The truce of 12th July, 1921 ended effectively the Irish War of Independence. It began, too, a determined counter-offensive by the Irish employers against the gains made by their workers in the previous five years. The link was not coincidental. From 1920 onwards there was world-wide reaction in which the bosses set about crushing their In Ireland, this reaction took the political form of the Tan War and the Bel fast pogroms. But, though the latter was effective in weakening the trade unions in the northeast of the island, the Black & Tans could only contain the advance of Labour; they could not reverse it. The continuing survival of the volunteers made it impossible for direct militarism to be imposed. The British Govemment's military advisers informed it that the Republic could not be defeated by force of arms in less than a year. Such a long drawn out solution was unsatisfactory to British capitalism for both economic and political reasons. So the British Prime Minister, Lloyd George sought an agreement with Dail Eireann. As the Dail feared the choice between military defeat and working-class mobilisation that the Tan War • was foncing on it, it accepted the Truce. Ever since then, in jact, Dail Eircann has been the instrument of the capitalist democratic dietatorship' in 26 counties of Ireland. The irish employers recognised this immediately: Even under the Black & Tans they had attempted policies that led to clashes with their workers. As the end of the War approached, various employers began to act with new vigour. On the 24th of June the owners of 15 to 16 Dublin stores called for wage cuts. With the actual truce, the employers initiated the class war. One of the most significant confrontations during this period of struggle was that which produced the Cork Harbour Soviet.
The origins of the struggle can be traced back to 14th March, 1920, when the dominant Sinn Fein -I.T.G.W.U. coalition on Cork Corpotation passed a motion setting up a Commission into the Cost of Living in the city. At the end of September, it reported estimating that a "living-wage" in Cork was 70/- per weekrather more than most workers received at the time. On 12th February 1921 the Corporation ratified this statement. Immediately, the harbour workers raised a claim for the recommended living wage (an increase of 7/6d per week in what they got). But under the pressure of the claims of unity against Britain, this was allowed to lapse until the Truce. At a meeting of the Board in August one of its members Councillor Robert Day, the Secretary of the Cork Branch of the I.T.G.W.U., proposed that the matter be referred to arbitration. He could not get a seconder, although the Chairman F. J. Daly expressed sympathy. On 25th August, he repeated his demand to the Cork & District Trade Union & Labour Council which nominated a delegation to see the Board on the matter. It failed too.
From 12.30 p.m. the next day, apart from the docks of the City of Cork Steampacket Co. & the Clyde Co.; the port of Cork was strikebound. This situation was intensified further because the dockers were supported by the river pilots
THE NEW RISE OF WORKER'S STRUGGLES IN SPAIN The Franco regime is letting loose a new wave of repression against the revolutionary left in Spain. Its choice of victims-the ETA, our comrades of the LCR and other revolutionary groups-has to be understood in terms of the regime's failure to crush the upsurge of the workers' movement which we have seen in the past few years. This failure has meant that through a series of struggles important sections of the working class have found new consciousness. Were the revolutionaries allowed to gain a greater implantation among them, the working class would very soon reject the class collaborationism of the CP's "Pact of Freedom" with the "democratic" Spanish bourgeoisie, and put the socialist revolution on the agenda.
The pest decade of workers' struggles owes much to the appearance of a new generation of workers uncowed by the experience of the crushing of the Revolution in 1938/9. They strike actions and developed militant, more agressive forms of struggle than have been seen in the cities for a long time.
There hasalso been more generalisation of strike action, both in particularsectors (building,transport)and insolidarity with majorstruggles. In the September building workers' strike, after the police assassination of the CPmilitant Patino the numberofstrikers tripled andseveralfactoriesalso came out. The Octoberstrike andoccupation in the SEAT car factory called forthastill greaterresponse, culminatingin strikeaction throughout the countryon 29 October. The strike itself wasa clear fight against attacksby the bosses, like the earlierstruggle in June: against the imposition of the night shift, for the reinstatement of workers sacked after a previous strike.
Militant formsof struggle, to combat the repression, developed in the course ofit: against the CP's attemptsto keepthe strike "peaceful"
the Barcelona factory assembly resolvedto detend itselfagainst police attack, and the barricades went up. On demonstrationsof solidarity in Barcelona andelsewhere, the workers went armed with chains and crowbarsagainst police attack, andtook upthe slogan of our comrades. "Viva la revolucion socialista en Espana!* Here asin some of the building workers'strikes, self-defence detachments began to appear, detachments such as Trotsky described as the nuclei of the future workers army.
DEVELOPING CRISIS IN BOURGEOISIE Revolutionary activity in the working class, then, is rising. The crisis in the bourgeoisie the other necessary condition of a pre-revolutionary situation- is also developing. The objective prospects for Spanish capitalism are bleak. There has been development since the ending of autarchy in the "50s. But it has been achieved by an enormous accenis still going on. On the anniversary of Burgos, such action is a renewed call to the revolutionary movement.
Our comrades of the LCR were immediately active in organising solidarity action outside the jails, and in particular led demonstrations and distributed propaganda in Bilbao in the Basque country. Soon after this activity started, Franco's police walked into the Economics Faculty at Bilbao University and arrested 10 suspected LCR militants. Seven are still in jail after being so brutally tortured that medical evidence produced by the lawyers forced the Bilbao police chief-not generally renowned for sensitivity on such questions -to denounce his subordinates for "excessive ill-treatment" during interrogation. The trial of these comrades for the crimes of illegal subversive propaganda and having international revolutionary connec tions, is now being prepared. Police searches are continuing in other cities too. The Left throughout Europe must call for the release of all Franco's political prisoners. But it must also prepare to do much more. Struggles of great importance for the world revolutionary movement are on the agenda in Free Izko and his comrades!
Free the Comrades of the CR and all the Political Prisoners!
Down with the Franco Regime!
J. Frazer
This is the first of a series of articles to be published at intervals in the Red Mole. Future articles will analyse the evolution of the Franco Regime; and Stalinism in Spain.
lutionary forces by using extreme savagery.
The armed forces made an indiscriminate attack on the peasantry as a whole and employed torture on a large scale. Thousands were killed and by the end of May the revolutionary forces had been temporarily driven back into the upland forests. Bandaranaike received aid from her international allies, which included not only imperialist governments but also the Soviet Union and China. At the present moment, there are 15,000 political prisoners in Ceylonese jails. It is alleged that they will be brought to trial shortly, once a new procedure for the conduct of the trials has been elaborated. The Ceylon Solidarity Committee, which organised meetings and a demonstration in the spring and summer of 1971 in solidarity with the JVP, and has published a newsletter to provide information about the revolutionary struggle, will be organising activities to publicise the trials and the plight of the prisoners and to affirm its solidarity with the jVP. A first meeting is planned for February 4th, at the NUFTO hall at 7.30 p.m. For further details consult The Red Mole or telephone 837 6954.
OPEN LETTER TO MRS. BANDARANAIKE The undersigned are profoundly perturbed by the evolution of the situation in your country. There are said to be 13,000 persons held in jail for clearly political reasons. The most alarming rumours circulate as to the fate of many of these prisoners, including
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• Struggles CAPITAL