by the most scurrilous one press launched King-not so long ago when campaign he said he was all in favour

PAGE FOUR COL. 7

of power, so long as it was he who controlled it!

CHALLENGED

This monopoly power the £1,250 Dec. 'freedom of the press' - to glorify oppression capitalist and slander the working class Appeal Fund an uncontrolled way in was rudely chal- and suddenly lenged by the print workers of the 'Evening Standard' when reaches they held up publication of a Tak provocatively reactionary cartoon on the power workers.

£298 9s 4d Previous to this the National Union of Journalists' chapels Fleet St held in up several editions of dailies certain in THERE ARE 18 days to raise their campaign for increased the final £951 10s 8d towards salaries. the total so let's push ahead This affront to the pater- with the campaign for nalism of the feudal barons fund. and Fleet Popes elicited St The Tory press and TV are the following revealing out- trying to whip it up against burst the from 'Observer's' the electricity workers. supply managing editor Mr K. Obank: The Workers Press will answer 'We have journalists now and fight back their against who see nothing in wrong lies and distortions. We will stopping the presses to force do everything in our power claim, pay to suppress defeat this Tory govern- to It is a non-union voice all of us when ment. day for sad Help us by raising as much the very people who claim as you can before the Xmas these ancient rights, who carry period. Post all your donations this torch, feel free to quench to: it at flick the a chapel Workers Press Appeal Fund, quorum.' 186a Clapham High Street, Oh very sad indeed, yes, London, SW4 Mr Obank! So long as the newspaper Second Annual Conference Discuss

THE CHARTER OF

BASIC RIGHTS

The right to a job, to strike and organize, to retain gains made, to fair prices, to welfare benefits and to decent housing. Defend and maintain these rights in a fight to force the Tories to resign.

BIRMINGHAM

Sat. December 19 Digbeth Civic Hall, Digbeth 10.30. am For delegates' or visitors' credentials send 5s to Alan Wilkins, ATUA secretary, 53 The Hiron, Styvechale, Coventry.

British trade unions

PAGE TWO

NOT YET having had a chance to read either of the books reviewed in Workers Press of December 4 under the heading 'How British trade unions de- veloped', I cannot say whether your reviewers fairly present the contents of the books under review.

But both reviews contain some factual inaccuracies and rather dubious interpreta- tions, which ought to be corrected if your readers are to develop, as seems to be intended, an undersanding of the history of the British labour movement as part of the preparation for the cur- rent struggle to defend trade union rights. Blick It is necessary, as Karen points out, to destroy the Fabian myth that trade unions obtained their legal status by purely par- liamentary tactics and in a grad- ual evolutionary fashion.

But the alternative account which puts forward 1S and in historical, inconsistent, the addition actually bolsters Fabian myth, particularly in re- spect of the class-collaborationist tendencies of the 'labour aristoc- and the 'encouragement' of racy' trade unionism by the industrial capitalist class through the Liberal Party. The term 'New Model Unions', first made into a general descrip- tion of the national societies skilled workers by. the Webbs, modelling of their réfers to the the rules and organization of the Amalgamated constitution Society founded in of angineers. 1851 of by an, amalgamation various semi - localized craft unions. Resisted It used by was not a term signified employers, and never that such unions were of desirable 'from the stand- point of the employer'. YX714m52 The fight which the ASE had its formation against to wage on onslaught of the tne will be well known to engineer- ing and other workers. For decades the vast majority of resisted any employers

COLL-

cession to collective bargaining or recognition of workers' repré- negotiation, and sentatives in throughout the 19th century the of skilled workers met with sharp opposition to most of their demands. These unions were often con- servative in their tactics; attempt- ing to limit strike action to dis- they could reasonably win, employing the expect selective rather than the general strike, preferring negotiation, and society now as it ever was. We in some cases adopting arbitra- have only added what I might call tion, obtain their objectives the benefit portion.' wherever possible; their argument while show being that indiscriminate strike Even striving to 'friendly would how useful their bene- have entirely de- action fits' were in relieving the burden stroyed their organizations. the the on poor-rates, union But they never abandoned the leaders did not accept the social forswore mili- economic principles of the strike weapon or and tant defence of their restrictive ruling class. trade practices. Under pressure to admit the compromised time and interest' of They employer "common but they did not surrender and employed, Allan defiantly again, which the bour- to the terms declared wished geoisie to impose on To There differ. Every day of them. suggest otherwise IS the week I hear that the inter- only do injustice to not identical. I scarcely see our forefathers, but ests are also to mus how that while understand the contradictions in can De. oute behaviour of the British in a state of society which recog- the of buying in working class and its potentiali- nizes principle the and selling the ties for struggle in the current cheapest in dearest market. Sulaton. their interest to get the It is Image labour done at as low a rate as they possibly can, and it is ours to get as high a rate of wages as The engineers, cal penicis, possible, and can you never stonemasons, etc., all bricklayers, reconcile those two things.'

unions of the 'labour aristocracy', far from functioning were very societies', Outspoken purely as friendly the employers well knew. Other unionist witnesses be- It is a mistake to take at face fore the Commission were even yalue the evidence of the union.

that more outspoken. say leaders. before Royal Com- the 'stressed the Allan's evidence mission on Trade Unions of 1867- near impossibility of his members 1869, where, in order to counter resorting to strike action within the attacks of the ruling class, the framework of the they attempted to create for rules' is a distortion: resistance a 'respectable image'. themselves to encroachments established had rights wages automatic This typically bureaucratic tac- backing, but claims for did major tic was mistaken, but it not wage increases which might lead signify a renunciation of the class prolonged strike action had did fool their struggle, noI to be sanctioned by a democratic opponents. membership vote whose and contributions would be used to the employers was opponents of unions who wanted finance the struggle. to restrict them to purely friendly Perhaps Lloyd Evans' book, functions, and society this like many others, only selects attempted emasculation was those passages. which show strongly resisted by the union leaders in their most con- When suggésted ciliatory pose. This is all part of it was to the Fabian William Allan (not "Allen'), the the furtherance engineers' myth, and it should be balanced secretary, that his union had become by the other evidence, including an insurance society and much less of a trade that of the employers as to the practical of the ordinary of actual operation scuise the term', he rejected the propo- union policies. sition with the reply: There nothing like uni- let alone a trade form acceptance, en- I would like information about

I THE SOCIALIST

I LABOUR LEAGUE

Fill in the form below and send to NATIONAL

SECRETARY, SOCIALIST

LABOUR

LEAGUE,

186A CLAPHAM HIGH ST, LONDON, SW4.

Name Address couragement, of unionism, even in its most within the racks of the Liberal conciliatory Party. these Karen Blick ignores divisions and presents a com- pletely inaccurate picture of the achievement of legal rights by the unions. The Bill proposed by the Liberal government in 1871 was split into two under pressure from the unions and some of their middle-class parliamentary friends (who were not numerous).

The Trade Union Act was al- most entirely satisfactory in con- ceding legal rights and in some respects a privileged status to the unions: the penal provisions were not part of this Act, but were contained in the Criminal Law Amendment Act, which was made more stringent in the Conserva- tive-dominated House of Lords carried in the Commons, and against the government, by combination of Tories and Liberal manufacturers and doctrinaire adherents of political economy. Peaceful picketing had specific- ally been legalized as early as 1859, and, though the 1871 legis- lation repealed this provision, it was the declared intention of the government maintain this to right. (Whether the declaration was 'sincere' is another matter.)

'Coercion' But the judges, contrary to the sense of the Act, interpreted the provisions against 'coercion', and, in addition, applied the law of conspiracy, in such a way that strike might be declared any illegal. The penalties used against peaceful picketing, and the appli- trade unions of the cation common law of conspiracy, were Blick removed, and not (as asserts) 'reinforced', by the Con- spiracy and Protection of Pro- Act of 1875 Employers and Workmen Act. of the same year. These Acts, which amounted to 'full legality for trade unions and strikers', were at the time, and have ever since been, re- great victory for garded as a and it is curious that labour, Blick sees in them exactly the reverse. How were these gains achieved?

parliamentary Not, by purely means, nor through the Liberal Party. The 1875 Acts were passed by the Conservatives (who had hitherto opposed concessions to the unionists), partly as an opportunist political manoeuvre (Disraeli thought by doing so he could win the working class to the Tory Party), but largely in increased effec- response to the tiveness of trade union organiza- tion and the steps (admittedly hesitant) in the direction of in- dependent political action.

Up to 1871 the union bureau- cracy had relied polite on re- quests, which the Liberal leaders had been able to ignore; but thereafter the organization of the recently formed Trades Union Congress was strengthened, and,

WORKERS PRESS

though its role in leadership left much to be desired, the demands became more insistent. But more important than bureaucratic deputations to the Home Secretary, the rank and file locally, through their trades councils, began not only to bully their MPs, but to go on to the streets in mass demonstrations.

Awakening In August 1873, after a large demonstration in Edinburgh, the Home Secretary Lowe (who had bitterly attacked unionism and used its power as an argument against extending the franchise in to the Prime 1867) wrote Minister: I think the meeting of the Scotch working classes at Edin- burgh a very serious event. They are just awakening to the con- sciousness of power. [My empha- sis.] I don't see very well how their demand[s] that criminal liabilities shall not be engrafted civil are to be contracts on resisted ... I think it will be consider the question wise to carefully and see if we cannot make some concession. Disraeli It was under this sort of pres- sure, plus the threat of independ- ent political action, that the gains of 1875 were obtained. the trade union That move- ment did not go forward from there to create a Labour Party immediately is not entirely due to bureaucratic leadership and intrusion of 'bourgeois the ideology'. The reasons are too complex to but there were go into here, enormous obstacles to the crea- tion of such a party, particularly at a time of economic recession.

The 'New Unions' of the 1890s were an important step forward industrially and (due to socialist influence) politically, though they were not altogether 'free from in the • illusions the old Liberal Party', but this movement did not win for trade unions rights they had not previously possessed. In the course of the 1890s legal decisions (largely in re- sponse to the industrial policy of the new unions of the unskilled) seriously undermined the gains previously won. The culmination of this attack in the law courts, the judgement in the Taff Vale case, was the application to trade unions of the of torts, which had not law hitherto been used against them.

The 1906 Trade Disputes Act restored and strengthened the legal rights and immunity of trade unions, and attempted to guard against further judicial twisting of the law. However, both historical precedent and experience show that current periodically the ruling class uses the law courts in an attempt to annihilate the legal rights wrung from the legislature by the work- ing class. The 1906 Act was indeed won by the formation of the Labour but Karen by Party, Blick, making this 'the final step' in a , in effect subscribes to 'process' a Fabian concept of gradual ac- quisition of rights, rather than to an antithetical concept of work- ing-class advance and ruling-class counter-attack. Less serious shortcomings in the review are that the quotation 'Geoffrey') from Godfrey (not Lushington, the Comtist lawyer, describing the injustice of the Master and Servant Law, relates to the period before the passing of the 1867 Act, which, while not did much entirely satisfactory, to improve the position of work- men. Connection Lushington's essay is well worth reading, not only for this description, but for the discussion of the connection between trade unionism and the movement for the extension of the franchise to working men. It is worth noting that Lush- ington, who was one of the legal advisers to the unions in 1867- 1869, became Counsel to the Home Office in 1869 and helped to draft the labour legislation of the period. In the light of this dual role a significant feature in his essay is that he was one of the hrst writers to state clearly that there industrial was some hope for peace and class harmony in the trade union movement itsell, rather than in the supersession of trade unions co-operative ventures or joint organizations of employers and employed.

This was not generally recog- by employers at the time nized (1867) or indeed for many years afterwards, and it has never be- come the unanimous view of the is only capitalist class, for it partially true that unions restrain the militancy of their members, and there is always a danger for the ruling class that workers will break through the bureaucratic and reformist apparatus. Lushington and his fellow Positivists, Frederic Harrison and Henry Crompton, are prime ex- Monday, December 14, 1970 Reader GRAHAME HIGGINSON writes about two book reviews which appeared in Workers Press on Friday, December 4.

Cran wade the bread The meet ali by blowing" release from Donce. marching seditious meetings ruling class outhpiece sanchester In specifically mention guerrilla trade union awessness . heroism, welc neruciole rutility based on because to have con- revolutio openly nection nd despite tris timigrant Eng- land (and the USA) Fenian Clerkenwell Green the meeting movement was never much more peter. than red in the review) a para-mintan expatriates seems least partly a joint club. have beer Ango- risn anair. The connections between the trade unions An attendance Henians and 20-25.000 Bese had or the joint was claimed organizers, Impact the these 'The (perhaps delib- consciousness Out Times' the the num cratey underesamnaun. been fully explored. bers only conceacas over 4,000 Besting is consi The mealy-mouthed terms to stress Tne these the petition to necessity considerne the cueen indeed me erent together, aul. SnOW [ne weakness over trade depression of 1866-1867.

the (though The ncidentally successful 1 Causeu med them for it en lices had several nearby e thoape of the priced prisone tinee of international sympathy of the e unemployed

WORKCIS

greatly declined. This 1886-1807, runteer arrests or remans and contributed repression Ireland rollowed to the uneasy state of mind after sens some of the ruling taced The CriDIe problem rentanism. Unionismn, and neror eat arely Unfortunately these move. stitutional ments 010 not suicient v middle-class dominantly coalesce in a conscious manner sor Home to capture the Liberal Party to take advantage of the revolu- Rule, but therees innerent trade unionists supported there limited moves in that direction. Situation Inere Is, l oth est emer- meeting The national Nov reckless aoventursm Fenian leaders, almost backwards the political English working I think what is n October correct leadership its President, ot these nationa sections or tie labour movemen could resort to force when there were Have alicre prolounary we ns' constitutional means open to the tory of both countries Irish. whic potentialities Our men' existed in the years around 1867 nave sull lo be rcalca, but Most of the much more at the arrable speakers meeting, from making Irish Both English and inadequacy of many of their past Many of speakers amples of how 'ali alien' ideology entered movement, union out there were positive as wel negative sides to tnel contribu- November tion. 'what Bill Bowring's review naturally men" have made has ess to sav about trade union: the kerorm League. the defence of these but in what ne does say ne mis On November 19, 1867, 3,000 adoles ine term New unos to English workers met on Clerker

ASE-

relates support cone mise in relation to the wel Green Senting him dele ate bing ing from meeting lotting Hill, d however much willingness to fight—is to lay the i workingd sat from this t An attempt movement wide open to disaster.

hand in hand togethe Probably ntil the entir freedom of the of foundation of printers both people was launched employers 1867 accomplished'. as 1067, revolu- al tronts: this conception conary reporuns ins next day, in Times' warned and until after the Ameri- in the station of te "There not - wanting symp- an Civil War present i t as the In 1866 the Fenians attempted of constituted iransfo co a ruling-class an invasion and later Ireland which emphasis] into complete aw ess fostered, if not engend- victory for obtained ( attle support trom the he working cas: and ered, down-trodden priest-raden remanism. care- overtirow cabitalso. fully developed and its replacement by a socialist peasantry. •roressiona already society, both Britain and Ire incendiaries makins these events that the tranchester twas aftermath of itself felt in our greal lowns.

achievement st world socialism.

dyis a less sperate van incident occurred. and ater in its usi in the year (1867) the attempt Grahame Higginson. street rowavISm.

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BRITAIN

THE AGE OF

IROTSKYIST ANALYSIS

BY ROBER BLACK

Revo utionary honettes Stalinism in Britain Dy Lunacharsky (hard cover) Dy Robert back sort covery £l 2s 6d Age of Permanent Revolution by Leon Trotsky 9s 6d Please send me your special Xmas book offer. Enclosed please find cheaue Name A daress

Monday, December 14, 1970 Workers enter the palace of the

REVIEWED BY

THE MARXIST claim that the French Revolu- tion brought to power a new exploiting class of capitalist property- owners is strongly con- tested by bourgeois his- torians. In the present revolutionary epoch it is inevitable that historians should take. sides in the interpretation of this great social upheaval. Its study raises all the ques.

tions about the nature bourgeoisie and the laws and institutions by which it exists by the prole- as are posed tarian revolution. Certain historians have been concerned to find what looked suspiciously like a Marxist inter- pretation of the French Revolu- tion seeping into many special- ized works, as well as general texts. As a result studies appeared academic journals which in could • have been, and perhaps were, financed by the CIA, SO blatant is the attempt to dis- credit what is taken to be a Marxist view. But there is no Marxist synthesis of French revolutionary history which takes into account the enormous volumes of detailed historical research which has piled up in recent decades. During the period of the • Popular Front, French Commun- ist Party secretary Thorez adopted an interpretation which conformed with the lines of the French CP. By comparing Robespierre Stalin, he abused Robes- with pierre and further contributed to the worship of Stalin. Today the well-nigh official chair of French revolutionary history at the Sorbonne is held by card-carrying CP member, Professor Soboul. To his credit, he would not to the extravagant inter- agree pretation which once held sway.

He has engaged polite controversy with Daniel Guerin, whose book on the Terror was attacked as a tenden- tious 'Trotskyist' distortion when it appeared in 1946. Despite Soboul's merits as a historian, his view remains bounded by his association with the CP. Now a paperback edition of US political historian Professor Palmer's 'The two-volume Age of the Democratic Revolution', published some years ago, has been re-issued. Palmer attempts a re-evalua-

IMPORTANT

READING

The death agony of The capitalism Transitional Programme adopted by the Founding Conference of the and the Fourth Internationai with the Statutes of the Fourth Inter tasks of the 4th International

A SOCIALIST LABOUR LEAGUE PAMPHLET

price Is 6d post inc. New Park Publications 186A Clapham High St.. SW4 the palace of the Tulleries, Parls 1789

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tion of the French Revolution by placing it in international con- text. He writes readably, sets out to make a 'historical synthesis' and tries, it seems, to sit on the fence in the debate about the revolution's nature. Palmer's principal merit is to see the Revolution as part of a movement covering the whole of Europe in the second half of the 18th century. He says there was, 'One big revolutionary not agitation, simply a French' Révolution due to purely. French. causes,: and foolishly favoured by irrespon- sible people in other countries'.

"Ä large part of" the first . volume is spent examining move- in other countries, ments and particularly the American Revo- lution.. Much the second volume is devoted to the con- sequences which 1789 had out- side France. When he defines the nature of this revolutionary wave his weaknesses stand revealed.

He does not speak about the bourgeois revolution but the 'democratic revolution'. In other words he takes its distin- as guishing mark what the revolu- tionaries said it was; he con- fuses • form with content; he remains prisoner of their false consciousness and his own inter- pretation remains subjective.

He writes it as a middle-class man who fears proletarian revo- lution and hopes that it can be averted. Identity The bourgeois revolution did previously not spring from conceived plan led by an organ- ized party. The bourgeoisie was becoming conscious of its interests and identity as a class in the 18th century. What is wanted is clear enough. In the early stages of the Revolution its aims were codi- fied in the Declaration of the Rights of Man, a document like American Declaration Independence. Although couched in universal these terms declarations expressed the specific class inter- ests of the bourgeoisie. Every phrase in the French Declaration home at some feature of struck the old regime which the bour- geoisie considered limited its ability to do what it liked.

A few years later the same bourgeoisie outlawed trade unions and made the 'agrarian law' the demand for the equal distribution of landed pro- perty-a capital offence. The revolutionaries of the 18th century proclaimed the sover- of 'the people' as eignty the only legitimate basis for state power. To achieve this required the overthrow of the dynastic states of the old regime and the abolition of noble privileges and of the nobility as a class. The question is who put for- ward this revolutionary pro- gramme of democracy and what alternative form of government did they propose? In all the 18th century strug- gles with which Palmer deals it was the bourgeoisie which came into collision with kings and constituted bodies and sought to abolish hereditary rank and privilege. So why not investigate more exactly the social composition of the revolutionary bourgeoisie in each case and relate its ideo- logical concepts _ democracy, liberty, etc.--to its needs as a class? This is the question from which Palmer shies away when- ever it presents itself through over 1,000 pages of text. The first point to make seems to be this. The Bourgeoisie was of necessity a minority of the population. Its leaders knew that it could not win power without allies without 'the or govern consent of the people'. Case-histories As Palmer's histories case show, where the bourgeoisie unable to call on was wide popular support (as in Holland, Switzerland and Belgium) there was no revolution. situation ripe for a bour- revolution required masses and bringing them onto the historical scene, often for the first time. This requires a study of the developing social and economic crisis of the old regime in Europe and of the sources of popular opposition British to Robespierre rule in N America much deeper than Palmer's. The ideas and theories upon which he spends so much time helpless would have been to effect major historical change upheavals without great mass and bitter struggles between rival groups of armed men disputing questions of power and over material interest. Political crisis This is so clear in the case of the French Revolution that dealing Palmer cannot avoid with it. But having seen it, he does not build it into his general theory of 18th-century revolution.

In 1789 the opportunity for the French bourgeoisie to take power was offered by the finan- cial and political crisis of the old regime, coupled with deep social crisis-rising prices, food scarcity, industrial depression—_ which brought the peasants and the urban masses into action.

The bourgeoisie had to accept a peasant revolution raising ques- tions of property rights, which ler alone. And ehe ed to rance on the scene of the urban ple- bian mass, making its own demands, gave the revolution a much more radical and thorough- character than the bour- going geois leaders desired. Men like Robespierre, esti- mating the forces at work, tried to capture these popular energies for their own class ends, but quickly came into conflict with the very forces upon which their power rested. This was the signi-

WORKERS PRESS

THE AGE OF

THE DEMOCRATIC

• REVOLUTION

by R. R. Palmer Volume I The Challenge Volume II The Struggle Princeton Paperbacks Princeton University Press 1969, 1970 Storming ficance of the of 1793- events property for a long time. One of 1794, studied in detail by Guerin the changes which the Revolution and others. accomplished was to turn feudal landed into property capitalist Once the popular masses came private property. the Revolution into action was pushed beyond the limits set for The wealth of the post-revolu- e bergeois leaders, the cac of even the most radical tionary bourgeoisie was drawn to extent from speculation who remained bourgeois confiscated ins, the lands from In men of property throughout.

the Church and the émigré nobility. Programmes Fortunes accumulated in this way, or by speculating in scarce Democratic programmes and commodities supplying slogans were needed to cut later found their contracts, way through the privileges 19th-century and here industry and ditary rights by which the nobil- finance. ity and the monarchy retained But they In the summer of 1789 theré their powers. were just was a popular and peasant revo- the necessary win mass lution. Chateaux went up support without which the bour- geoisie could smoke, together with the docu- not stake a claim ments governing the to rule. peasants. Municipal governments were was demalhatic in form, aolnow- although revolution taken over by new men and the old municipal officers and royal officials pushed out. ledging the 'sovereignty the OI people', was bourgeois content, establishing the rights Demands of bourgeois property-owners to rule. These popular masses without The nature of the bourgeoisie and the divisions within its ranks whose support the bourgeoisie could the 18th-century revolution attained power the The clearly brought out. were now on move. have to he question was how to control the Firstly it was not a historically forces which had been unleashed new class. had risen during ensure the revolution and that the middle remained within bourgeois limits.

towns which were centres of trade and It this which gives the years industry. fought establish 1793-1794 their special interest. its right to by Cover wrestle The 18th-century revolution municipal charters and similar therefore had a contradiction at concessions from lay and ecclesi- its very centre. lords, making the astical LOWs 'oases of freedom' in medieval When the masses came on the society. scene they made social demands, not political or juridical.

Trotsky notes the absence of such municipal life as To oppose the demands of the of the distinguishing marks masses the bourgeoisie had of Russian backwardness in social back from its ad. development. vanced positions. In France this the form of the

TOOK

classic Thermidorican reaction and the establishment of the Directory. Palmer sees that the revolutior did not end with Thermidor. The Directory still had to safeguard the basic gains made by the revolutionary bourgeoisie since 1798. But it had to do so against both monarchical restoration and against those, fol- ike the lowers of Babeuf, who sought to carry the revolution further, thus challenging bourgeois property rights. The Directors turned their re- pression alternatively against the monarchists and the left Jacobins and Babeufists. They did so with the help of generals, notably Napoleon Bona- and longer with the Darle. methods of revolutionary terror which could operate only so long as the masses were on the scene.

MILA KOREESPICRRE

The bourgeoisie slept more com- fortably their beds аттет Thermidor. If the revolution went on, it did so in particular through mili- tary expansion and by the threat which French occupation, and to French example, extent come mis forthe old order i Europe.

Secondly, in the of course This time, as the bourgeoisie grew in forms wealth and numbers, of Palmer's thesis. sections were drawn into association He shows in the first volume with the monarchy and with I' how the French Revolution was feudal society. part of single revolutionary Kings granted merchants special which manifested movement 11- privileges; ennobled, self in different ways in different some were often for a consideration.

Some- countries. times kings played off the bour- against the feudal lords geolsie Impact oraer to strengthen the powers of the monarchy. In the second he deals mainly Part of the bourgeois class with the impact of the American became parasitic on feudal society and French revolutions the and were closely identified with reasons for the absence of revo- it. lution England and the suc- of In France, for instance, cess counter-revolution in there other countries. were the tax farmers and other big financiers whose wealth arose He sees the revolutionary from their association with the movement in political terms, as regime. ( Most of the tax-farmers a struggle for 'democracy'.

later perished on the guillotine.

Yet democracy did not emerge Emigres triumphant. Instead there came men on horseback. How can this be explained? Some of the nobility engaged in trade and controlled industrial At this point Professor Palmer's Many the enterprises. of first treatment becomes somewhat émigrés in 1789 were bourgeois can be shown perfunctory. and a whole section of the bour- military men came to geoisie, ruined by the revolution, the fore and how the politicians became its enemies. in Paris discredited themselves.

Thirdly only of What was at stake was simple small part 18th-century bourgeoisie® enough : the of con- men property sisted of had factory-owners exploit- who done well out of the ing an industrial proletariat. purchase of Church and émigré property, who had made fortunes The bourgeoisie consisted pre- in speculation and arms contract- dominantly merchants, land ing and no longer thought that and real owners, office- 'democracy' the perverted In holders and professional men- form which existed under even especially the lawyers, from the Directory - could safeguard which its main spokesmen were the rights and privileges which drawn. the revolution had endowed them with. Landed property continued to be the main form of bourgeois They called in a Bonaparte when 'democracy' longer opened no economy. up new possi- served its purpose. for bilities merchants, bankers, industrial entrepreneurs and their The final chapter, the appear- professional and intellectual ance of Napoleon as the heir to hangers on. the Revolution, ruling in an His final chapter marks a step authoritarian through the Way strong state based on the backwards compared with much army, that had conflicts with the thesis of the he written previously book. in the two volumes. He says: In the 18th century 'Democracy' there might have been lution, the only upper and ruling classes had made The history of the bourgeoisie if indeed, Saral Ous Come ons 1s, shows that however much the contrary tendencies, towards the appreciates advantages be- a positive assertion of aristocratic values had not been so strong."

stowed by 'democracy, it is quite ready to resort to other methods this The lesson of the 18th-century when is the only • way, to preserve its position as a ruling wave of revolutions is that ruling classes do not voluntarit with- Class. draw from the scene of history Palmer does the grasp abandoning their privileges and paradox that the period which he power to a newly ascending class.

calls 'the age of the democratic revolution' culminated the Decline triumph not of democracy, but of Bonapartism in France, con- servative republicanism in the On the contrary, in the twilight United States and reaction every- period of its decline the benefi- Where else. ciaries of the old order become more reactionary, more tenacious The bourgeoisie had gained in their hold over what they have positions even where it was not and more reluctant to yield any actually in power. It gained them of it. socially and economically because every forward of the But hardly had the first blows

OLCD

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11.47 Ar Sin y callie A weather. Vales 1.30-1.45 6.00. 6.20 Wales weather. 6.45-7.05 South, West: 6.00-6.20 Points fe. 11.47 South today. Spotlight SW nicuulw 1.20-0U weather. 11.47 News, weather. yy eatner. в฿Ć 2 11.00-11.20 a.m. PLAY SCHOOL.

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PAGE THREE

in the revolution been struck when the counter-revolution be- gan to organize. Likewise, the other countries of the old regime could not tolerate the threat of a revolutionary state on their frontiers, which was an example to their own opponents at home.

Palmer is conscious all through his work that there are parallels between the situation in Europe and North America in the period he covers, 1760-1800, and the contemporary epoch since the Russian Revolution. Liberal's hope As a liberal he cannot draw out all these parallels: because the conclusion would be that the conditions are now ripe for its , overthrow. What he is saying, in effect, by analogy with his view that the French • Revolution could have been avoided, is that the bour- geoisie, by making 'sagacious concessions' can avoid going the way of former ruling classes.

This is the last-ditch hope of a liberal who, in the face of all of history's lessons, believes that with reason and commonsense bourgeois rule can go on for ever.

the giants. 5.50 London. 6.00 Day by day. Complaints box. 6.45 London. 10.30 Universitynes. hallen 11.00 News. 11.10 Tom Weather. Action 70.

HARLECH:

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HTV (West) colour channel 61 as above 4.16.4.18 Report except: West. 6.23-6.45 This is the West this week.

HTV (Wales) colour above except: 6000-6 Channel 41 as dydd. HTY (Cymru/Wales) black and white service above except: 6.01-6.23 dydd. 8.00-8.30 Yr wythnos.

News. Romper room. Bugs Bunny. 5.15 Timeslip. 5.50 Lon- don. 6.00 About Anglia. 6.40 London.

10.30 Probe. 11.00 Love. American style. 11.55 Farming diary. 12.20. Other faiths. ATV MIDLANDS: 3.49 Horoscope. 3.52 Women today. 4.10 Peyton Place.

4.40 Anita in jumbleland. 4.55 London. 5.15 Timeslip. 5.50 London. 6.00 ATV today. 6.40 London. 10.30 University challenge. 11.02 Obiect in view, weather.

ULSTER:

4.30 Romper room. 4.50 News, 4.55 Phoenix five. 5.20 Timeslin.

5.50 London, 6.00 UTV reports. 6.15 Mona McCluskeyo.35 Movie macabre.

6.45 London. 10.30 Monday night. YORKSHIRE: 3.00 Tudo. 3.25 Fencing.

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5.15 Timeslin, 5.50 Lon. don. 6.00 6.20 Country focus. 6.40 London. 10.30 University challenge. 11.00 Talk about sex.

PAGE FOUR

IN FIVE DAYS' time, delegates and visitors from all over the country will assemble in Birmingham for the All Trades Unions Alliance's second annual conference.

ned pick bees, many them- Ike • ahead: ersahapower comer to participate enContributing discas show Most in cae Brai never strike, Stan -a campaign to Mory once. heir 50s tory-floor discussion conducted

YS LEEDS

BAZAAR

PLANS for a march through Preston on January 2 organized by the Church and the police are clear proof that fear of the working class

GREAT

is driving the capitalists to step up their offensive.

SUCCESS

The sponsors claim that lan Yeats investigates reactionary stirrings in a Lan- THE Young Socialists Leeds 'ordinary working men of cashire town Britain must 'stand up and bazaar was a nuge success. 1t be counted' in the growing was held in the enormous city centre Corn Exchange. struggle fight the 'enemy within. 1o came in thei Con- unable to maintain liam Palfrey, anc for the demonstration, ally young afterthought. Xmas. i stration theorgon se Young is London and tal like to magnincent success

WEATHER

and cor 200 e employed. espect are in the dagunshine is blaming the Care in the church issel. power of luntly last week: t'm fed u ith demonstrations when th coppers get thumped. meht Frost and tocal toe Date..

here are 7,000 Midlar

ORDER YOUR

ALL TRADES

POSTERS

UNIONS ALLIANCE

TODAY!

MEETINGS

Acto Monday Bones se o stands deter- for its pre- fished in a TORY ANTI-* church mayors ABERDEENSiC Haday, December 15,

HEADLINE

UNION LAWS!

on Heath Pond. 2s per poster 0s for 20 . 8 p.m. sida i Chris s £3 5s for 50 Ма 8с. Від *16. 4 . Sir nesda 186a Clap Samberwell Gr • has stressed that suffer because

LATE NEWS

WARNED

trike a tragic-farce: Thes rday backed the idea of es- terday i permanen end to tighting osing available locally was contain and "He added: The whole in- makes the situation Preston work

WORKERS PRESS

Yugoslavia to publish Khrushchev memoirs

FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT

THE YUGOSLAV publishing house Otokar Kersovani an- nounced from Rijeka last week that they are publish to Khrushchev's memoirs. They have previously pub- lished works the Unior in the other Europe, raster. Brakes

DOCIOT

several novels by Solzhenitsyn.

Extracts from Khrushchev's mennons mave aready amoeared in the Yugoslav press, accom Stan Jones panied by doubts about their authenticity. I'M NOT frightened of times like these. On the contrary I have been waiting for them for 20 vears 1 erA with to Cheater by fighting what I have been The

TOI

— DUIC

socials rents Th21 the Charter seeks to defend and increase 3 represent socialist thinking Issues. Two things strike me GROWING hostility in the unions to One moortant. the leadership's worthless campaign of the attacks 1 orle. are making on comprehensive publicity and inaction against the anti- education. nust fight union Bill found expression at Saturday's the right of every working-class TUC London Regional Conference.

child to get the Dest Victor Iree caucanon and we must Congress secretary go further and throw open Feather, who warned the con- the universities and increase Terence aralist grants. any way Ine acuvues The second thing in the arranging omcial bodies con. Charter that workers must ferences or demonstrations productivity deposition to of came good deal sharp should also read the this thes n relation criticism.

ATUA

audience capacity Chard Fresher use has

TUC

Callivalshi the onrected Ta mace stana

SIV

Tne people, at une ess bosses get up to. our supporters as well as the They are trying one on now in the council. Trade should act unionists offering Tua with overall a to the ware strategy. ish to There loud sdy une least. a hard strike when

LOOK

it thet get weeks out them, are offering the supporting above £2, there must be

WULKCIS

in it for them! December must not be Not swayed the end of the struggle. This is only a Former

CEU

secretary ning. To me the next step Patterson also Ernest

SPURC

course must be in tavour or inaustrial acuon. mobilize the leaders-make ano said tae comes wouamor be swayed by public opinion.

struggles they have put up so far are disgusting.

renera Counci mus immediately prepare appropri- acle ate Cone ate arrangements for industrial Swindon Trades Council and action against the asked them what the I. said.

ABOVE:

TUC

general official trades union move- secrelan of the one They said the SOGAT division executive going to do. send High of the old age pensioners are going to members named in the stars of stage, screen and Westminster their MP. embering calon up to see

COUTI

•In uncon (See What we thi December aosolutery useress executes The aim of the movement strike call. chauerced should now be to bring the TUC to call industrial action.

government down. Neither sott soad nor oners The now cannot. be bargains wond nercuace

MINI

viewed as just a trade unior the government to retreat, she

BUDGET:

it is a political fight said. ana uncouotecry

MOSI

0.A.P. 'Victor Feather once com- SerIOuS The trace Union the TUC to a carthorse. movement has ever under- 2.5 is that if it car say

PER WEE

on at the same rate anc 11Ck workers ted lots te same arrecton as ll s lead come at tre moment. Is nead- sense that Was ing whole straignt lor the glue lac Caven. Lne tory, shopworkers' organizer working class WoUlO Te. Hugh McCartney told the spond, even the mOSi meeting. apathetic worker would respe may go through mans 'Felt sick' before 'Before December my OUr carousa members were eager to come I think we may socialisin. the 1920s again with wilson who e unem was arains! The stoke or somebody like him turn certainly fancy con'i the new back to them and say. Macdonald. your half- But I'm not frightened of

FROM PAGE ONE

against times (nese Un I'm in favour of indus against the trade unions the Contrary Its something Walactonn have been waiting and and alc vicious slanaticu Test. hoping for told to shut uD! Despite considerable oppos- the last 20 years. "The Observer' whose ition to policy on u

ASTMS

divisional council liberalism' s a coakor unt 'Black' glass Send he an on to al Turnbull most outney onensive smear against working class the now finds the nominous aind editorias. force dispute in Hull action and editorial resicialion zes: "the freedom of the pres eminent.

PORT

STEWARDS

the TUC Her attack the 'left' trade union leaders and publish meet this morning to discuss discipline threats Communist members dockers blacking Pilkington "Pater's, press conside spite freedors Blah.. assist- publish despite anybody's "moving objections'. (Our pon friday Albert dock dill December 13.) stopped on the relerence state me the employers told stewards genera elecuon . that they mient ImPossible nOl Only wallills gang said. trade relused to load unions

LIC

glassware consignment. make cecented press altack. Une Stewards may decide at this Bill even worse oing but -

LOIS

une morning's meeting reveals explicitneall in mend the continuing whole fraud of capitalist press of the dock stoppage until the men TUC policy. 'freedom'. ale pala 101 ruddy s stoppare.

This is nothing Nobel Prize-stol ceremons MESSAGE to last week's new for CP secretary Gollan

BY ROBERT BLACK

As secretary of the : Young soviet water Alexan , he pub- Communist League calls for solidarity with the Stalinist repres- henitsyn Continues to Sion ay paign publicly slandering for the re lenin's od com- lease of his comrades fascist agents. we, it this groanin omfort and And Solzhenitsyn oard, not forget the politi their slaved security of car or soners wao are louds and 'Morning. Suike Matthews restitution ot the or their amited Gollan and sas Lut Party which have been nothing. Doviet communisi Having made their feeble completely trampled under- Sing Tie praises Stall little hillowiest and his henchman 'comrade against What a splendid contrast у in 1906, Daniel and Beria'. miserable silence Sinyavsky Stalin's Now, as then, Gollan and to the company side with Solz- leaders tes-mg a blind in communis rally the henitsyn's to ollan, name® Drital Ike meaning of mounting repressions of in That is son ana Maniews. this cowardly Although facen with tre Tenectuals DovICl daily threat of arrest, Solz- Union. shence. Monday, December 14, 1970 BRITISH-LEYLAND'S plan to force Measured- Day Work on its Cowley car-assembly workers before the end of the year has suffered a setback.

Shop stewards from Cowley's Morris assembly plant yester-

BY DAVID MAUDE

day endorsed report-back union officials which trom adjourned until January at blocks the at company for York on Friday. least a month from taking unilateral action to implement In the interim, the com- bines detailed its speed-up scheme. proposals are National - level be talks on to submitted to senior Leyland's proposals were stewards at Cowley within the next few days and discussed with them over the next four weeks. Union officers are believed to have taken exception at York to the combine's failure to table detailed proposals in advance and insisted that they could not negotiate under these conditions. It is understood that Ley- land was forced reluctantly to accept this position after from the pressure Engineer- ing Employers' Federation.

The

EEF

well have may feared that precipitate action by the company Cowley at would poison the atmosphere at its January 13 talks with union leaders about their national procedure agreement.

Airport go-slow today THE Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs decided to support to- day's threatened work-to-rule at airports. The Association, along with other involved, has unions rejected 41 per cent pay for airport and air- increase line staff. Mr Clive Jenkins, ASTMS general said after secretary, a meeting of his executive in London that the union claim was for a 7 per cent cost-of- living rise. He said there would also be ban and on overtime that 15 would unions some be involved. Victor Feather speaking at Nixon ional conference. Listening Is General president Lord Cooper. BELOW: Some Feather who listened to and to

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and Westminster at a Labour Party rally.

See What we think) of less than per return iOU sales this cent yeal

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bringing profits to an all-time low. Thousands of aircraft workers have been sacked, and estimated that Boeing it alone has lost 130,000 workers since 1968. Impact The impact of a full-scale US recession the rest of the capitalist world would be more marked than in the US itself. Fear this development, of more than any other factor, is responsible for the very rapid turn to the right in W Europe, Canada and in Britain.

With their laws anti-union and emergency the powers, Tories are systematically pre- paring for a world slump. They hope to hogtie the working class with the aid of Since 'freedom' to publish the trade union and labour conditioned by capitalist bureaucracy before the full "law'- law and since the force of the storm from across as Bill the Industrial Relations the Atlantic hits home in clearly shows- —is fundament- Britain. ally aimed against the working class and its liberation from capitalist property relations we see, therefore, that 'press free- Witch- dom' is in fact class freedom.

EMPHASIZED

hunt -This fraudulent 'freedom' will be more glaringly even

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emphasized if the anti-union laws go through parliament.

rightly appealed to the public This will enable the capital- the exert pressure ist press to support the anti- Con electricity supply men to strike and anti-union I return to of the government as liberally normal working. suggest that this exhortation and as viciously as it likes, needs reinforcement. while the working-class press 'Why not invoke emergency will be gagged effectively by and heavy powers, issue an order thẻ risk of incurring withdrawing so-called all legal protec- fines for supporting from the persons tion and 'unauthorized disputes'. of the workers con- property This would be a paradise cerned and of the officials of for baron and the the press the unions who have organized trade union bureaucrat. the present "go-slow"?' A forewarning of what is This is the shape of things come is clearly revealed by the continued exclusion of to come - state-protected,. middle-class action against industrial correspondent organized and militant David Maude from the workers and their families— Labour and Industrial Cor- if the trade union move- respondents' Group which ment is not mobilized to maintains an exclusive re- support the power men and lationship with key govern- defeat the anti-union laws. ment departments. It is the same fight. The army cannot By excluding him and run the shutting off the Workers Press The power-stations. threat of from of a important government troops was part ruth- less strategy to frighten union news sources, the journalists and officials involved are only leaders and isolate and crush helping the power workers. to strengthen the dictatorial hand of the monopolies. Support capitalist press Thus capitalist 'freedom' of the is tyrannical But no worker can allow press censorship for the working the Tories to through carry class. the rest of their plan. The defence of the trade Expressions demon- and of 'support unions i today imperiously de- strations and mands the complete national- solidarity from factories, trades ization without compensation councils, union branches and and district control by the workers committees are vital all of the news media in on the road to defeating the Britain. anti-union laws.