Two days before the IMG-SLL meeting in London, Dave Jackson also spolce at a meeting of local trade unionists in Preston, Lancashire, along with lan Stevenson of the Building Workerr Charter editorial board. The mocting was organised by the Steering Committee of Preston's Liaison Committee for the Defence of Trade Unions-letters were sent to local Works Committees and trade union branches, and a thousand leaflets were distributed. Votes of support for the meeting came from the BAC Shop Stewards Committee and the AUEW No. 9 branch.
Thirty-five local trade unionists came to hear Jackson and Stevenson, Jackson finished by giving details of the 10-day march ending in a mass demo in Shrewsbury the day the trial starts. To organise for this the Steering Com mittee is to set up a local defence committee which will inchade individusi militaots, and rep resentatives from local Works Committees and trade union branches.
The potential of local support for the 24 was shown by the enthusiasm of the meeting. Although small, there were present observers from Leyland Trades Council, AUEW (TASS) Preston BAC, and UCATT branches. There were also militants from local sites, the Boiler. makers Union, AUEW, dockers, NUT,ASTMS, and NUS. Over t26 was collected for the Defence Fund. In addition to this, the BAC Shop Stewards Committee has already donuted 120 and voted to send a delegation to the next picket or demo.
1972 was an important year for the British working class. The great examples of the miners" strike and the struggle for the freeing of the Pentonville 5 showed how the independent mobilisation of the working class, and independent initiatives of the working class, and the new forms of struggle forged by the class in the course of its struggles, could defeat an The working class was able to win such impor tant victories through the massive use of its muscle: the miners were able to smash the government's 7% pay norm, the working class movement was able to present the jadling of the dockers leaders. But while it moved onto the stage of history with massive social power, the working class also carried with it serions political weaknesses The ruling class understood all this very clearly. And because they understand this, their scrategy, since the autumn of last year, has been to take advantage of thesc political weaknesses of the working class. Ana result the carly months of this year bave presented s very different pic ture. We saw important strugales launched by the hospital workers, and by the gas workers. But the working class movement - because of the treacherous role of the union leadership -railed to seriously solidarise with those struggles This treachery by the trade union bureaucrats Jed to the refusal of the miners and the failure of the Ford workers to cake strike action in support of their claims, It was chese defeats which served to tip the balance of forces, pre viously much more fasourabie to the working class, in favour of the ruling class.
The position fo the trade union bureaucracy is strengthened by this situation. The trade union bureaucrats are at the peak of their intluence in two particular periods: after a partial defeat of the working class, or when they can win a tow crumbs from the bosses table for the working class. Because of the inadeg nate struggle against the employers in the carly part of this year, the bureaucracy is cow in a much stronger position An opposite example is shown by the actioos of the Chrysier workcem. They went into struggle and were prepared to brenk laws, to challenge the capitalist laws, in order to push back the employers offensive. And they were successfu in this task LEGAL MACHINE The Tories are now ready to use their legal machine directiy against the working class. But these attacks dad not begin with trade unionists They hegun with the Stoke Newington 8, Whet
these people were brought up on conspiracy charges. Only very small sections of the left responded to this attack then and understood what was at stake here. You know there is nothing quite as respectable as the British left. The left was very reluctant to touch these people because, after all, they were charged with serious crimes, with violence and planting of bombs! But revolutionary socialists should not enter into debate on the terms of ruling class law: we must support all victims of ruling class repression. We reject the right of the ruling class to try anyone. Now we seo the Shrewsbury workers on trial for their picketing activity, and the criminal law used against hospital workers pickets.
The revolutionary left has a tremendous responsibility here. We can't wait until workers become ready, by themselves, to take up a struggle, It is the duty of revolutionary socialits to take important questions like the Shrewsbury 24 into the working class to relate uch questions to the broader strategy of ruling class uttacks. We must explain and agitate about these issues and develop a movement to deal with them among politically aware workers. Were it not for the fact that various revolutionary groups understood the impor tance of the Shrewsbury case and took it up, it would have been left to die in isolation. There is one thing about the ruling class - they do not believe in the theory of 'spontaneity". They have no anarchist hang-ups. They know very well that the struggle of the wotking class depends very well that the struggles of the working class depend upon the most politically aware sections of the class, upon its militants, its rank and file leadets. The aim of the ruling class is to intimidate these key sections of the working class to make it impossible for them to fight, to drive the lesson home to all militant workers that every time they try to launch a struggle they will face criminal charges and imprisonment. Captured African is beheaded by Portuguers troopr powers have traditionally relieved themselves of Norihern Angola, has strengthened the pincer