and Dover.
In the pit villages there was no problem organising women in support of the claim. They serviced picket lines, and also organised a mass demonstration to the Social Security Office under the banner of the local Claimants Union they got all they demanded, including money for single strikers.
Perhaps the incident of the last strike best remembered in this area was the famous miners navy, Launches, manned by East Kent miners patrolled the Thames river approsches to Batterica Power Station every day. The Fast Kent Pits are moving into action again: at Snowdown Pit they are calling for another mass meeting in the near future: Already miners talk about contacts in the power stations and organising a miners wives meeting. The Red Weekly local bulletin 1s taken into the canteen at Snowdown, and discussions are taking place around the idea of a local conference, perhaps addressed by an engineering worker.
Most of the militants think that the 13 December meeting of the Executive will call for a strike ballot. The date being given for the start of a national strike is & February. Emlyn Williams, President-ciect of the South Wales Miners, addressed a 5,000 strong rally in Cardiff last Saturday, (1 December), Proposing a resolution that: We will stand fast on the full claim, and will continue the overtime ban until the decisions of the conference have been obtained by our negotiators", Wiliams said (hat there ought to be a permanent overlime ban. He warned the negotiators: no dividing taclice, no bridge the pap offer. The subsidiary claims holidays ete. could wait. "Without the baste wage-everything else is secondary'.. If it is • Tory Government or a Labour Government in power it doesn't matter, We only have loyalty to our member', he said, to enthusiastic applatise.
Calling for unity in the struggle he said: What we want tosee is a concerted effort by all the trade union movement to get rid of capitalism from this country. He called for an emergency TUC Congress to prepare the fight to hreak Phase 3: If we will struggle together, we will Two miners front South Wales spoke to 150 students at Birmingham University on Friday 30 November. They explained their case and their struggle against Phase 3, and also condemned the manoeuvres of Joe Gormley who, they said, was doing all he could to avoid the development of a struggle. The students were asked by the miners to set up'a support committee to aid-with picketing in the event of a national strike. MICHAEL TURNBULL, Snowdown Colliery, apprentice mechanical fitter, What do you think is the general feeling in the pits? Very militant, the men am willing to fight to the end, they think the overtime ban is sufficient for the moment, but if it goes on too long there will have to be strike action.
Naturally the Union is not militant enough. The first day of the overtime ban we wanted pickets on the gates, but the focal union referred it to area eve who referred it to netional invet, and they refused to allow the militants to picket. The men were very angry.
Most people soo this as a fight against the Govern ment, if other anions would back us up it would be inuch bercer. We will win eneines the Governmerit, At the moment we need more area reetings, strika furds, and distribution of pickets ready for the strike has to beat, and if it succeede, all the other unions The men are willing to take on the Government and PHILIP SUTCLIFFE, Union official in Aylesham village.
What is the situation in the local mining industry?
ban, when five days were being worked, 1o 10,000 tons, Now they are on three days, and producing only six to seven thousand tons.
Last Tuesday 14 December! Snowdown colliery didn't produce a single ounce of coal. The pit, which is the second deepest in the country and highly mechanised, was flooded to a depth of three told them that if they did not work they would be sent home.
This was part of a week lang game of move and counter-move; they are attempting to shut the pit and pay no wages. But with the overtime ben biting deeply, the mood of the miners is extremely militant, even more so than during the last struggle. Over Christmes the DACM members will begin to put pressure on the Coal Board when they have to work nine days on the trot, and with only a 2 day gap, without NUM embers there, If they wark out the pits will flood, Wa have probably lost one face alrady through flooding Do the miners see it as a struggle against the Govern ment?
The pepers and TV have been hammering the miners. The NUM is seen as the major union the Gevernment will cave in. Burit has hackhred on them, tre moderate" miners have got absorbed in the fight and they won't give in, The men realise that it will take a strike to get the CARTI In a ballat we would get a 70% majority for a strike Coal production at the three East Kent pits, which is Since the ballet includes office staff and members of normally 22,000 tons per week, fell after the avertime other unions, this would mean a 75% majority of the men actualiy Working unDer Found All other unions should come but with us, the miners Will take a lcad, but il has not to be shown that othel unions one with us. If our struggle ind to a general strike we could tring down the Government. IT DOU Government out in, and oney gave us anoiner ter shillings, we still wouldn't go back, unies they gave as the full daim.
catholic minority threatened the existence of the Northern state and this disunity. The Army is now defending a new se clement, des gried to establish a nes method of British domination of Ireland, If this is unsuccessful there will be explosive struggles which will renew the threat to partition. REVOLUTIONARY STRATEGY Thus the border, and the Britch Anny remain the dominant questions before irish revolutionaries. No amount of economic struggle North or South can displace those questions and no coonomic struggle can he properly related to a revolutionary strategy unless this in understood.
For example, tbe rising level of industrial struggle in the South will not go far before it contronts the developing repressive apparatis of the Free State. This repression will best be combatted by allying with the forces who oppose repression against the Republicans, for whom it has been constructed. A defeat for the repression will undermine the ability of the Free State poserunent to do a deal with the Faulkner Unionists, who demand stronger measures against Repuhlicans. Unless these ABC matters are understood the Officials will have no perspective from which to judge politcal cents. An example of their disorientation was their interpretation of an event which occured just before the Ard Fheis A Republican Cluhs candidate in a local council by-clection in Magheratelt. County Derry, was elected in the strengil of transferred second preference votes from loyalist roters. T90 leadership grocted this as a breach of the secturian harders.
Il was nothing of the kind. Although there wus a positive response front cutbolics, who voted Republican, wrinst the SDLP sell-out, the loyalists had used proportional representation to keep out the SDEP, whom they sco as an immediate danger because of power-shuring and the Council of Ireland, They will learn that they have nothing to fear from these green Lundys (traitors) but their use of the Officiaus for this manoeuvre indicates that they do not see the Officials us a serious force. More thin anything else in recent mouths, this delusion shows the inabilicy of the main leader of Ibe Officials to come to terms with the real struggle
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break it together, and we will all win together. Birmingham