Socialist Challenge No. 83, 15 February 1979
The scan: sc-n83-feb-15-1979.pdf (PDF, Marxists Internet Archive)
Uncorrected machine reading of the whole issue. This text was read by machine (Apple Vision OCR) from the scan and has not been corrected or cut into articles. Each page gives the headlines first, then the columns in order, so one article runs on into the next. Expect misread words. Use it to find things; quote from the scan.
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no 83. 15 February 1979 15p Socialist Challenge IRAN-ANEW POWER IS BORN 'Revolutionary brothers and sisters we know that you feel like celebrating your victories but please don't fire your weapons aimlessly in the air. The enemy hasn't been completely defeated yet and we may still need those bullets...' SABER NICKBIN AND BRIAN GROGAN REPORT FROM LIBERATED TEHRAN...P.3. More news and analysis on Iran...P.2, 4 & 5.
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Socialist Challenge, 328/9 Upper Street, London N1. Editorial 01-359 8180/9. Distribution/Advertising 01-359 8371. Iran's February Revolution
OUR POLICIES 2.
EDITORIAL
'DON'T play at insurrection', Engels used to warn impatient and isolated revolutionaries. The Iranian masses demonstrated last weekend that they were in deadly earnest.
They resisted army attempts to impose aw and order, arsenals, seized arms and inflicted defeat after defeat on troops loyal to the Shah.
Humiliated and concerned lest the masses follow through their victories by smashing the entire structure of the army, the military leaders sounded the retreat. They ordered the troops to return to the barracks.
Others preferred insurrectionaries.
The generals issued a pathetic statement: *The army will remain neutral.' The masses laughed in their face. For the last year this 'neutral' army has been massacring thousands of Iranians.
The Shah's flight was the masses' first victory. The removal of his last appointed Prime Minister, Bakhtar, marks the end of any hope the Shah may have had of saving his throne.
What makes the fall of Bakhtiar all the more important is that he did not
withdraw "gracefully' after negotiations. manere was transition. He was overthrown by a
mass insurrection.
insurrection achieved its immediaté Even HOIC importantly
aim because the masses were armed.
The guerrilla organisations now came
into their own and took the initiative
at several key moments.
The masses were poutically armco
by Six months of
struggles. This armoury was restricted
to the overthrow of the autocracy, but
this in itself gave their struggle a
revolutonary aname.
At the crucial moment
political strength enabled them
take up real weapons and defeat the
military offensive. The result was the
fall of Bakhtiar and the storming
of the Shah's fake parliament. Eleven
thousand prisoners liberated them-
selves.
The radio and television stations
were taken over by the workers and
news of what was happening
broadcast to the rest of the country
and the world.
retreat the once powerful autocrat
heard Radio Tehran announcing the
end of the monarchy.
Dual power now exists. But dual
power does not automatically lead to
the seizure of power by the oppressed
masses. For the very term denotes that
there are two powers in the land.
On the one hand is the Shah's army.
It has suffered a serious blow, but it is
far from being smashed. It is still
under the control of the same officers
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Socialist Challenge. 15 February 1979 page 2
raided Some did.
Join the
peaceful
the
SECONDARY picketing have continuous repression.
ensure. their
motion. They
Pakistan.
But the was
In his Moroccan
does
army. It Khomeini.
willingness to
revolution from within.
- Tehran-style organised large-scale
But it could be crushed if the struggle continues and that is what Iranian revolutionaries will seek to
bears
On the other side are the masses in
are triumphant and proud of their successes. Rightly so. Their struggle offers hope to the victims of dictatorships throughout the world, starting with neighbouring
dual power which undoubtedly exists in Iran. has yet to be institutionalised. Its political voice TACE
emerge as yet from discussions and debates in popular institutions or the base of a popular
comes from one
If this old man's obduracy and insistence on no compromises with the Shah has proved a major strength for the mass movement, it is his
negotiate with the generals and his eagerness to disarm the masses which now threatens the
The BBC TV news a few weeks ago referred to Bakhtiar as a Kerensky.
class:
revolutionary socialists are: • To build broad-based class
The Economist last week compared Khomeini to the fifteenth century Florentine religious demagogue Savanarola.
Both are wrong. If anything he closer resemblance Kerensky, though analogies by their nature are never exact. That is why Lenin's insistence on analysis of the concrete remains a far superior method.
Dual power will not last for ever.
Sooner or later there will be a final test of strength. The mass movement is in an extremely advantageous situation at the moment. Its weakness lies in the that revolutionary parties - indeed all working class ponucal and trade umon organisa tions - are very weak.
In our editorial statement on Iran last November we wrote: *Even far-reaching bourgeois democracy is unlikely to satisfy the needs of the masses, have spent months increasing their experience of independent organisation and independent political action. "The Shah will fall because he was pushed, not because of any vague death wish. In other words, apitalism is in crisis. The leaders of the Labour Party and the trade unio Ter solutions that are in the interests, not of the workers, but of the capitali
Socialist Challenge believes that the two vital tasks confronting
class-collaborationism in the labour movement. These should be non-exclusive in character grouping together militants holding a wide range of political views. * To begin to fight for the creation of a unified and democratic revolutionary socialist organisation which can, through an application of united front tactics, begin to be seen as an alternative by thousands of workers engaged in struggles.
Such an organisation should be based on the understanding that:
The struggle for socialism seeks to unite the fight of the workers against black. people, gays — struggling for their liberation. This socialism car only be achieved by creating new organs of power and defeating with al
escary means the power or tre choraist stare
Iran
CASES insurrectionary situation there is the possibility of the masses developing their own organisations of workers power to of their present ruler, but to seize their own destiny once and for all.
concrete None of this is certain of course. situation' The only thing we can predict with
scientific accuracy is that everything is possible!
'One major obstacle still stands between the masses and power: an armoury CHO HOUS furnished and imperialism." workers'
Events have tended to confirm our analysis. What is needed now is the generalisation and tion of the existing dual power. This will involve a struggle by the masses to retain their arms, soldiers committees who establishment of militias to defend the masses against TOPICSSIOn At the same time there should be no delay in organising elections to a sovereign
what assembly. It is only such a body which
3
struggle tendencies in opposition to
above is acceptable.
If
workers composed the contradictions
Such are disarmed and religious
fight
women, nationalities,
today in which alliances.
- not simply to get rid
enemies.
States
strategy in the
CDCSS OLI maintained
They need
institutionalisa-
the election of presently and the armed workers be
immediate consitutent makes
Our socialism will be infinitels more democratic than what exist in
"socialism' in the USSR and Eastern Kurope have discredited sucialism in the eyes of the millions of workers throughout the world, We are opposed i them and will offer full support to all those fighting for socialist democracy
scale. This units will in the long run he decisive in defeating both th imperialist regimes in the West and the brutal dietatorships thes sustain in I atin America, Africa and Asia.
In Britain it implies demanding the immediate withdraw al of-Bfitish-troops from Ireland and letting the Irish people determine their own future
The Communist Parties in Europe are in crisis.
• socialist parties are more necessary than ever hefore. Conditions today are more favourable than over the preceding three decades. But such parties car only be built by rejecting sectarianism and seeing internal democracs not 1º: luxury but as a vital necessity. This means the right to organise factions and
can decide who forms a government. No administration appointed from
institutions existed which represented the masses more directly, institutions of a soviet type, and
peasants' parties majority, then we would argue for these parties to form a government based on soviet power.
But this power has yet to be created. Given the weakness of working class organisation it will develop out of the
inbuilt into the struggle for a constituent assembly and democratic rights for the masses.
an assembly would be defended by armed sections of the masses. The trial of all generals and officers who participated in the massacres and their replacement by officers elected by the soldiery are both urgent
But they can only be carried through if the workers militias
strengthened rather than
If elections for an assembly are organised the workers and peasants will need to form their own parties, trade unions and peasants associa tions independent of all bourgeois forces. These would stand opposed to all varieties of mysticism, political
A revolutionary workers' party will
for thoroughgoing land reforms, political and social rights for
self-determination for nationalisation of all big capitalist firms under workers' control, and an end to all imperialist
That what Iranian Trotskyists are fighting for today. It is in the course of these struggles that a revolutionary party will be built.
The Iranian revolution will need to guard itself not just from its internal
latter have been sustained and backed by the United
and Britain Imperialist viete sas suffered a serious setback with the fal of the Shah (see page 4) and the
not give up Iran without a fight.
Their problem is that their only instrument in Iran is now the army.
politicians and political parties. A concordat with Khomeini cannot be excluded, though the latter must realise that his mass support will diminish if he makes any deals.
Iranian revolutionary Marxists are
engaged in building
section of the Fourth International. They and other revolutionaries must
aided in developing political instruments that will prevent any regression in the coming months.
Although the fall of the monarchy
OUE political tasks more
complex, everything is still possible. The interests of workers and capitalists are irreconcilable on a world scale. Capitalism has not only created a world market, it has created world politics. Thus we fight for working class unity on an international
Euro-communist nor the pro-Moscow wings hase ans meaningful strategy for the overthrow of the capitalist state. New revolutionars
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'This is the Voice of the Revolution'
By Saber Nickbin and Brian Grogan, Tehran.
TEHRAN has been liberated.
Apart from small pockets of resistance by troops loyal to the Pahlavi dictatorship, the entire city is in the hands of Ine masses alter LAST WCCKCIOS
The government
been toppled provisional revolunionary vernment headed by meini's, nominee, Bazargan, has claimed.
The insurrection began with a mutiny of homafars, airforce technicians, Dowshan Tappeh airbase on the eastern outskirts of Tehran on Friday CYCLES.
Elite units of the Imperial Guard were sent to the airbase to crush the rebels. News of the mutiny spread throughout the city.
*The homafars have mutinied in Dowshan Tappeh. They are being attacked by those Imperial Guard murderers. We must go and help courageous brothers the homafars!"
Thousands of demonstrators began gathering on the streets shouting, *Long live courageous and militant homafars! Death to the Immortal Guards!'
By Saturday morning thousands of armed and unarmed civilians mainly from working class districts of south eastern Tehran had arrived at Dowshan appen to the rebels against the Imperial
The homafars broke into the airbase arsenal and handed out thousands of weapons to their civilian supporters. They set up sanavag barricades and soon a full scale battle had developed.
The insurrection had begun! Fighting spread to other parts of the city. The Imperial Guards were driven away from Dowshan Tappeh and number of their Chieftain tanks captured and destroyed.
On Saturday afternoon the army tried in vain to impose another crackdown by declaring a curfew from 4.30pm on Saturdav until 12 noon Sunday.
Instead of returning to their homes millions throughout the city came out
did not try to impose the curfew but disappeared SUCCEs All night there was frantic activity throughout the city. In every district inhabitants began setting up barricades, sandbags and weapons and ammunition.
By Sunday were ready for the final assauit. Detachments or what nad go- now become known as the
Peoples Armed Forces Mehdi Mojahedeen and
guerrillas began ponce stanons, army Darracks and other important locations. The army generals realised the hopelessness position and broadcast statements on the radio that thes were taking a 'neutral' position and had ordered their troops back to barracks: 'Up now the wildfire Forces have supported the legal
government. But in the present situation we feel obliged to take a neutral position in the interest of national unity and prevention of further bloodshed. our They had realised
further confrontation with the armed masses would lead to a total disintegration of the army and had decided the Bakhtiar.
For the masses on the streets the generals statement was a signal to intensify their armed dusk stations, the the the paramilitary gendarmerie, a
number of army barracks, the Darnalent prime support ster's office, one of the Shah's
palaces and many important buildings were in the hands of the masses.
Thousands of soldiers had been captured or had surrendered and MOUsanes weapons distributed amongst civilians. At most of the army barracks demoralised divided soldiers put up only a half-hearted resistance.
Only the Imperial Guards, who had moved out from their base into the city centre with Chieftain tanks, continued to put up tierce resistance.
The celebrated Chieftains have proved next to useless. In the restricted space of the city on centre they have been
overwhelmed by Molotov cocktails.
Saracen armoured cars have OCODIC
been taken intact and are being onto the streets. The soldiers used by the masses in attacks on
from the
filling
distributing
they
and Fadayee
assaulting
of their
Armed that
to ditch
all police headquarters of
mini-
other and easily people with
EYEWITNESS
REPORT FROM IRAN
and tens DISORICES
television
occupied months.
Iran,
tion."
workers
our radio station,' they
television
station in the
one or the cooperated
them to return.'
then programme unarmed civilians.
are • immediately
supplies...
'People's
and such district. him...
army-controlled installations.
The city's main prisons fell
of thousands • were released At about 6pm, the state radio and
stations were cap tured from the soldiers who had
them for several
The radio programme was suddenly interrupted and proud voice declared:
*This is the People's Radio of
Voice of the Revolution. The We have liberated the radio station from military occupa-
The same voice continued to give instructions to armed units
move to districts where reinforcements were needed. Striking radio and television
quickly returned to start running the stations.
We thank you for liberating
and television declared to the masses on the air. It is now the true radio of the people, the voice of the revolution.
'Once we manage to get the
working we will broadcast a film showing how the soldiers fled from the radio
face of our that courageous fighters.
"You should also know that by the time we arrived all but
seabs who had ances with the military had fled. We will never allow
units
The Voice of the Revolution
continued with of revolutionary songs and music, interrupted from time to time with news bulletins about the fighting and instructions to units of the * Peoples Armed Forces and various requests of help from in the
*Surgeons and anaesthetists are badly needed at such and such hospital...Blood donors
required in such and such locations...cars are needed to transport medical
homes are danger of burning down in such
We call on our wrotners no we fire origade to immediately go to this area... director of Pars Air is planning *There are reports that the SECT to escape in a private plane with large sums of money. Airport workers are alerted to arrest
'Danger! Danger! Danger! There are reports that Chieftain
tanks of the former dictator. ship are moving towards your radio station. We call on units of the Mojadeen and Fadayee guerrillas and other armed revolutionaries in the vicinity to come and defend the radio station..
*Revolutionary brothers and sisters we know that you feel like celebrating your victories but please don't fire weapons aimlessly in the air.
hasn't been completely defeated yet and we may still need those bullets..'
On Sunday evening Kho meini broadcast a message to the people. He warned that the struggle is still not over and they must continue to be on their guard against the enemy.
urged everyone support and obey his provi sional Islamic government. But his main message was that peace and calm' should quickly be restored and that private and public property should be respected.
Khomeini's speech was soon Blared a roduce each tre Bazargan, introduced Prime Minister of Iran. He said
the declaration by the armed forces that they would remain 'neutral" and assur-
loyalty his government by the army chief of staff were a great victory for the people and called on armed
to immediately cease attacks on the army.
'As Immam Khomeini has said, the army are of the people and the people of the army. We
treat them as our brothers.
The Fadayee guerrillas seem to have played a prominent role
insurrection. Together with the Moslem Mojahedeen guerillas they now control most of the armed units.
In contrast to Bazargan's line of compromise their message on the radio said that the remnants of the Shah's army must be destroyed and replaced by a people's army.
Meanwhile in the streets the armed masses don't seem to have taken much notice of Bazargan's pleas. They have
too many of their comrades slaughtered by the Shah's army to believe that it is now 'neutral'.
They are continuing their assaults on army installations and occupying other government buildings.
Socialist Challenge 15 February 1979 page 3
Page 4 scan of this page
quickly become a popular parlour game cutback in supplies of crude to its expected, partly under pressure from prospect.
governments
increasing popular support.
then be
is the restoration of authority?
EVENTS in Iran took United States by surprise. It has still to recover its poise
Like a wounded elephant it is stumbling, unsure of direction. The fall of the Shah has left it without a political instrument. The hunt is on.
While imperialist strategists in Washington are working out a line, the former Secretary of State has published a sharp factional attack on American policy, in a lengthy two-part interview in The Economist.
Kissinger's line is simple: chancil counterrevolution.
Capital has to be maintained at all costs and through direct military interventions if necesBy Richard Carver
'CRISIS, what crisis?" The Prime Minister's immortal catchphrase has
than in the oil trade, where Spot the
since 1973.
Secretary, played a familiar opening gambit last week
announcement that the world oil crisis
exports was *prospectively
oil price rose fourfold in as many
months.
Schlesinger's remarks immediately
upset the world money
several points.
In
comments from Schlesinger's opposite
Blumenthal:
statement yesterday that the situation cutback.
in Iran is serious is clearly the kind of
thing that makes people run to gold."
On the one hand
alarmism; on
Callaghanism.
Who is right? Is there an oil crisis?
There is evidently an oil shortage,
which is not quite the same thing. A shortfall.
drop in Iranian exports from something
like 6 million barrels a day to nothing 1s
not negligible.
Even when lost production is made
Socialist Challenge 15 February 1979 page 4
INTERNATIONAL
Imperialism and Iran
Permanent
counter-
revolution
'THE fundamental challenge of a revolution is this: certainly wise governments forestall revolutions by making timely concessions; indeed the very wisest do not consider concessions, but rather as part of a natural process of
'However, once a revolution is in train it cannot moderated by concessions. revolution has occurred, the pre-eminent requirement
Henry Kissinger, interviewed in The Economist, 10 February 1979.
By Tariq Ali
the sary. Democracy is of no real
concern: In pre-empting the situation human rights policy can help.
In dealing with revolutionary situations it can be inflammatory. In Iran our human rights policy has CORLTIOULCO instability. •I ne aim orEne Interview Is EC boost his own standing and embarrass the Carter regime. If General Haig 1S the Republican presidential candicare Henry will unrewarded!
SHIT Kissinger and imperialist strategists always confronted shortages. For
and nowhere more appropriately customers in the first quarter of 1979.
But Crisis' has been a perennial pastime lated. Britain, for example, could have James Schlesinger, the US Energy North Sea production.
with
serious' than the 1973-4 crisis when the must increase exports by the same
Oran.
markel
turn drew a few acid drivers.
But despite local
"Secretary Schlesinger's economies from the full impact of the
the other placid in reserve. At
the oil producers.
adaptions as
Once insoluble problem. History is against them representatives of an imperialsophisticated ist world order which is trying to stop the forward march o humanity.
Against an armed resistance with popular support they have OlIV CENC Vietnam showed that short of nuclear weapons they could not win the war.
What could imperialism have nexi done overthrow of go Kissinger argues that the Shah made too few other concessions in the late Sixties are and early Seventies and too with many in one year. world oil industry is bound to create later this year to make up for their world. example, Petroleum, which gets the bulk of its oil crisis. from Iran has announced a 45 per cent
"shortages' are also manipu-
made up its 14 per cent shortfall out of
But as well as being an oil producer,
his Britain is a member of the International tiny
Energy Agency, a consumers' cartel. created by the stoppage of Iranian oil IEA rules require that before more oil usually gives a pointer to future OPEC more can be kept for domestic use Britain pricesrises.
amount as the short fall in supplies from
The oil companies are happy with
The this, since it keeps their profits up. The American workers for the fact that the price of gold shot up and the dollar fell poor British consumer was simply told government wants to put prices up.
to blame it on bloody-minded tanker for shortages two unpalatable measures. number at the US Treasury, Michael things have protected the capitalist used to explain the 1974-75 recession
First, there is the safety margin circulation leading to a contraction of operated by the oil consumers. World demand calculated stocks always have at least 90 days' oil industrialised countries.
the moment they probably have 20 days more than that.
Secondly, Saudi Arabia has been between rich and poor countries. prepared to make up a large part of the Political and dependence on the US has always made Saudi Arabia the most 'moderate of
But it was always inevitable that the was a redistribution of surplus value up elsewhere, the dislocation of the Saudis would have to cut production among different sectors of the capitalist
CONFERENCE Saturday 31 March,
dockers,
Committee.
They are the
have argued
coup
WCaDUll society Conlondon oppressed and classes. avoid the the Shah? No government political them.
Spot the oil crisis
British increased output during the Iranian
The cut has come sooner
OPE militants', who see the shortage as a chance for a price rise on top of last October's moderate increase.
Oil prices on the open market have markets shot up to as high as $22 a barrel (compared to the usual $13-14). Only a
percentage of the oil trade is • conducted on this 'spot market' but it
However, the use of the oil crisis scare at this moment is a deliberate political move. Schlesinger's statement last week was designed to prepare
The 'greedy Arabs theory is useful
getting workers LU It was widely
The argument was that the famous "petrodollars"
and production in
explanation was the idea that the 1974 crisis was a redistribution of wealth
The entire argument rested on a fals military assumption. The petrodollars did not disappear into the vaults of Riyadh but were pumped back into the world financial system. What was happening
Speakers invited include Fred Halliday, Hull and Liverpool
He believes that in the last period the United States should coup
for local reimposition of authority" - a
enormous.
But Tea concess os caric would have led to the build-up of a mass opposition earlier.
The basic divisions in Iranian
create permanent objectives between the oppressor sense
bourgeois STaTe scait. can deal with Hence the CHILLY of the Soviet policemen and firefighters in the shape of CIA agents and military advisers.
not a simple rerun of that economic crisis but a far gloomier
Khomeini's plan production is no longer seen as the main threat. What now scares the financial and the BRITISH press weekends events was up high standard. "The mob', 'the rag tag rebels', *their bloodstained grip', orgy of looting used lightly. This was a sure indication of something fundamental at stake -accept British profits.
The greatest fear is that any future Iranian government nationalise the oil industry, lock, stock and [dare we say it?] barrel.
But Iran is also a major trading the similar Solom Contact To Ba lee
number of private defence contracts, the main one being the $800 million British Aerospace ann-aircran missies.
Iran has already cancelled $7 billion worth of arms contracts out of an
University College, London Committee Against Repression in Iran and shop stewards from the Vickers Combine
If the army had carried out a would have been resisted, as the present situation shows. So the risks would be
Kissinger's belief that combination of the National Front and the army is likely to be more sympathetic to our any other grouping makes more - but it's a bit late!
In the face of permanent counter-revolution on a global Wildl 1s needed l revolutionary foreign policy by Union and China.
But the split within Stalinism leads China to a virtual alliance with imperialism against the boardrooms is the What worries James Schlesinger is themselves conjured up in 1974 - the
political turning off the taps.
In 1974 for reducing
oil
DANGER-profits at risk!
reporting of the States. to its usual Fleet Street
-such phrases are not British unemployment.
might simply
There partner. British exports there totalled exampleof the Lucas workers plan for
manufacturing
tanks will probably be cut. So will a these plans
deal for Rapier murder in Iran.
outstanding S12 billion with the United redundancies in Vickers turn to page 6.
Soviet Union.
The latter maintains its own policies of accomodations and manoeuvres to avoid revolu tion. But there is an obiective tension between the Sovie Union and imperialism which revolutionaries can exploit though the price they pay in return is high (Cuba, Vietnam) The lack of a proletarian internationalist policy in either Peking or Moscow places a heavy burden on the small band internationalists in the labour movement in the imperialist countries Our efforts in building solidarity must multiplied the coming weeks. bogey that they
*third world' taking its revenge by
this was a propaganda exercise. In 1979, with the imperialist hold on Iran weaker than ever, the people could seize the oilfields and make it a joyful reality.
will no doubt now expend considerable energy proving that Iranian workers are responsible for
The answer to this already exists. The Vickers National Combine Committee has drawn up a workers' plan for an alternative to building Chieftain tanks. Instead they propose making manufac. turing equipment, mining machinery and energy and environmental device:
already the celebrated
socially useful products. A fight for the arguments ir
- and the development of similar ideas in other firms — will be the perfect answer to those who argue that British jobs are dependent on mass
* For news of the struggle against
Page 5 scan of this page
"The revolution cannot be stopped halfway
Trotskyist organisation. International.
of the last few days. THE last bastions of Pahlavi monarchy fell with the Bakhtiar government, generals and the American imperialist advisers.
This historic victory has
freedom and throwing off the yoke of imperialism, autocracy and backwardness.
Today is clear artillery, tanks and machine guns cannot break the will of the people.
Today it is clear that to win freedom we had to overthrow the army and government the Pahlavi court and capitalist parasites.
The workers and all the toilers, the real producers in society, displayed a tremendous solidarity throughout the country in their brave and h-toric struggle.
A new power is arising — the power of workers and toilers in city and countryside, the power of tens of THOTIS oppressed and downtrodden.
It is this power that can free our country of all the vestiges of dictatorship, poverty and backwardness and rebuild society on a new basis.
CERe fight to establish a democratic regime, which has been the central fight in this century, has never been so close to being won.
The Socialist Workers Party, which has been founded on the basis of a fusion of Trotskyist forces adhering to the Fourth International, hails this victory.
FRONT PAGE of Che Bayad Kard No Copies available for 15p plus påp from Socialist Challenge (iran).
INTERNATIONAL
Iranian Trotskyists' statement
MORALE is high in the heavily armed headquarters of the Socialist Workers Party, the new united Iranian
The comrades are pleased at the success of their paper Che Bayad Kard (What is to be Done?). In the days between Khomeini's return and the insurrection it was the only paper accurately to predict the role the army would play. This has won it a growing audience.
The new organisation, which supports the Fourth International, is composed of groups from exile in Europe and North America, a group originating in Iran, and the Iranian supporters of the Organising Committee for the Reconstruction of the Fourth
Here we reprint the SWP's statement on the events
the obstaclesfreedom and progress, reprethe sented by the monarchy, have been shattered.
The next step for all the workers and toilers can be summarised in one sentence: forward to the convocation of a constituent assembly. that The present victory was won by the oppressed of Iran and it is the result of the stubborn and self-sacrificing struggle of tens of millions.
The future government that
its Our Comrade
KAVOOS Hemmatianpoor, a 20-year-old Trotskyist, shot dead in the assault Eshrat Abad army barracks, the second largest in Tehran, on Sunday 11 February. He died gun in hand.
Kavoos was English University of Tehran. summer he joined the group of which produces the paper Che Bayad Kard (What is to be Done?] and which is in the process of fusion with other Trotskyist organisations.
We salute his memory.
can free Iran from the evils of imperialist domination of autocraly historical backwardness must also be decided by the people themselves.
Only the masses themselves, through discussions leading to decisions, can offer a solution to the crisis forced upon our society by imperialism and absolutism.
The immediate convocation of fully constituent assembly, in which all critical forces can participate, is the only way that the will of the people can find true expression.
Thus assembly represents the sovereign people will not be responsible to any authority but the themselves and will recognise no power of others It should be based on direct, equal and secret Literates and illiterates should have voting rights. The high are school youth who displayed so much daring and self-sacrifice should vote.
immediate
The soldiers, those sons of the workers and peasants, who have solidarised revolution, right to vote. All the women and men of this land should be able to participate in elections to a constituent assembly.
The mass struggle organisations which shattered the rule of the autocracy should oversee the elections.
No from above can bring freedom
On to Iran and no such
ment can detend the gains of the revolution against the imperialpowers and forces. a student of This is
relying on Last made the present
possible - the power of the HUH masses — and by expanding an
deepening the mass struggles, such as the protection of factories by the workers, expansion armed reservations neighbourhoods and the neg of secret files of SAVAK CHICS. the opening books of the imperialist firms
the by the workers, the exposure of and the crimes of the Pahlavi terror
over the last 25 years, bringing those responsible to the justice of the workers and Tolers.
The constituent assembly, real the expression of the people's
will, will defend and support all these struggles democratic decide the big and the small representative questions and from that of
nationalising imperialist mines, companies and ending the national oppression of Azerbaijan, Kurdistan and Baluchistan, to winning equal that rights for women, to guarantee-
Wing freedom of expression and assembly, to workers' control people of the factories.
only immediate convocation of a constituent assembly that the people can be sovereign.
The central question facing the constituent assembly will be have deciding on the
government. The Workers Party proposes the
establishment of a
the should have the struggie or une
sion to
La capitalist government.
INO capitalist will government appointed encourage
govern-
reactionary
possible only by the power which
victory
ocupation and
By John Ross of the in the politically
"OI the lessons of ran
and ism'
multar y
insisted that
and through
discussion will
must ally
banks, to armed forces.
government.
through the CP
'retained
law'. future of generals crac The Socialist
workers' Kurdistan, and peasants' republic, that is a government that supports the
workers and toilers of city and countryside. cannot be
The problems facing Iranian society from political repres
backwardness and poverty, cannot be resolved by
government nationalise industry, the seizure and distribution of land to the peasantry or the liberation of THE working class can smash
1973. even the most well trained and
prepared modern army. That is one of the many avoiding
army.
This puts into place all the bloody propaganda of the Communist Parties and their insistence on the "peaceful road to social-
It is imposible to defeat the
COLD they have declared. LOVCHHICHE The Communist Parties have
revolutionary Argentina, socialists have no practica actually explanation of how to destroy
Instead, they have told us, we
with progressive generals and officers and at all costs avoid a clash with the
And this advice has been put into practice. Chile is the most obvious example. The Chilean Communist Party supported putting generals in Allende's
leader Luis Corvalan insisted in 1970 that the army
their spirit of
for the constitution and the cracks
supported the crackdown on rank and file opposition in the armed
Azerbaijan and neSs.
Baluchistan from the yoke of national oppression.
The train of the revolution
stopped halfway,
pushed back again. Government by internal or external exploiters should be ended.
With the establishment of a workers' and peasants' republic the historical demands of political and economic inde- LIOT pendence will become a reality For and the chains of backward-
Iran and Chile-more
than an ocean apart
forces - for instance against the sailors' mutiny of summer
Everything was aimed at
La conflict with the The result was the military coup of September 1973.
Chile is only one example. In Indonesia in 1965 half a million people were killed by a military
against
Today there is the terror in
where the CP welcomed the 1976 coup. This is the record of the 'peaceful road"
Each time the Communist Parties have argued that there is
atenave only romantic dreamers of the ultra left can imagine that the masses past have the capacity for defeating a modern army.
No other army in the world was as well equipped, as well trained and as well indoctrinated as that of the Shah. Today this army is in tatters.
The Iranian masses have show that if the mobilisations are great enough they make
in even the most and well-trained machines. Into these cracks the people can move, to fraternise the with troops and begin to win
and political repression will be broken and the door opened to an era of freedom and abundance.
The masses achieved the present gigantic victory by their own power and only by relying OBOU own torce Call guarantee the final victory of the revolution.
Long live the Iranian revolu
the convocation of the sections over.
The organisation of the masses encourages the troops to resist. As the fighting starts the military forces crack up and defiance of the people reduced to the most hard core and elite units
Against a mass mobilisation of millions, aided by even a few dissident troops, those units which will never be won over can be crushed.
This is the pattern of revolution - this is what is happening in Iran.
What is vital is that right from the start the working class is told that it needs to crush the violence of the enemy.
The millions who have come onto the streets of Iran in the
their willingness to defy the military might of the Shah. Thousands have died, but many more have returned to the streets
Such mass mobilisation and the arming of the people which
accompanied lave proved decisive. A soldier who mutinies cannot afford choose a losing side; he would be shot without mercy. When the masses begin to light back and arm themselves that gives
ranks the necessary encouragement
Socialist Challenge 15 February 1979 page 5
Page 6 scan of this page
BL strike call rejected
Vickers workers campaign against
HOME NEWS
plant. The others -Cowley-all votedagainst strikeaction.
By Pat Hickey Deputy Sepior Steward, SD No 1 plant, Birmingham
The uneven response of BL's workers wasonlypartiallydueto the fact that some of the plants hadlittleor nothing to gain from the parityprogramme.
Evenplantslike Cowleywhich had been promised substantial benefits from the parity pledges votedagainst action.
BL argued that the parity payments were dependent on achieving agreed productivity targets, and that as these targets had not been met the payments wouldbepostponed.
But the lack of enthusiasm for
closures
Tolchard puts it, among leading
began with a massive Newcastle on 2 February. By Hilary Wainwright
A threat of closure requires a major leap 1n workers' confidence and organisation to challenge management's controloverinvestment, the government's refusal to intervene, the "facts' of the market.
The Scotswood campaign has the sort of case on which a very broad and self-confident campaign can be built. fight is against management's deliberate sabotage of viable ana Vital productive capacity (in heavy engineering).
It isn't that Vickers don't have the to invest in Scotswood; Vickers is expecting £150m. in 'compensation' for the nationalisation shipbuilding and aerospace
It isn't that the markets aren't there for heavy engineering; major orders have been turned away and Chinese OTECTS could possibility.
It is simply that the profit and loss accountants on the 19th floor of Millbank Tower (Vickers HQ) have calculated that investment in Scotswood
• and, for that matter, heavy engineering more generally does not add enough to the profits side of the balance sheet.
The campaign's arguments have already had a wide hearing on Tyneside, and increasingly
Support has come from the MOST diverse sources: from workers at all the main Vickers plants in the country; from shop stewards committees other companies on Tyneside;
trades councils
Socialist Challenge 15-February 1979 page 6
Union leaders to blame
THE CALL by union leaders for an all-out strike in Britishleyland wasmassivelyrejectedbytheworkforce. The Longbridge walk-out was the only one at a major
Rover, Jaguar, Triumph, and
strikeaction wasnotsomuchdue Ratherit wasa direct result of the course the union leadership BL has pursued for the past five years.
Every year national and most plant union leaderships have urged the membership to Jobs and conditions accept paltry wage rises in order comancoL prontadic.
They have opposed attempts to contront the management by saying that this would involve confronting the government, andthat it is impossibleto defeat thegovernment.
SCOTCHES propaganda about large scale WE ARE putting everything we've got into saving Scotswood. It's a real test of the strength of the shop stewards movement and of the combine committee. That's how Vickers Scotswood convenor Peter
and it's a pretty general view shop stewards in the company.
Already an aggressive campaign is under way, which
demonstration
tenants groups; from Tyne and Wear County has promised €10,000 towards the campaign; from MPs; and even from local parish priests.
But all this would be just so much froth if the lacked real industrial muscle, and the will to use it.
The leadership campaign recognise this.
The Murray, secretary campaign committee, like this: "Only industrial action will hit Vickers where it hurts. And this is what we are building up to: industrial action through. out Vickers led by the North CaSU of *Mass meetings at and Michell Bearings (the two other plants along Scotswood Road) have mitted themselves Confed. has agreed to support real exhausted. it now that procedure has been
*The political lobbying and the widening of support communicated to the members through a weekly campaign bulletin - will help to build up the strength and will of the members. *I don't think Vickers realise what they've taken on. They believe their own propaganda too much.
InIs Is certainly relation to the committee. Vickers just refuse to believe that workers in such a multi-product company (ranging from huge dock cranes and power presses at Scotswood, in through armaments at Elswick, duplicators and office furniand LUTC. highly
closuresif thestrikes went ahead gained a certain credibility.
Management repeating arguments that the union leadership had been using Toryears.
There was complicating trickery. Leyland combine joint negotia-
ting committee had at mended acceptance of the parity deal last November - including me sen-unancing aspector te deal.
Many workers felt that the sell union
and to aware that the company meant
what it said when it talked of "self-financing'.
Or that the negotiators had purposely avoided precise information productivity required because they wanted company controntation
As a Solihull convenor put it,
YNESIDE
through
Council, which
campaign
of the
Jim of the
puts it Elswick
com-
The
- 31 machine tools in Brighton, to fibre glass submersibles on the true in North Yorkshire Moors) would combine able to build a strong
combine sation.
Why on earth should they want to meet; they've nothing common, would soonisucated dingly.
was merely questions weren' tasked.
Ine further Tactor tnat une lighttostepupitsattacks.
recom- plant closures
helddown.
negotiators were well
strike calls
membership
workers seeking on the andprofitability.
Unless avoid a
profitability at BL. HAPMAN
I STEAM
BOILERMAKER POWER
NEEDWORK USTRY
DONT FORGET
LARKE CHARMAN
The began in the early 70s
provide organi- problem
tions) have in common.
management committee has gradually
bleat uncomprehen- times
'themanagement did not seem to want us to ask questions'. So the
There is no hiding the defeat that therejectionofthestrikecall means for BL's workforce. It will give the company the green
The five year plan involving
and 20,000 redundancies will bespeeded up, while wages will continue to be
But a fightback will not be developedthrough bureaucratic
issued (LO demoralised and misled union
The situation faced by BL
requires political answers to the problems of jobs
those answers are developed it could soon be a situation of few jobs but much
LAPPRAMER-
WANT A
FUTURE
PARSONS demonstration against redundancies on Tyneside in 1977, supported by Vickers workers
rationalisations which 1 - 01 which Scotswood is the latest -
the delegate. ans wet, which in Vickers (as in other corpora-
And since 1974 a combine the last lap
- at precariously been spreading its grip on Vickers
BLar Limitec
FOR
BLOODY LIES
VICKERS
SCOTSWOO!! SAY WORK
NOT DOLE
term
of the WILL
management. Its organisation is still very uneven, but nearly every meeting includes a new
In more ways than one, then, Vickers is on the run.
But don't Vickers have a resource which will win them
- the power to offer high redundancy money?
This argument has worked in the past because workers have
B.L.STANDS
seen no future in their job.
At Scotswood the campaign is showing clearly that there is a future, if Vickers are forced to invest: a short term future with existing products, and a longer
OLIC with alternative, socially necessary products.
Another reason why trade unionists often end up selling jobs is because there is not the pressure reminding them of the cheets or the joo loss on tne rest
the working class community and its future.
But in the case of Scotswood the wide industrial and political commitment which is growing around the campaign IS, in elect. saving "these 750 jobs concern us all, these are not your jobs to sell".
But there is a final problem:
role of the official negotiators, the Confed. (Confederation of Shipbuilding Engineering Unions).
After all, it was deals and delays. coming from this direction which boxed in the workers at Speke, making the redundancy money seem to be the only way to make the best of a bad situation.
At Scotswood, however, the stewards have not waited for the officials. The shopfloor and office Call Darli committee have so far set the pace, pulling the Confed. behind them.
At CA Parsons on Tyneside, and now at Lucas Aerospace this is proving the only way to
If the Scotswood campaign committee, backed by the combine, can keep the initiatve, then there is a rea possibilit of victory.
All possible messages of support will help. Send to: Save Scotswood Campaign, 12 St Albans •Terrace Gateshead, Tyne and Wear,
Full details about Vickers and the workers' struggle against it will be found in the forthcoming Workrs Report on Vickers, by Hw Beynon and Hilary Wainwright in associa tion with the Vickers combine committee, to be published soon by Pluto Press.
Page 7 scan of this page
HOME NEWS
plan to
beat the
crisis
By Jonathan Silberman
The substance of the concordat is reminiscent of an editorial in the Daily Express.
"There is no answer to all society's problems in confrontation', the concordat declares,
of interest': what's needed is a 'general consensus in society"
the heart of "consensus" must be *partnership between government and the union movement' as the basis for 'economic recovery
Many poncal commentators have stressed the unreal character of the concordat. There is no way it will bail out the Labour government in election terms.
The government's savage anti-working class policies over the past four years will ensure a massive Labour abstention in the General Election later this year.
Nor will the concordat roll back the immediate struggles
The public sector wages. strike intensifying. engineers' claim for 33 per cent
35-hou week submitted this week.
Despite this, the proposals should by no means be written off as an irrelevant and vain face-saving attempt by Callaghan and company.
In the first place, concordat represents a continuing political offensive aimed at weakening militant workers' struggles. It harps on about collaboration between 'trade union movement' and
to specify some of the content of such collaboration.
includes provision increased use of secret ballots in
strike action; acciang strict code of conduct picketing, and a 'more flexible' interpretation of closed shop agreements
Finally, it provides for an annual tripartite arrangement including the government, the CBI and the TUC to decide on the general level of SCLLLCHICHLS
In a veled passage. it lavs down that by 1982 wage rises must be below 5 percent.
In the absence of
from politician icacing trade union leader, political offensive will some impact.
It will give a real fillip to the Tory offensive on relations.
No concordat, but
A workers'
IN BREACH of the decisions of every major union conference, of the TUC Congress and of the Labour Party Conference, the government and the TUC General Council are putting the finishing touches to a new social contract — the so-called concordat.
Ken Gill, TUC Council member and leading member of the Party, went on radio on Sunday to say that the concordat would mean *death to the trade
tripant if there were be
tripartite arrangement deciding wage levels.
But Gill put forward no alternative to the concordat's this basic formula, other than that a higher growth rate of 10 per the cent would allow for larger trade wage rises.
He made no appeal to recall the TUC to stop this attempt to overturn Congress *Put agreed policy concordat' was the headline of the Morning Star on Monday.
Initiatives from rank and file workers are pointing the way to an alternative to Callaghan's schemes. Cutting ment is suggested by the fight for the 35-hour week, and by workers' plans at Lucas and Vickers for the production of socially useful products.
Decisions by democratically elected strike committees in the The DOLTI une lorry public sector strikes on the provision of essential services the strike-breaking schemes of the employers.
Demands by teachers cutting class sizes would both improve education and employ out-of-work teachers. larly, BEne call the workers for a programme direct public works would both CUL unemployment socially useful.
Such actions and proposals the are the start concordat, but a workers' plan to beat the crisis.
for WarC
Many
this have
Bad
Harrow
By Sue Spilling COHSE shop steward
THE struggle in Harrow centring Hospital. Lightning
staff, and all members of the COHSE branch nurses and clerical staff - have operated overtime bans and WOrK OTHes Nurses at the hospital will be stepping up action in pursuit of their own pay claim. nurses in the psychiatric ward General have already staged a one-day
strike. However, closure of this Communist WarU
shortages.
The situation at Northwick displays the link between the low pay of NHS workers and the crisis in the health service. The hospital was Christmas due snortages, walle two hospitals are under construction in Harrow and many staff at Northwick signed up to work there.
Low pay is driving NHS workers into the private sector. decisions.
All Out
unemploy-
£6O
35Hrs
anc
Middlesborough
for
By Alan Theasby
Simi- CLEVELAND county council building Headers broke
Thursday not to public sector workers during and be the current dispute.
They demanded that refuse collectors 'work normally' and not cross picket lines at incinerators
and emergency tips. Faced with a decision not to obey their
SSHE
order, the council th he The NUPE
replied: emergency Northwick Park
strikes the Cleveland. (
including
from NUPE, GMWU
the dispute.
Indeed and town halls.
In both
from staff
ward of the closed last prosperous areas.
to staff
private
Nottingham
have already
By Graham Attwel NUPE shor County Council
leadership
struggle in Nottingham. an all-out pledge
CaSI lay off any
within two days.
Liverpool
strikes,
calling such action.
include NUPE branch
NUPE.
place at the SOGAT County Rd,
from: Kevin Earley,
Lane, Liverpool.
promised West
on By Glyn Jones
NUPE leaders heavy Cleveland to
on an
involves West Authority
and al all. pickets have
to The Wales's steward, Notts
GROWING unrest with the
and its strategy during the past few weeks has characterised the public sector
Meetings of Nottingham No. 3 and social services branches have recently passed motions National calling for all-out strike action.
in the city of Nottinghan refuse collectors have called on weren't their union, the GWU, to call
strike. They are unhappy about being called out alone and used as a spearhead.
Similar discontent is being expressed in NUPE and anger erupted when full-time officials ordered social services drivers porters. to call off an overtime ban.
After several stormy union meetings the ban was unofficially reintroduced. The Campaign for Action in NUPE has undergone a rapid growth in the area and the 1,250 copies of the latest CAN bulletin ran out
WE
cuts.
WITH most Liverpool hospitals operating an emergency-only service due to selective
Merseyside Action Campaign Against Low Pay is day to six.
shop stewards conference for 18 February.
The conference will discuss the tactics involved in the strike, whether selective action is the best way to win, and whether union officials or the rank-and-file should control
Sponsors of the conference
Whiston Hospital and South CaSCS Sefton district committee of
Sunday's meeting will take
Hall, in contact Walton from 11.30am to 4pm. Credentials
NUPE office, Walton Hospital, Rice agreed
Glamorgan
NUPE shop steward
members in West Glamorgan have inflicted a
defeat on their local employers who had attempted
victimise workers taking action in pursuit of the £60, 35-hour week claim.
It was on 22 January that the
Glamorgan Health told its employees LICY didn't work *normally' they wouldn't work
In line with this threat, 119 ambulance drivers were locked out after saying they would operate an 'emergency only'
NUPE area shop stewards committee for health rity hit back by organising a series of acttons. Domestics worked tion, to rule, porters took selective strikes, and laundry workers operatca a restricca service
The central store for half of
hospitals reduced to emergency levels by NUPE pickets.
But last week eight porters taking part in the action in two hospitals were suspended by management. The reply from the union was to mount pickets in every hospital and depot in the area, leaving hardly any cmcrecHCy CoVel
The unofficial Ambulance
ened an all-out strike if its members in West Glamorgan
permitted to work emergency-only services.
These displays of militancy forced the area health authority to back down. Last Friday they gave in on the ambulance dispute and on Saturday lifted
the
Camden
By Jane Sirkett NUPE steward for porters, Royal Free Hospital the
HAVE been taking selective action for the claim, but we are also trying to take up the question of opposing the
The theatre sterile supplies unit at the Royal Free is on strike, with some emergency cover. This has reduced the number of operations from 45 a
Porters are holding lightning strikes and working to rule, but since the management brought in voluntary labour on the 22 January day of action we feel they broke the rules - so we're settling on our own rules.
One of our rules is that we won't service private patients. The beds have now been filled with health service medical
We have a strike committee of the stewards which meeting regularly and we'll be
with the striking council workers about what refuse collection we need.
Their strike committee has
to this emergency cover, operated 9515
through the union.
* Jane Sirkett was one of the speakers at a meeting on the public sector claim held by Camden Socialist Challenge Group on 7 February. Thirty attended.
Camden NUPE has called for a support committee to organise solidarity with their strike (see centre pages). This meets next on Tuesday, 20 February, 7.30pm, Greenland: Road Community Centre London NWI.
Teachers out TEACHERS at half a dozen London schools refused fo cross NUPE picket lines during a one-day strike by caretakers, cleaners, and school meals staff on 7 Hebruary
Among those taking solidar.
action were groups teachers at Central Founda
Langdon Park.
Morpeth secondary schools in East London. Other schools were forced to close for the day.
At Quinton Kynaston school in NW London, 18 out of 75 teachers refused to cross the picket line. agreed at an NUT meeting held earlier at the school.
NUPE's London divisiona council has now called on all trade picket lines, and has promised full support for any teachers victimised as a result of their solidarity action.
The Socialist Teachers Alliance has said that while individual acts of solidarity by
to victimisation by the leadership militants should aim to lead groups of teachers
This would provide a basis for countering the NUT's order to scab, and help to prepare the fight over the teachers' own pay
* The NUT committee at Vauxhall Manor school South London declared its opposition last Thursday to the
35 per cent claim lodged b:
union leadership.
By favouring the top grades, the claim would widen existing differentials. The committee has called for a f25 flat rate increase, and is organising a picket of the NUI head quarters when Inner London union officials meet there to
The picket is on Saturday, 24 February, 9.30am, Hamilton House. Mabledon Place, London WC1. Gay TU
conferences
THE Campaign for Homo sexual Equality has organised a series of regional conferences on the problems of taking up the issue of gay oppression in the unions.
conferences are in: Newcastle -3 Mar; Bristol -17 Mar; London — 3 Apr; Manchester - not yet fixed. For details contact local gay groups or Chris Beer, 01-785
Socisist Challenge 15 February 1979 page
Page 8 scan of this page
CAMDEN: ANATOMY
Photo: G.M. COOKSON (Socialist Challenge
start talking about conscience then you can forget the money.
'Either we go back and run theservices-and don twantto do that because I've spent the last three weeks convincing them that they ought to come out, and now they agree or we arrange voluntary cover by all NUPE members.
I'm not callous but it can't be left on our shoulders, everyone's got to muck in.
For hicals on wheels to operate the kitchens will have to go back. And they won't go back for free, because to them it's just being asked to work in a steamy hot kitchen for nothing. 1.30pm John is preparing to rush off to the home helps' meeting when the phone rings a supervisor at the town hall. The pickets stopped the beer lorry and the barislow on beer.
John will talk to the pickets
but quite honestly I think I
Socialist Challenge 15 February 1979 page 8
PICTE
they'd have to pay rent on their free flats if they were on strike.
rest sitting back depending on us.
but they want to sit back and let us do the work for them.
know what they'll say, and I don't blame them.
2.00pm
At North London Poly the 300 home helps in Camden are assembling to emergency cover.
John introduces the discussion, saying that the meeting has been called to solve the problem of emergency cover. But the barracking immediately.
Upinions in te meeting are divided. Some women saying that emergency
full BECAUS should be allowed WOLK
Others argue that this is hypocrisy and everyone knows that of the they visit don't depend on their visits.
Others openly say that they don't want to lose the money.
There is clearly an articulate right wing who know what they areabout.
*Either we go back to work,
DIVISIO
GEORGE TOMS, refuse collector: 11 was surprised at the vote at the mass meeting, There were a lot
of people who didn't want to come out; people like caretakers on the estates, who were worried that
•But we have to pay rent all the time. We've already been out for over a week, and we don't want the
'It's solid at my depot for the all-out strike. That's what the NUPE executive should be calling for,
and get our full pay, or we don't do any emergency cover at all — a threat bound to hold the strike committee to ransom and press them to let the home helps return to work.
Some of these women start calling For a vote on a return to NUPE work. One of the home help discuss stewards takes the microphone: *Look, I voted against the strike, I was opposed to it, but the decision was made by a majority in the mass meeting.
We just can't go back on it now.
The intensifies, putting the stewards are and John under cover pressure and they Finally John says: 'Clearly I back to have to convey the feeling of this meeting to the committee.
But there is no way that I can people allow this meetingabsolutely minority of the branch vote to reverse the meeting decision for an all-out strike last Tuesday. *That would undemocratic. 4.15pm Feelings run very high. The
home helps,
vidually collective
unity of the strike.
strike
returntowork.
as women begin to leave.
4.50pm
slump into demand for a vote
enormous five.
strike gency cover for the
La tiny the home helps wanted - 10 refurn to work mass them a lever."
be totally
dawns...
of the all-out action.
DAY TWO of the all-out strike Camden last Thursday dawns with pickets on all the depots and at the town halls old and new in une vortE London borough.
There is a total shutdown of refuse colecHon. cleansing sections, transport, baths, boilers, petrol pumps catering, and cemetery ers.
Meals on wheels is operating a limited service only, and other low-paid council workers are alsotakingaction.
Around the borough, are beginning a day CES picketing and organising.
HQ prefabricated hut set grounds OI the transport depot in Arlington Road - is in ine eye or uc SLOTHI Through here, dozens people pass every hour, with queries, problems and suggestions. The single phone line is in constant use At the desk in the office sits John Suddaby, secretary Camden NUPE general branch and member of International Marxist Group The strike HQ is a good place to get idea of what involved in an all-out strike by 2,500 local authority workers in one borough. This is a day in its life...
8.15am
A call from Sandra Wilson, an acting steward for the home helps. This afternoon the home helps will be at a mass meeting 10 discuss what emergency cover they should provide. only recently unionised and working indi-
without developing Will prove an obstacle to the consciousness,
Finally a consultative vote is taken, to be referred to the
committee overwhelmingly in favour of a
The mass meeting breaks up
John and some of the stewards
chairs. John remembers that he hasn't eaten all day. and it is now nearly
Over a half of lager and a bag of crisps the implications of the home helps' vote are discussed.
We've not arranged emer-
weekend and the council will know that
to - that gives
A meeting is arranged for 6pm with whoever is around to work out a framework for the strike committee to discuss in the morning, when Day Three
BY A SMALL MAJORITY-590 votes to 480
meeting on Tuesday of last week to go The difficulties involved in implementir
Camden NUPE general branch's 2,500 me
JUDE WOODWARD and GEOFFREY S
pickets,and hearing the anxiety of hom
John suggests that when the council presents cases it should CHHCELCHCY checked, whittled down, that hall the wages paid to home helps on the emergency rota should be handed over to the strike fund public sandra doubts wat the nome
helps will accept this. work anticipates problems at
afternoon's meeting.
8.30am
The council's chief executive is strik- on the phone, the first of their
of many calls today. They want to know what progress has been a tiny made in deciding in the cover for
helps and meals on wheels. can't say pointing out that such cover WIll De exceedingly
of unless the council provides the
strike with premises and more than one phone.
The Holmes Road transport depot has only one picket duty. The drivers coming in to receive their final week's pay at 3.30pm so John
the Devitt, the branch chairperson,
is asked to make sure he's there to organise them into picket is 8.36am A nursery nurse phones: "Am I supposed to be on strike? she's told, because she is in the NUPE officers' branch, NUPEgeneral.
Later she'll ring to say that her two helpers aren't in any union and John will send off
OUIDA HASLAL, deputy catering supervisor, (
town hall: "1 voted against the strike. I don't see t)
of going without pay, but you have to go along
majorty, so here I am picketing. The union is right to take action. The wages f
here are very poor.
JEAN O'REILLY, part-time cleaner, on the p at Camden town hall: Many more should be picketing. The strike has to be all-out; it's the on we've got. Cleaning and catering are just not ir enoug on their own, so we have to be with the oth
Obviously we should get more pay. I work f in the evening to 8.30, on €19.81 gross basic pa for clearing up everyone's mess. I leave home husband gets in. He looks after our child, and I home too late for us to spend the evening out
think it's of prime importance. Women are sc making do.
councillors on the picket line, but then they things like that. My family's always voted Labe I m supporting the Tories. They have somethin to say. They can't be any worse.
membership forn
be others will come i
and union.
Another woma if she is on strike school cleaner, the Inner Londo Authority She's
She number of ILEA
this
out, whoever they by.
8.45ar
A NUPE member complain that h allowed to stari didn't know he v
home and doesn't want t
•Did you come for sure, Then. No, on Tue
John. difficult meetings. ' Well ti
The Thames programme phon to talk to a strik worker to put the on At last the cou will be day centres and
risk arrives. It long how to arrang cover can really be
9.00 al
Everyone is rushi strike committe Camden Labou No, the phone won't Someone call not union injury be union business despite the strike 'A creche for strikers would be a good idea, bi
The strike committee might like to see the
Page 9 scan of this page
cal authority workers in Camden, North London, decided at a mass his decision,and the task of strengthening the indefinite strike of ers, was what preoccupied the strike committee last Thursday, Day 2 RIDAN spent the day observing events at the strike HQ, talking to
FAN ALL-OUT STRIKE
all-out strike.
elps to return to work.
them. orning opportunity to rush off to the in the sirike committee
leaving thephonetoring... to ask
9.30 am
she's a C0 01
The strike committee, consis-
the ting of branch officers, shop
stewards and rank uld be members, elected at the mass ployed meeting two days earlier, holds
La two-hour meeting in Camden Labour Rooms, down the road from the strike HQ.
It discusses picketing rotas, s in to press conferences i been releases, setting up a support
He committee, and fund raising -strike but mainly concerns itself with
discussing the mass emergency cover asks more later). eve in The strike committee is an
open body. gratefully accepting the help and suggestions of any unionmember who's interested. metery
There is considerable delelist of gation of responsibility. ple at main aim is to actively involve
as many strikers as possible in the work of the strike. rgency
11.45 am
John Suddaby is back in his office for the next round of to the
phone calls and problems. steward comes in to report that s, but
NALGO members in the inging. Holborn town hall are planning
to do their own cleaning.
Someone else reports that an go on nt ne
ple ine ere ice anE
30 L'S my ick AND after Day
Branch secretary John Suddaby explains the strike committee's n't plans: to
committee
do workers in old people's homes
should be exempted from the OW strike. They will pay f5 a week ite into the strike fund; £2.50 from
part timers.
In a way I feel we've shed an
Finally everyone takes the | oil delivery for the town hall's
heating is expected the next meeting, day.
There is already a picket on the town halls, but it's agreed to step it up for the oil delivery.
Another report arrives that NALGO members at Euston town hall are bringing in toilet and file rolls and cleaning their offices.
Jonn geis on the paone to Hugh Flynn, branch chairperson, cheque at the same time, with half an ear on a conversation about emergency cover in the
pres: corner of the office.
11.57am
problems of A steward
which sympathetically:
job he doesn't know what he's doing — if he did he'd end up in one of those homes.' could be said about the rest of the strike committee. Everyone is rushed off their feet.
Hugh Flynn Its agrees to look into the situation atthetownhall.
Paine, the council's deputy chief executive, comes on the line inquiring progress on emergency cover.
We'll discuss the emergencies at the home helps meeting this afternoon and hopefully I'll be able to come back to you later A today, he's told. old The council accommodation Commee if JOHN SUDDABY: Pressurise NUPE into an all-out national strike.
Two.
We should have
On Friday the strike
accepted complications. that home helps and
SUBSKE
al-condon demonstration. hold a meeting to meet
12.15pm
job...' the NALGO writing a group
come into the office.
block
smiles at John inalviouany. good Later
down.
The same A local
say that
NALGO
agreed to about the conference on
has aisininuled. 12.45pm
offers better attendants. to the strike emergency Low Pay albatross of social services and old people, and now we have to really turn to the positive side. the council
considered February. more carefully about bringing them out there are so many
get them closed down
Everyone else is totally solid, right behind the strike so we can really go forward from here.
committee has decided to try and organise an and so on.
LICI
cover position can be resolved.
strike council's
A picket arrives to say that a pay. NALGO supervisor has started
hall. 'He used the tools to do it - and he's not supposed to developig, touch the tools - that's our
Another call to NALGO. A
of strikers concerned benefits
A formal request to the local DHSS is needed, asking for a
application the operating a strikers-so thattheydon'thave to deal with the social security
old afternoon the block application will be turned
Labour Party executive member comes in to
it is meeting that Someone from the the week. strike committee should go -John Devitt, the NUPE branch chairperson, agrees to attend.
The strike committee had
hold press Tuesday, so a press release announcing this
and thousand.
We are introduced to Fergus one of our heroic petrol pump
UCATT NUPE LOKI NALGO public and the council, and to strike. People have just gone really build for a big lobby
We aim to tighten up the pickets on the town halls and
either through stopping the oil for the heating, or through health and safety because of the build bring the up of refuse, lack of repairs,
vidual
Our major problem is the lack of involvement in the be left
They came out first to get the
halting the vehicles. He collecting his first week's strike
The public baths attendants' steward rings in for information about how the strike is
100pm
The meals on wheels shop steward arrives and the major problem of emergency cover is again the subject of discussion.
Meals on wheels have been
sunday service since the strike was called -delivering meals to only those
people whose schedule includes a Sunday delivery but this is clearly inadequate.
Just because an old person Goes need a mea onumeas doesn't mean that they are not an emergency on other days of
The steward says: You can't go into a block of flats and feed three on the top floor and miss two on the bottom. It's just not on. They come to their doors with their hands out for a meal.
'There's a list of over a
You can cut out about 200 as non-emergencies but apart from that there's no way. The way I see it, if you
3 The Ford Strtke 2f strike bulletin is very A pogular strike bulletin is very important from the point of view of letting everyone know what's being achieved, andinvolvingthem.
Our main aim now must be to pressurise NUPE into calling an all-out national strike,
PresSure on the government rather than indi
councils. could isolated.
DAVE BARNES deputishing as shop depot in Arlington Road, Camden: NUPE should have called at
all-out strike from 22 January. Already Westminster, are talking about going back and clearing the rubbish. Some haven't been out at all yet
We knew that transport and refuse were strongly for all-out action. We éxpected there would be problems with social services with people like the home helps and residential homes split up across the borough.
In a lot of areas picketing needs tightening up. With a nod and a wink from the council, private contractors have been clearing up rubbish and dumping it on public tips. We're picketing the tips
*Very unofficially, one or two of the Labour councillors emplovers — say they support the strike. We want them to declare this openly, and organise with us. As a borough transport worker. with an average take home pay of £50, which includes Saturday working and five hours overtime, I reckon that's reason enough to beon this picket line.
national
steward at the transport some councils. like "NUPE has to make
it a
strike'
Socialist Challenge 15 February 1979 page 9
Page 10 scan of this page
Can Pakistan survive without
Their bodies, themselves-
Bhutto?
PAKISTAN
by its powerful neighbour India.
Today strong nationalist
West Frontier Province(NWFP).
most ebullient bourgeoispolitician?
By Tariq Ali
GENERAL Zia's Pakistan is best symbolised by one of the more gruesome debates currently dividing the nation. Should thieves have their hands amputated or just the fingers?
The 'moderates' argue that to remove the whole would be a sin as the disabled "thief" would no longer be able to pray. They are satisfied with merely detaching the fingers.
The 'hardhiners" reply that the hand could then be used to steal again!
This bizarre application of orthodox Muslim punishments is related to the country's
economic situation.
Zia and his political supporters hope that in this way they will ensure the full financial backing of Saudi Arabia.
His supporters are essentially By the Latin American Women's Group
LATIN American women have never had the chance to control their own fertility. When there are 'over-population' problems, population control agencies and repressive govern-
force them sterilised or use long-term and often dangerous CCOLYCS.
In the case of Puerto Rico, for example, contraceptives are mostly unobtainable or very expensive, but sterilisation is Socialist Challenge 15 February 1979) page 10
INTERNATIONAL
celebrate the anniversary of its tortured existence next August. It has seen the bulk of its population opting for the new state of Bangladesh. It has been humiliated militarily
currents exist in the minority provinces of Sind, Baluchistan and the North
It is against this backdrop that the decision of the generals to hang Bhutto (for that is what appears most likely) must be seen. How long will Pakistan outlive its
organised in the Jamaat-i-Islam (party Islam). grouping always been well-organised and well-financed by the So for both ideological and material reasons the turn to Islam serves a useful purpose and acts as a cover for the hand repressive measures carriedout bythearmy.
As we go to press it is still not clear whether bnuno to be nanged.
Pakistanis, regardless of their political beliefs, believe that a dead Bhutto will be dangerous than a Zia and however, seem to be obsessed with their own future.
They feel that Bhutto alive, albeit in prison, dILCHIaLIYC military
the struggle of Latin
American women
free and doctors are reimbursed USS50 for each operation. per cent of WOLICH child-bearing age have sterilised.
Since the 1973 coup Chile has
fertility control aiming reduce the numbers of poor and be unemployed. Under *League of Responsible Parenthood' post-abortion and postnatal sterilisations have been carea our on poor with the aid of experts from the United States. 40 percent of the total health A LATIN American shanty town: women's fertility is under state control
thirty-second
AFGHANISTAN
neo-fascist BALUCHISTAN
of has
Larkana af
Saudis.
being
Zia will allow
Most
HOIC
live one. downfall.
generals, SnIS
more General Zia Chief of the precisely for his lack of intellect would be a (even by military standards). So
LIC the chance are that he will, as he and might promised,
LICH blighter. budget. is spent planning. To get any maternal of or child health care, Chilean been women
In Bolivia,
repressive population, there
to sterilisation and mass family planning, especially among the the poorer indians, because international Aid conditional population women Alternatively, where | encouraging
-Islamabad NWFP.
Jhelum
PUNJAB RaY PAKISTAN
Sutlet
'Sukkur Dam
SIND 1.
Kotri Dam
,--3
is shortsighted, but was appointed Jamaat-i-Islami
Army Staff able to
together for long?
ments it appears that *hang the number of politicians on family and extend its brazu, tor example
accept these
planning and despite its low
still contraception is illegal.
grants are
active control back.
PrOIn Colombia, countries government women to have
women will dangerous tions
for the first time.
Abortion speakers from
Latin Group,
Shouldham W1.
meetings leading
abortion and
planned for that day.
backing.
KASHMIR
• •Srinagar
This •Sialkot
•Lahore S
the masses.
Delhi. the result.
the left.
Pakistan INDIA
Against • Miles 200
And what of Pakistan after tHe goods.
the hanging? Will Zia and the
be white-robed hold the country They Pakistan
From the dictator's state
once
Bhutto has been removed and a
dis- they THE
children in order to strengthen Conference:
there is little state control of family
facilities are difficult to obtain. In Uruguay 21
In all cases it is never the woman who has control. But in the face of opposition from the Church, the right and some of the left, women are fighting
Mexico and Costa Rica, they are campaigning for the legalisation of abortion so that thousands of
be spared back-street abor-
In Venezuela and Peru the issues of abortion and contra ception are being raised openly By Colin Meade
Is a woman's right to control her own fertility a relevant issue in Latin America? This is the subject for a forum organised by the International Campaign investments.
Rights with Chile Bolivia and a member of the
Women's London. Friday 23 February, 7pm, Seymour Hall,
Street, London BP, Metal Box.
This is one of a series of The
up to the international day of action for
contraception and agains arced steriliations
March. mass create demonstration in London is
qualified a general election will
announced Som are
convinced that it will be
generals election and right-
wing parties will be given state
In any event the country's
future appears limited. Only a
thoroughgoing social ies.
lution could put the country
back on the rails again.
prospect is not as it appears: For
Bhutto's hanging might or
might not result in immediate
mass anger. What it will do is
create a real hatred for the army
and its political backers among
the most oppressed sections of
Social upheavals would be
Whether they are
transformed into a revolution
will depend on the strength of
CYCL
The World Bank's report on
paints gloomy
picture for the masses. The
trade deficit this year is likely to
be the highest ever - $2 billion.
The bank further forecasts a
massive increase in imports and
a massive increase in inflation.
these very real
pressures of capitalism and the
world market, no amount of
Islamic rhetoric
economic measures can deliver
The Saudis are not simply
philanthropists. zare prepared pay for their
army and plots. educating the
more backward Saudi students
alla a cw oler sericess
will bail out
Zimbabwe
conference
Anti-Apartheid Move. has named March month of action on Zimbabwe
The events planned include:
*3 March, Zimbabwe Action
*17 March, Zimbabwe Day public meeting, organised by
ZAPU, one of the Patriotic PronE orgamsauons,
March, Zimbabwe Fundraising Day.
The 3 March conference is especially important as a forum for debaung me rast-moving political situation in Zimbabwe
South Africa
hunger strike
TEN students at the London School of Economics are on indefinite hunger strike against the college's South - African
The
They began their protest on 8 and February after the Academic Board had rejected a proposal to sell its f300,000 of shares in voted companies with South African subsidiaries. These include ICI,
Shell, Courtaulds and
majority of the Academic Board argued that the decision to disinvest would be a political one and would said Director Ralf Dahrendorf
atmosphere of LOH
cone Taraki
The regime
Afghanistan is bound, sooner
or later, to make the national
question in the NWFP a live
one, if only as a reaction to
Zia's arming of right-wing
Afghani counterrevolutionar-
The instability in Iran makes
another country un-
dependable. So Zia will soon
find himself confronted by a
pincer movement on the
internal and external flanks.
Pakistan will probably see a
few more coups before its fate
is finally decided.
Pakistani socialists must be
in the forefront of the fight
against the military dictator-
ship. But they should at the
same time guard their political
independence and not fall prey
talented bourgeois
politicians.
Bhutto was the most able
bourgeois leader the country
possessed. I recall him telling
me in 1969: "There are only two
ways. Either that of Che, in
which case you should go to the
Baluchi mountains, or my way.
That means compromises.
History has shown that the
latter offers nothing to be Lasses caccot more sacances It will be up to Pakistani socialists to demonstrate that there is a third way.
If they fail they might find themselves without a country as Zia's sordid politics lead to the splintering and final demise of
32-year old confessional monstrosity. | and planning future actions by the solidarity movement.
Unfortunately, it has been called at very short notice, but Socialist Challenge supporters who are able should still try te get themselves delegated. And of course everyone who can should turn up on the day.
Further details of local and national events in the month of action are available from the AAM, Charlotte Street, London W1. A full list will appear in the March issue of Anti-Apartheid News. illiberality - an object lesson in whose interests are served by liberal morals.
Before disappearing for the weekend Dahrendorf wrote to the hunger strikers saying that
'understood their feelings'
wondered if there was anything he could do to help.
A 350-strong union meeting
overwhelmingly to support the hunger strikers. Mass student action next week can help Professor Dahrendorf discover the logical connection between his sympathies and what he can do to help. Disinvest now!
Messages of support to Students Union, LSE, Hough-
Street, London WCI
Page 11 scan of this page
Vote 'Yes' for Welsh
Divisions deepen in Socialist Labour Party
HOME NEWS
defendingthelanguage.
legislative powers.
BySteve Bell
The rise of Welsh national aims hastaken many forms. and has coincided with the wider social and poncarcrisis.
Struggles have been launched around the destruction of arable landunderreservoirs; actions on the language have ranged through occupations, pickets,
IRELAND
right of
continuetomount.
From Sara O'Hara in Dublin
THE SOCIALIST Labour Party has lost its one spokesperson in the Irish parliament
Last week Noel Browne announced that he would no longer represent the which founded in 1977 after Browne and others were expelled from the Irish Labour Party.
Browne's decision followed a stormy annual conference of the SLP at the end of January.
The conference agreed that *British imperialism is the cause of all violence in the North and so long as it remains we defend the right of the Provos and all other forces to take up arms to oppose British imperialism'.
The Come ence delegates went on to approve a motion instructing Browne and party chairperson Matt Merrigan, head of the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union, to initiate a labour movement delegation to Long Kesh.
The delegates also backed a
1March referendum
Assembly
SINCE THE mid-1950s, when 250,000 people signed a petition backing a Parliament for Wales Bill, there has been a revival of national aspirations in the country.
In 1962 Cymdeithas Yr laith Gymraeg (the Welsh Language Society) was formed, whose militancy has resultedinthejailingofhundredsofyoung Welsh people
The Welsh Labour Party conference passed a pro-devolution resolution in 1965, andin 1974the Welsh TUC - itself formed against the opposition of the British TUC - called for an elected assembly with
demonstrations, destruction of TV transmitters, painting out English, defence of militants, and many forms of civil disobedience.
Other issues have also been raised, including the desperate position of small farmers, the forced emigration arising from unemployment, the decline of
Mason to the
Young Tories
RECENT statementsby Northern Irelandsecretary Roy Mason have now placed him to the right of the Young Conservatives. Demands for the sacking of Mason
the mining and steel industries, and the RAF low flight paths overruralareas.
Asaconsequence, the Labour government has made a number of concessions since 1974. These include legislation language in education, broadcasting and daily life; as well as the setting up of the Welsh Development Agency and the Development Board for Rural Wales.
though, isthe Wales Act
The Act is a gamble for th government. The political base of the Labour Party was being arrested eroded by the corruption of the Labour Party and the growth of PlaidCymru.
The Act is an attempt to stem this. But it is opposed by the capitalists. Both the CBI and the Tories are actively campaigning By Geoff Bell
The latest COMICHES week on Northern Ireland's Downtown Radio
He was discussing an opinion poll which suggested a growth
support for Party and Unionists (led by Harry West and Enoch Powell), decline in support for the Social Democratic and Labour Party and lan Unionist Party
Mason said 'reveals picture moderate Alliance Party, sectarian gulf, are growing and THOSE have in recent times turned a little more greener, MATT MERRIGAN — the SLP chairperson instructed to initiate a delegation to Long Kesh
will have powers than
for the 'development" issues.
establishment
most important,
language, andsoon.
Assembly's rOW follows Mason made last -they're losing ground
towards
Ine alance the Official Gerry Fitt recentiv and a
Paisley's Democratic
tives Inal the poll that the Unionists and the North of Ireland, a
bridging the
like the SDLP, who 'duplicity',
wanting
Their fearsdon' tarise because the Act contains radical socialist measures —the Welsh Assembly
even more limited the Scottish Assembly, which will at least be able to legislate on a number of
stituencies
What motivates the CBI and Toryoppositionisthat, far from reducing political tensions, the to the
of an elected Assembly would increase them.
Inside it would be dominated bythe Labour Party and the left populists of Plaid; outside it challenged. would beimpatiently watched to The seeif it was solving the problems of unemployment, housing, the
1 March
The Wales Act may define the
powers •In one direction; but the class struggle maydefinetheminanother. referendum.
Overall, the Wales Act is not a
Irish unity above all, and the DUP, the extreme Protestants The
"So it looks as if there's a gradual undererati of feeling power-sharing.
moderation crossing the sectarian divide.
Embarrassingly for the 'wee Napoleon ' — as SDLP leader
dubbed Mason - his remarks about the
being commenting 'moderate' came in the same week as the Young Conserva-
described the organisation as too extreme.
In a report on a visit to th gard
Young sentative. delegation accused the Official Unionists of
commenting: *whatever is suggested to them or whatever is offered they will
Despite for
to the Irish
was deferred.
minimal role
perialism. party person
recognition of the right of Wales to self-determination. It is more an attemptto bury the question. Yet the fact that the voting in the CC COus Conce Lorene 36 Welsh parliamentary con-
evidence that self-determinationisanissue.
Socialists must not leave this
separatists in Plaid Cymru. The message socialists must get across in the coming fortnight is that the concession should be taken and its limits
International Marxist Group will thus be calling for a
'Yes' vote in the referendum or
The most pressing limits to challenge are the ballot-rigging and consultative nature of the refertion of the clause which There must
push for something more.'
Young Conservatives also attacked Mason's moder ates for their opposition to
The absurdity of Mason's remarks was further emphasised by the evidence he used for his ridiculous conclusions. The Northern Ireland secretary claimed that the poll he was
on was one conducted by the EEC.
But it later emerged that the EEC had decided to disre-
the Doll as unrepre This hardly surprising, in that the pollsters only questioned 270 people, 85 of whom did not bother to reply.
This latest outburst from 'wee Napoleon' has brought call for a conference open to all those prepared to unite in mass acuon around une demands: restore political status, troops out of Ireland now, end torture
this clear policy anti-imperialist action, confusion remains.
For instance, the conference refused to pass a motion dissociate Ith Trimes my letter
Times by Browne which had condemned the H Block prisoners' protest as 'elitist'. Instead the motion
Criticism of such vacillation came from the newly formed Republican Socialist Tendencs in the party, who complained that the SLP has played only a
mass struggles against British im-
The tendency pointed out that the party had organised no ted. meetings on the H Block issue, despite specific instructions at the last conference. Nor had the
appointed spokesthe national
requires a majority comprising 40 per cent of all those entitled to vote for the Wales Act to be enacted.
This is a live question, as the most likely outcome of the referendum is a "Yes' majority below the 40 per cent threshold
Socialists should therefore be preparedtocampaign forarecall of the Welsh TUC and Welsh Labour Party conferences in the event of a majority being obtained, mobilise the working class against parlia mentary governmental WHaHOCUVICS.
VOTE 'YES' meeting sored by Socialist Challenge Morning Star, Tribune, and Faner Goch, Monday 26 February debris, tel. Cardiar 394755. Cardiff Full
1 renewed calls for his sacking in even the most respectable quarters of Irish opinion
As an editorial in the Irish Times put it: "The Secretary of State has finally written himself off as a serious, concerned arbiter of Northern Ireland politics.. when he finally departs he will leave behind the sorry record of a bankrupt approach to Irish politics."
Joining in the criticism was
JORT Hume. Mason, Hume, anti-Irish', was 'bankrupt of any politica ideas', and 'had revealed all too clearly that a person had to be some sort of a Unionist before he (sie) could have any part in a solution for the North question.
Speeches and press statement Irom me party readersa this issue were criticised for discouraging involvement in anti-imperialist activity.
The tendency called for action not just on H Block but also on the National Wage Agreement the Irish equivalent of the social contract], and on contraception.
The party conference did pass a motion confirming the past position of the SEP fo free, legal abortion.
The future political direction of the SLP remains in question.
hrownes resignation parliamentary spokesperson he has not resigned from the
such BUSe challenge to the leadership and its willingness to press ahead with organising around the anti-imperialist policies adop
The Republican Socialist Tendency will be to the fore in insisting that no concessions to Browne are made or considered.
Socialist Challenge. 15 February 1979, page 11
Page 12 scan of this page
REVOLUTIONARY UNITY
LEFT
publication. Payment in advance.
What's really happening? ocialist bulletin in English
Tv. Kurds etc. Ann
WOMEN and Health -
wnar are
ght against hospital cuts and the fight to control our sessions include -on excnance for camoalans. mues or community care racism a public or responsibility? Sat 17 Feb, Malet St. London WC1. Adm:
- No. 4 The stru
By Hall, Red Lion Sa. WC1, Mon
VESTMINSTER Task Force requires a oners in Paddington. Mus community ria St Mary?
Tel. 01-723 7663
AMIBIA in
Force and SWAPO singers
Education SU. Bedford Way. Londor so set Loan 7e 0002g 0422 SOCIALIST.
LE Animaton worksnop SOcIalIsI
vacancy round artist for health and safety Westminster vew York St. Leeds 2. Tel 60171. Replies by 28 Feb action Group conterenci essions incluce
Trades Club. Saville
EVOLUTIONAnT Communist len
ums. No 1: The imperialist state
Shards. Fri 16 Feb. 7.30pm, 108A Tottenham Court Rd. ge St and Warren St tubes SMADY Characters - artworks by
Blackinorn Bookshot
Mallery. 74 Hichcross St. Leicester
we reD-bars March. Closed
ith pete Coltman
resident. plus pay, new technolog
ati-fascism and letters. From Redde
ape disiribuTIon c/o 24
Close.
any Daichelor stale Lonconsco.
FORGE urgently
someone with imagination sensitivity
na community work experience to oin a small central resource team Task Force has Tull-time stantat centres in 12 London boroughs, who
WITn pensioners through nerenooumnood groups. pensioners action croups drie
enough to support our centres by to plan
Thorpe Close. W10, for Development form. Salary: E4635. Closing date: Cuto You work with Pensioners? naus neton ane onesea ask rorce we looking for intee avnamic new copieto compete a conective or sI
ese three positions are one full-time
full-time temporary te TASK FORCE.
Applications close: 2 March
to 3pm and 5.30 10 1
to Garners Rm 84. 12-13 Henrietta St., London WON 01.2401056 MAY DAY GREETINGS: trades council or shop stewards committees, would
or ust send us is hane nant
28 February the branch will be malled
allowing the item to be raised at thi branches March ni April meeting Copies of the circular, ncluding rate rom D. Weppler, PO Box 50, Londo
Socialist Challenge 15 February 1979 page 12
WHAT'S OPEN FORUM
still available).
Role for
Socialist
Challenge
By Roy Ratcliffe and John Feb
Strauther
THE IMG-ISA appeal for
revolutionary unity
campaign joint
deceptively modest.
Despite this, it possesses a great
underlying strength and significance.
This derives from the fact that it has identified some of the crucial areas of strength and weakness. both obiective and subjective, facing the revolunonary movement in britain today, and the this involved in solving problems of building revolutionary organisation.
The experience of various revolutionary groups in Britain shows that many of the same problems of organisation and politics recur in each, relating Frank to the questions of 'democratic Ine centralism' democracy.
Clearly approach is required if these problems are to be solved,
The most important part of the joint appeal is therefore that calls formation of a new unified revolutionary
Each group, and any new organisation, must be prepared to suspend much of their past assumptions and practices, and listen Enose care outside such circles, such as socialist feminists.
the revolutionarv lett mn Britain today is inhabited in the main by young, By H. Ebermann THE highly encouraging year resolution' signed by the IMG and ISA seems another step in the right direction that is, that the revolutionary movement through this has taken important SICUS
its previous sectOYCELONIC arianism. and that it has gained a deeper understanding of the crying need revolutionary organisation.
Personally, however, I found the theses in the resolution somewhat proclamatory
They just laid down some fundamental political principles, which were not too controversial, although rect.
It seems to me that the ongoing process considerably involved could establish regular theoretical periodical, which could outline the de facto
BELOW we print two more contributions to the debate sparked off by the 'Appeal for Revolutionary Unity' jointly signed by the International Socialists Alliance and the International Marxist Group and published in our issue of 4 January (copies
and work
key tasks
the SOMES oppositionists and imperialism,
alternative nonetheless remain
uneducated in Marxist methods and retain highly developed reflexes of dualism, sexism and hierarchy and competition.
All these tendencies Ene directly opposed to the theory
organisation. and practice
democracy and make democratic centralist completely uninhabitable for many workers, feminists, gays and non-whites.
A serious
previously unified revolutionary organisa-
tion will need to do more than Just repeat the hope and belet that it is possible to advance, but will itself have to lay down devoted the prerequisites
A theoretical journal?
'new anterences unar exist, une problems that are contained in the theses [if you delve into them], make criticism of other left tendencies, and discuss all sorts of questions that may to arise out of joint work in the factories, campaigns and so on.
It seems difficult to continue unified the ongoing fusion without a greater theoretical clarity. Therefore I propose war bom the and ISA, and other involved forces discussion possibility of theoretical publication.
CUL I think the process needs to combine joint work wit caucanonar porem-
will gain ics. For the IMG it seems that to
groups turn International into a more open, non-party connected and more regular appearing paper might be a good start.
NEXT STEPS TO
burn
Socialist Challenge — the organ of the new unified revolutionary organisation in formation?
capitalism
woefully hierarchical methods.
Socialist Democracy are
socialist
structures MOVemeNES socialist feminists
tives and programme, approach to a
revolutionary
for that trade VIUCCOS degree of
IMG,
on the establishing a
disillusioned yet!'
alistch
advance: an internal struggle to conferences purge ourselves of sexist and
of
The formation of a new revolutionary organisation re- quires not only the fusion of Socialist United
hitherto separate traditions and
IMG, ISA, - but also the development of perspec-
which can only be achieved by the left. democratic centralisation of all
SOC dISES and
In this, practical steps such as gether
and women's appeal.
A workshop at the Socialist Challenge conference last year.
The first is by two comrades in Liverpool who write: 'We have between us over the past fifteen years or so been members of the SLL, IS, Workers Fight, and IMG — and we are not
The second is a short comment from a reader in Norway.
obviously are called for, as is the organisation collective political intervention in elections.
The best guidelines for such a democratically centralised political practice are in our opinion to be found in the Theses on Democracy OI Ine Secretariat of the Fourth International, correctly counterposed to the basicalv Stalinist conceptions of democurrent and among most of the British far
These Theses should form the basis of a discussion aimed al ine tormation of revolutionary organisation, to- new WILS the IMG-ISA
RESCHI 1U1
The IS Tradition
A tendency appears to have arisen in recent 'theoretical' articles in Socialist Challenge to dismiss the British labour movement, its history ast a load or old traditions, rubbish, compared to some abstract revolutionarv doctrine such as 'internationalism'
The point here surely is that internationalism, like any other revolutionary practice. distinct from theory, begins at home.
This is why the revolutionary programme of the International, as the world party of the socialist revolution, must become fused with at least a part of the British labour (Socialist movement, if it is ever to become a real political force in
this country. COOKSON
For various historical and political reasons, the most likely part of the British labour movement today be
Photo: G.M
that represented by tradition', including the ISA and Socialist Workers Party.
This represents, however imperfectly, the only revolutionary tendency or tradition among the mass of the working Casse - Britain during this century: the rank and file and shop stewards movements.
To become a part of a mass movement, and even to lead it.
respect for its autonomy. Leadership must be proved concretely, in practice,
can never be simply declared, or even seized from outside.
What does all this mean for us? Socialist Challenge should seek to become the organ of the
unified revolutionary organisation in formation, and its organiser in tact
This means that the paper
must retain its own autonomous character, not becoming the organ of particular faction The new organisation could be formed around and organised by the paper.
Therefore the Socialist Challenge groups, which are the means by which this can be done, could also be organised autonomously from each
CONTRIBUTIONS to this
debate are welcomed, but
readers are asked to keep to
a maximum of about 700
words. Longer contribut-
ions will almost certainly
have cut
happened to the first of
those printed above.
particular group — IMG, ISA
SWP which might participate in them
Thus the appeal for unity Photo: G.M. and a campaign of joint work can become a reality amounting to more than the sum of its
Page 13 scan of this page
The need for a new Minority Movement
LEADING Communist Party members imprisoned in October 1925 — the government's way of preparing for the General Strike.
union leaders.
Just such an organised left wing
today?
By Rich Palser
THE CLOSE collaboration by the
leaders imperialism's 'war effort' of 1914-18
bureaucracy.
This process of bureaucratisation had already begun earlier with widespread erosions of democracy and the growth of material and social privileges for the leaders as mass BIHOTS developed.
World War saw a positive effort by the capitalist class to integrate trade union leaders into the affairs of government and state.
This was all the easier since the latter worked on the political could achieved through Parliament; trade unions were merely defending workers" wages within the capitalist system.
Many militants reacted to the class collaboration of the union leaders by rejecune any nonon or caacismp as bad in itself. An influential pamphlet, The Miners' Next Step.
*Leadership implies power held by the leader. Without power the leader
The possession of inevitably leads to corruption.
When the various shop and reform committees first together nationally, in August 1917, they would accept administrative national body without CACCULIVC DOWCIS
Even those who didn't totally reject
argue simply for non-reliance upon the union leaders whilst getting with the job of building workers committees in the workplace.
'We will support the officials just so long as they rightly represent the workers, we will ael macpenAJ COUN Movement support.
SURPLUS VALUE
IN PREVIOUS issues we have argued that the main task facing socialists in the trade unions is to rebuild the left so as to provide a credible alternative leadership to the class collaborationist
Movement — was built in the early 1920s by the newly formed Communist Party of Great Britain. What is its relevance for
British one which Workers National Rank & File Council.
But when
was inadequate.
But the First
with people who would.
basis that only be the the unions.
STOl
conditions and
Movement argued: argued:
power stewards so altering the came General
only an contact with the workers."
from class
The movement's highest making body
cils, and elected miners union secretary with Minority
- the National Minority
dently immediately they misrepresent us. nal was Ine amitude or Ene wartime Clyde Workers Committee, Vorkers anyand the
the shop stewards movement began to collapse after the war, it became apparent that even this
Non-reliance on the union leaders was not enough. You had to take the tight to them - to re establish rank-and-file control over them and, where they failed to rightly represent the workers, to replace them
It was this conception which lay behind the formation in 1924 of the National Minority Movement, drawing together a broad opposition inside
The change in tactics towards the trade union leaderships was best summed up in the campaign to strengthen the powers of the TUC General Council, giving it powers to lead a general strike. As the Minority
•We can guard against the General Council becoming a machine of the capitalists...by developing a revolutionary class consciousness amongst the trade union membership...and by
constitution of the Council as to ensure that those elected thereon have the closest
the
The aim was to break the unions
collaboration and turn them into militant organisations for for class struggle. How was the Minority Movement organised to achieve this?
policywas its national conference. Delegates to it came from
branches, employed committees, trades coun
Minority
and -LO aLL.
Movement industries and locali in different
localities
The conference elected a national executive to take decisions between conferences. Furthermore, a section of the Minority VIOVCHICH organised in each industry - notably the mines, engineering, and transport - with its own executive committee.
The Minority Movement ference decided on a set of policies covering most of the major issues of the day:
*Against wage-cutting and for across-the-board increases, with a £4 minimum wage.
*For stronger powers to the TUC General Council, and the building of worksnop and tactory communeces
*For affiliation of the unemployed committees ane tates councIs to u TUC, and for workers control in industry.
*For repudiation of the Plan, through which imperialism was trying to stabilise its rule in Europe.
Each section also added demands appropriate to its own industry.
it was on the basis of agreement with this action programme that militants participated in the Minority Movement.
However, the Minority Movement failed to meet its first decisive test: preventing the betrayal of the 1926 General Strike. What did this show?
It had become clear nine months earlier that a major confrontation was inevitable over the employers" attempts to cut wages. commission appointed to report on the dispute between the miners and mine-owners was a stalling tactic to allow the government time to prepare for a showdown with the unions.
The TUC did nothing to prepare
workers meanwhile.
Minority Movement launched campaign of preparation. It fought
the setting up of Councils of Action in every area linked to the trades councils, to see that all workers were mobilisea TOr action and to ensure the distribution of food and essential services during the course of the strike itself.
On 21 March 1926 it called Special National Conference Action to prepare the rank-and-file, and campaigned to set up workplace
factory committees delegates to the Councils of Action
Ai the same time it also demandec that the TUC General Council itselt should organise by calling a National Congress of Action.
Increasingly, however, the Minority Movement began to foster the illusions of many rank-and-tile members in the General Council instead of taking the fight to the union leadership whilst not relying on them
The Councils of Action were presented as appendages to the TUC General Council rather than as an independent means of launching thestrike or maintaining it in the event
of a betrayal:
*We Councils of Action were under no circumstances to take over the work of the trade unions...The Councils of Wat Action were to see that all the decisions of the General Council and the union carrica out. con- The Minority previously major confrontation would no longer be simply about whether the miners wages were to be cut; it would throw into question the rule of the capitalist
Political Class needed
And the union leaders, rather than countenance the use of the strike weapon for political purposes, to overthrow the Baldwin government, would choose to sell out the miners.
But the Communist Party failed to Dawe. spell out what objectives should be until after the strike had begun. Only on 5 May 1926 did it call for the resignation of the Baldwin government, for a Labour government to take its place, and for the nationalisation of the mines. b then it was too late.
Only by fighting for such objectives throughout the preparation strike, and winning Movement to could the basis have been laid for a real fight to continue the strike when the General Council called it off.
In particular, the way would have The been prepared conference of the Councils of Action to take the leadership of the strike.
The CP failed to campaign for these objectives because of Stalin's policy of wooing the 'lefts' in the Anglo-Russian Trade Union Com-
Using pressurise the British government not to act against the Soviet Union was seen as more important than warning British workers the General Strike.
THIS WEEKEND Socialist Chalof lenge is holding a day school for supporters of the paper on the theme of 'Rebuilding the left in the unions'. sending
Its purpose experiences of the early Communist Party in building Movement and the lessons we can draw for today.
Rich Palser, writing here on the Minority Movement, introducing the morning session on this.
The afternoon discussions concentrate on the public sector strike now taking place, asking:
How can Callaghan's campaign against the
warned however that the
VICtOry Tor InC
to aid it. execulives were to be
Movement had explained that such a
objectives were
and Jones.
these political
OWI
put
solution of the the Minority campaign for them
nationa The only
party capable movement
such an allance to
against a sell-out in hand in hand.
SOCIALIST CHALLENGETRADE UNION DAY SCHOOL
is to discuss the achieve these?
the Minority
Teachers will be Time:
will Date:
Admission: 50p.
deal with We
Yet the betrayal of the General Strike, by cutting short a possible
workers, actually weakened the position of the Soviet workers state far more than the Anglo-Russian Committee was ever
The Minority Movement failed not because it involved left reformists in its ranks, but because the CP failed to fight within it to see that it remained politically independent of the left reformist bureaucracy
Today many militants turn away from Broad Leftism because the Ci continues to subordinate its activity in the unions to an allance with the Purcells of today - such as Scanlon
The British Road Socialism now sees a left/right divide in the unions as running through the bureaucracy, with the left trend as la core' a healthy one.
It is not surprising that the fact that it is a reformist bureaucracy makes little difference to the CP, since its
based on parliamentary road to socialism.
However the alternative sometimes
forward, of frontism rank-and-file groups, is equally no
In campaigning against Broad Left electoralism and for mass control by the rank-and-file over their •OWI struggles, we should not reject the need to take the fight to the union leaders and win a new leadership in the unions. This is a mistake often made by Rank & File.
guarantee that a new Minority Movement today can avoid the mistakes of its predecessor is the building of a unified revolutionary
winning that to a consistent class struggle position through open and democratic debate
The tasks of building a new Minority Movement and of establishing a unified revolutionary party go
strikers and. the manoeuvres of the General Council?
* How can full rank and file control over the struggle be achieved?
* How should the left organise to
In addition to militants involved in the strike, contributors will include activists involved in the Ford and social workers' strikes, in the Socialist
Alliance, POEU Broad Left, and Fightback'.
10.30am. Place: Starcross school, Risinghill St, London N1.
Saturday February.
Open to all supporters of Socialist Challenge in the unions. Creche/ accomodation available.
Socialist Challenge 15 February 1979 page 13
Page 14 scan of this page
SOCIALIST CHALLENGE EVENTS
of some unchanging law of the jungle.'
Socialist Challenge on 1 February.
Four readers have written disagreements with the review.
How things
really are
By Sue Aspinall PAUL TICKELL's review of Blue Collar made some good points but it was based on expectations of the film which I think are wrong.
He complains that the film *gives no hint as to what lies behind the union bureaucracy and the ownership of the factory'. He also complains of Blue Collar's "individualism', "pessimism', "naturalism' and its lack of historical perspective.
In other words, Paul Tickell would have preferred a film which told its audience that the real enemy was the bosses, not the union.
He would have liked us to see the working class engaged in collective struggles, and he'd like an COnCUSIOn about socialism being on the agenda if we all pull our fingers out. Oh yes, and the film should preferably be abstract and experimental if possible.
Maybe such a film would be good - but Blue Collar is also good, for different reasons, wnica rau licken Taus 1o appreciate.
How often do we see Hollywood film which is truthful about the lives of working Class men? Bue Collar shows us the reality of their lives: the brutality of the shopfloor, their sexist relations with women, their anxieties about paying the bills.
The film anti-union because, as Paul Schrader the director and scriptwriter says, workers are pissed off with the union.
The film lacks a sense of working class history because workers themselves lack this sense. It is pessimistic because there is little cause for optimism repeated.
THE DEADLINE for this co before
the Saturday Pubicallon NORTH WEST WARRINGTON Socialist chester mecialist Challenge ofice for
MANCHESTER Socialist Challenge support the paper and would like to get
ontact Chris (273
one, day/y Manchester SC Centre, 14 Piccadilly. Sorters can be contacted a porters contacted
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MOSS Moporters seline paper at Mossie SIDE Socialist
Centre, Saturday, 11-1. now meets fortnig a neede now meets tonnenty on days. For detais onone vo-150 2502 or write to Manchester SC Centre, c/o 14 Piccadilly
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1. Thur 22 Feb Windsor Castle pub, Egan St
NORTH EAST NEWCASTLE DOCIalST спанепов local supporters are active! i you want
Socialist Challenge 15 February 1979 page 14
UNDER REVIEW
'THERE is no class struggle, just one between victims
That was one of the criticisms of Blue Collar made by Paul Tickell in his review of the film published in
in to express strong
when you survey the consciousness or tne masses.
Seeing Blue Collar is a gruelling experience precisely cause of its realism.
The contradictions in the relationship between Zeke, Gerry and Smoke are spelt they're "pals' only when they share the same interests; they are racists when they can't see that they do.
The film doesn't sentimentalise or glamorise - it uses a dramatic situation to show how things really are. That seems to me to be a great achievement.
Critique of
individualism
By Paul Gilroy I WAS both angered by Paul blinkered and negative review of Blue Collar.
Although the comments about the film have been a bit dodgy, I am frankly agnast mat a socianst reviewer should make them so important at the expense of engaging with the eloquent testimony of the film itself.
I concede that the film is very male, but one of its strengths is that the sexism of working class men is linked causally to their position as an oppressed class in the scene after the party.
This seems to be a correct position. I don't know where Paul was during the important moment of solidarity between the two black wives?
I am lost as to why he finds the film SO MOVICUaISE presents a critique of individualism by the way that individualist "solutions' to wage slavery are shown to perpetuate it. A closure operates at the end of the film as the key *Everything they do is to keep us in our place, to divide us are to join them, phone Pete on (0632) DURHAM ruFor details con DoRTers Group. For details
Pittington, Durham
MIDDLESBROUGH Socialist lenge saies. the lottery stand at Cleveland
from Newsfare in avarlabid
MIDDLESBROUGH
local NUPE branch. Thur 22 Feb, 8pm, AUEW Hall.
STUCK ON ON- ecs readers can Duv socialist cnanence rom Green books. upstairs in ine opencer Man snopoine centre.
SCOTLAND For information about the paper or its
run monational bubications.
EDINBURGH Socialist don ongo al 00-26 0206 10 group
UNDEE Information about Socialis Challenge activities from Clots (corner of Sca Glasgov SC sales Saturday 11am-2pm
The link between individualist solutions and the division of workers which is a central theme in the film is underscored by the phrase lifers against the new boys, the young against the old, the black against the white'. This link invites the real resolution of the situation in the possibility of workers coming together.
Thus the film is only pessimistic from an perspective. should think Gramsci's famous
be- "Pessimism
optimism of the will.
Most importantly, I find it deeply significant
out: chooses to express his criticism
of the film's supposed lack of class struggle by reference to the racist metaphor 'law of the jungle'. That the film addresses itself to such crucial questions about the ability of black and white workers to act together as the relation of the super-exploited underclass to the white proletariat, the between capitalism and racism, and the sectional interests in the workplace has CONDICLCY.
I feel this spotlights the theoretical inadequacies of white left as a whole, as well as Mr Tickell's own racism. Even the Hollywood film director depressed and does better when he observes: Tickell's "The moment a black audience
in Detroit or Chicago sees the film they'll realise. director's If Socialist Challenge wants
to be taken seriously socialists, let alone blacks, it had better watch out for racism in its cultural coverage, and not let that page turn into a solt opportunity for an ignorant reviewer to play the bourgeois words
Smoke's flat.
YORKSHIRE
HUDDERSFIELD SC
Chal-
egulany or Bank. 12,30-2,00pm lestgati HUDDERSFIELD sales regularly Saturdays 11am-1 pm ge
te raced.
ORK Socialist Challence is on sale. he York community booksnor walmaate (12.30-1.45)
days (11.30-3.30) at Coney Street. UniverSHy
1.15pm, Hull Univ. Union. Also school Socialist Wevery Rd. Beer and tood rovided. Waltham Wide range of
LEEDS Socialist Challenge Challenge
MIDLANDS 64 Queen S
For details St) throughout
Socialist
Keenly
They pit the
By Paul Seligman
individualist Paul Tickell
bit about phrase intellect,
that he what's coming. entertainingly situation.
himself when he writes: connections film
eluded him with the system
and powerful individual." the suggests that action can be of use.
devoid of personality.
by other Ine mar sound-over
white, them and us.
Smoke, Gerry and Zeke the morning after an all-night coke party in Centre ham 1021 43 920g Thursdays at the dly & Trades Club, Northumber-
NOTTNGHAM Socialist mushroom books. Heatncote
SOUTH WEST Socialis
ISLE OF
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sales every
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SWINDON supporters ser Challeng recent subruner centr
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Utd are playing at home!
SOUTHEAST the Challenge
divides
observed
I MUST take issue with Paul Tickell's review of Blue Collar.
It is unforgivable for a film reViewer to summarise the plot to the end and reveal the fate of racial, each of the main protagonists.
This is especially so with a film like Blue Collar which works excellently just on the level of a themselves. thriller — if you don't know
Although I agree that the film doesn't offer any solutions to the situation it depicts, it doesn't claim to be putting forward a political programme!
What it does do is keenly and
observe that
However, Tickell contradicts
The remains locked in individualism..and its message seems to be: Don't mess around from the
— it's too big for YOU
If that is the message, then it
only collective
I also don'T understand the objection to showing workers with work. who are 'real characters'. The "masses' aren't just grey blobs criticism
WOIN.
Tickell clearly doesn't understand much of what he's seen.
about the fatalistic struggle be- pessimistic. tween young and old, black and
As the accompanying interview with the film's director, Paul Schrader, makes clear, it
tory estate.
in their sell-out.
strength.
solution.
Street, marketi
COVENTRY Socialist Challenge group
Tor details COLCHESTER
readers can y ay Challeng regularly LONDON
Socialist Challenge from the 02 Shor WIGHT readers buy
TOWER BATH Socialist Challenge i
res ling Bath 20298 for further
SOUTHAMPTON Socialist Challenge
oaturday trom toant-s pu above bar, Post Ottice, Bargate
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Socialist ттаm-1om Saturdays Rd, London NW6.
FOR INFORMATION on activities ON on to to 2,
c/o Fullmarks, 110 Cheltenham Road,
Britannia
NukwiCH socials Challence sales meeting. every saturday in wavey race ope
is about how the establishment
the work-force by playing off black against white and so on, so that it can continue to rule.
Tickell has also ignored a valuable aspect of the film; the way it shows, mainly through Zeke, the structural racism that black workers in the United States experience at work and in life generally. The final confrontation is most importantly
and not because the individuals are racist.
I hope your readers will go and see the film and judge for
Judge it as
a film
By Wendy Baptiste UNTIL I read Paul Tickell's review of Blue Collar I had thought that Socialist Challenge was attempting to break
left's tradition merely seeing cultural artifacts as political tracts
The failure of Tickell's review stems from his refusal to recognise that he was reviewing a film, a Hollywood movie at was that, which attempted to deal
As he didn't approach his
within that framehe produced misinformed nonsense coming to the incorrect conclusion. that
was fatalistic and
The film's locations and shots are all derived from the factory: the first shot of Detroit focussing on the exterior of the factory; the bar (and meeting place) next to the factory; the homes of the workers on a fac
What leads Zeke and Gerry, two men, to their decision to rob the union office is their role
families and the needs of those Gerrv's daughter needs dental treatment the state won't provide; Zeke's large family can't exist on his wages, and it's his concern for them that leads to his ultimate
The film offers no clear-cut solution and herein lies its
All three men reject the FBI attack on corrupt unions as a
They believe In
maiversiy of East AngliThursdays at
uesdavs. Contact MICKY
Socialist 1 For deali phone Steve on Wivenhoe 2945
SW LONDON sales every Saturday
Calls outside Oval tube
HAMLETS Socialist Chalsell every Saturdays meet 10 1Dam, Brick Lan
office, Hoe St, Walthamstow, Londor TOWER HAMLETS Socialist Challenge 24 217 for detary meets ever fortnight
W11
HACKNEY supporters meet fortnightly Mare E8.
sime: Speaker Piers Cordy plus vide
HACKNEY Socialist Challenge pubil
wnw me counci can an must Dav ine run buoic sector clai
working class strength through unions - Gerry is an active militant, regularly attending union meetings, and was a mainstay of the pickets in the last strike.
Although Smoke is the most individualistic, in some ways he is ine most perceptive His comment that the bosses divide black and white, young and old, and that therefore unity is vital, is admirably demonstrated in a non-fatalistic way.
Although Zeke and Gerry are friends, they are divided because of their colour, which helps Zeke's compromise in accepting a job from the union. Unlike Gerry he can't ever have the opportunity to make it' because he is black
Although the men are seen as individualistic this is not pre sented as an innate quality, but one produced by their changing situation. Their attitudes are a combination of resistance as well as resignation.
The last shot of the film - a frozen frame with Zeke and Gerry poised to attack each other - has the voice over of Smoke, not as a fatalistic jibe but to underpin the film's illustration of how individualism is produced.
The interview with Schrader
presented in Socialist Challenge crude ductionist way. Although he may think I hate unions we should, as Marxists, apply the same criteria to him as to anyone else; judging people by what they do rather than what they say.
Although subjectively Schrader may hate unions, that
no way serves as an explanation of Blue Collar, which is in objective contra diction to his own statement.
Similarly, the interview with Robert Altman (18 January) implied by merely using his own words that he allied himself with a feminist perspective. Yet there Was critique of his latest film, A Wedding, to show what (if anything) this meant in practice
I hope in future you will be able to get reviewers to criticise films as film rather than seeing them as political pamphlets.
BLUE COLLAR is showing a Gate 2, Brunswick Square, London WC1 and is likely to be given a limited regional release Speakers include Cir John Sweene
and public sector workers. Thur
Mare 5t, En 7.30pm, in the Britannia pub HACKNEY * 2pm, ering and Meg
al Daiston
Sainsbury's meet outsid HARINGEY Socialist Challenge group
public meeting: Huntley Street
strong state
Green community centre, staniey r N15 (Turnpike Lane tube)
Bookmarks, Finsbury Par PADDINGTON/N KENSINGTON
S8 Fob, Bpma in meting to o te
3 New sagents 326 Lea Bridge Road
WALTHAMSTOW Challenge -reader: can
Enran wagents,
Page 15 scan of this page
We thought the police were
HOME NEWS
February.
unionists.
By Rich Palser I would like to wish you every success on behalf of the firemen of the West Midlands Fire Service. During dispute relations between the police and firemen strained to say the least, and it opened the eyes of some of our members who thought police were our friends.
It just proved that they are nothing LOOS capitalist class who will go to any lengths to divide people. If you lose, the whole of the trade union movement does also. Keep your chin up and we will see you Stafford."
This was the message sent by Caven Foster, chairperson of *E' division of UnC Midlands Fire Brigades Union, to the Wolverhampton defence campaign.
The campaign will picketing the trial of Dave
slapped
By Malcolm Day AT seven in the morning on Tuesday 6 February police officers from Hackney police station raided two black homes in Hackney.
Saying they were searching for stolen goods, they turned the homes of the Morris and Samuel families upside down, and took their sons to Hackney ponce staton.
According to the Hackney Black People's Defence Organisation, the youths WCHE threatened and brutalised.
*Philip Morris was held in Hackney police station for 36 hours, during which time was continually told to confess
crimes he had committed.
*When he refused to do this
(Friends of Astrid Proll).
Bidborough St, NW1.
Discussion, music, poetry. Admission free.
our friends*
DAVE STEVENS, the Wolverhampton anti-racist, charged with assaulting a police officer last March, is due to appear in Stafford Crown Court on Monday 19
Messages of support have been flowing into the defence committee, many of them from local trades
Stevens opens Stafford on 19 demanding the assault charges. our The West Midlands firefighters see this trial as a threat were to the trade union movement, because it involves the right to peacefully protest. To get rid of the the fear that when your march is attacked by a racist, it is the marchers who will end up in the the dock.
Dave Stevens was stewarding our demonstration against racist violence one individual march.
Dave was the one arrested. on charges of assaulting police officers. If he is convicted, it possible West sentence.
The firefighters are not the only SUDDOLLIE picket. The Wolverhampton be Trades Council, the Midlands Area Committee of
"He was beaten,
punched and
The was beaten, pushed down a lavatory bowl, he was punched and slapped about his body and face, he was told to stand up and sit down continuously.. 'He asked to ring his parents and the police said they do this - they never did. he serence says that when Osbund Morris refused to admit to crimes a gun was pointed at his head.
These incidents highlight yet again the need for black people organise their defence.
It is only two months since he Michael Ferreira, a 19 year old youll, was stabbee to deaut Ol not the streets of Hackney because ne was black.
A protest meeting over this
*NO EXTRADITION FOR ASTRID PROLL'
Public meeting with speakers Jo Richardson MP, Lord
Gifford (both Russell Tribunal), Larry Grant (expert on
immigration law), Phil Kelly (State Research), Jane Grant
Tuesday 20 February, 7.30pm, St Pancras Town Hall,
'NO EXTRADITION FOR ASTRID PROLL'
Wolverhampton defence campaign
February, dropping of protesting
when attacked the
prison the CPSA, Cannon Industries
AUEW Shop Stewards Committee, ate among local trade the bodies UHOa sending contingents to West picket.
Over nine colleges in his head was murder called for a meeting of
black people in the area establish a defence organisation.
The Hackney Black Peoples Defence Organisation then set about campaigning would racist violence harassment, need to organise.
Jointly with the Hackney and Tower Hamlets Defence Committee, and organisations, a mass funeral march for own organised.
At one of the court hearings of the white youths charged with murdering Michael, WinSton dames, a supporter OlEnt Defence Organisation, arrested assaulting a police officer.
When police officers tried to clear the court of black people, Winston was among those who stepped TOWard against the treatment of Michael's mother.
He comes Magistrates Court February; the Defence Organisation is calling for a picket on the day.
Meanwhile, this Saturday at 1pm they Hackney police protest against police harassment people.
INDIAN WORKERG
ABSOCIATION, G.B.
WOLVERHAMPTIM.BR
sending
who it nationally.
Meanwhile thousands of TWO demonstrated airport last Saturday
black people,
tests.
The organised to
Indian Workers
against
and police explaining the
other black banners and
Michael was previously demonstrate
without restrictions.
Orient Against the Nazis
was charged with
playing staff.
heavy handed DOLES fans.
up in Highbury harmony at
on 27 people thought.
fans of other teams. will be picketing
continued of black
DAVE STEVENS [Third frem left] at IWA[GB] meeting which pledged to support the defence campaign:
Midlands and North-west are
coaches and minibuses, and the ANL has backed
all charges petition signatures labour movement activists has
IN BRIEF
Immigration lobby
HUNDRED people at Heathrow home fans Club the harassment and abuse of
the recently exposed virginity
good demonstration by the Asian But TURESHION and supported by the Brixton I'm Jewish Black Women's Group, the
Association [GB], the IWA [Southall], and here.'
The demonstrators marched from: OAN
Church flights from India] and sat down chanting slogans. They had been banned from carrying
placards; however, the National Front has
been allowed to Heathrow
ORIENT Football Club is one of the few clubs to have a large number of black players on its
Two
Five have played for the first team this season, and there is good support from the team's
A rare example of racial
work OR SU
In fact the black players have had a hard time with racist abuse and harassment from the
Jimmy Bloomfield, the club manager, admitted this in an sentences interview with the Observer last year. He gave the example of a convicted
been handed in to Renee Short, Labour MP in Wolverhampton, calling for the dropping of
Despite her request to submit these to the Home Office, she has been informed that game at rull last scason wach Chiedozie, a black player, took an awful battering from the
fans decided that enough was enough and have set up Orient Against the Nazis.
The first leaflet got a really
response from Orient
Brian Winston, Club Chairman, was not so pleased
myself and against the Nazis,' he said, 'but we don't have that problem
More into about the grow
Gc/o ANL Hill, London E17.
Badges 20p plus 7p postage
Anti-fascist cleared By Greg Tucker THE POLICE case against four anti-fascists arrested on the Digbeth Young National Front counter demonstration in fair February last year eventually came to court on 26 January.
I was one of the defendants but the case against me was successfully dismissed
police officers gave evidence of having arrested me but my solicitor was able to produce a photograph from the local paper showing me being arrested by somebody else
The police tried to cover up for a while but on the second day of the case they dropped the charges against me.
The case against the other three defendants unfortunately continues, with possible prison
resulting from the charge of 'affray' if they are
matter is sub-judice.
Such legal evasions will not prevent a picket of the court making the same point there at 10am on Monday 19
Stafford rcoruary -TOW Court.
YNF turn up at Leicester By John Smith APPROXIMATELY 15 mem bers of the Young National Front have surfaced Leicester Polytechnic, many of them on full time courses.
They are seen in student pubs wearing Anti Communist League badges. These badges bear a blue arrow pointin down - as opposed to the rec upward arrow of the ANL
Recently Mackenzie Frank, an outspoken anti-racist at th Poly, had his jaw broken in an attack outside the Central Library. Other students have been followed home and threatened.
Students have replied to this Campaign Against Racism and organising Student Fascism in the Poly.
•far have included calling an anti-racist
and issuing a leaflet exposing the NF's activities and naming some members.
NF responded by spreading rumours about their opponents. And a threat of legal action came from Reed Herbert, a local lawyer with a history of NF sympathies.
A LOBBY of the House of Commons has been called for Monday 19 February at 6.30pm on immigration.
The lobby is supported by the Southall IWA, Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, and the Campaign Against Immigration Laws [CAIL].
Socialist Challenge 15 February 1979 page 15
Page 16 scan of this page
WHO'S LOSING
Registered with the Post Office as a newspaper. Published by Relgocrest Ltd. for Socialist Challenge, 328/9 Upper St, London N1. Printed by Feb Edge Litho Ltd (TU),
By Rich Palser
WHO'S LOSING Labour the
would have us believe it is the public sector workers.
That's what Junior Health Minister Eric Deacons told the Westminster Children's Hospi-
NUPE branch secretary,
VIOLES. secret
ceting involving Len Murray and Alan Fisher.
The meeting was held to try to persuade Jamie Morris not
recommend his branch members to step up their action
domestic workers for refusing to clean private wards.
In private meetings and conversations up and down the country, the right-wing labour
aders are telling Labour Party and trade union activists you are ruining our chances in the elections.
What BORSCHSC. When Callaghan says that wage limits
public service needed, he is saying workers must pay for the crisis.
Is it any wonder that working class people see no purpose in fighting for a Labour victory in the election?
When Callaghan says that he is better than the Tories because he can collaborate with the trade union leaders to make the workers pay, and then the union members rightly refuse to accept that collaboration, is it any wonder inal Labour stumps in the opinion polls?
When low-paid workers in donations to our Fund Drive AFTER early are starting to flag again
This week's total would have been a sorry story indeed without the aid of two donations. Even so, with half
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Socialist Challenge
ELECTION?
that *Anatomy of an all-out strike'. the hospitals, having seen the NHS cut to ribbons, are forced in desperation into strike action only to be denounced
OUR FUND DRIVE
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This is unfortunate to say the least, since we had hoped to £50 go well over the top to make ur or las quarter's
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LABOUR THE
STANDARD
"We can't let the old suffer'-300 home helps defy strike order by NUPE
THE WOMEN
WITH HEART
Fi ..but union puts a price on
Leyland men say No to strike
FOR the real story behind this headline, turn to pages 8 and 9
"irresponsible" and 'uncaring', is it any wonder that after years of voting Labour they consider not voting or voting Tory?
shortfall, way toward: But it's not too late to do something about it. Organise a fund-raising event. Sponsor a supporter to give up smoking.
Start a €1,000 Socialist Challenge from your spare change at the end of each daYou're bound to have lots more ideas. Just do it. Now.
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Yes, many workers workers begin way:
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public sector are considering not voting Labour in the election. They must be persuaded that a return of a Labour government SEVERAL is necessary because a Tory victory will only strengthen the employing class and the right wing in the labour movement.
But whose fault is it that
to think this
fault of Jim Callaghan and the right-wing
who offer only solutions to
It is the fault of the TUC
instead campaigning for the public sector workers and advancing a
alternative, busily negotiate concordats" against
interest
It was the miners who saw off the last Tory government and got Labour in office. Any hope
Labour government this time lies not with Callaghan and Murray but the public sector workers. locality.
Now is the time to demand the recall of the TUC congress, so as to organise solidarity with the public sector workers and map out an alternative to the
Party
Now is the time to see that opposition there is a Labour victory in the increases.
recalling the Labour Party conference to draw up a manifesto which
governmen offers a socialist alternative to SOCIALIST Challenge Spring Lottery. Tickets 10p or £l per book. Prize is choice of 12 printed volumes of Trotsky's Writings help or a £25 book/record token.
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Organised by results!
THE paper relies heavily on
In January a part 12900 came from this - the majority of it do just that. 6-month If
How
Labour
councils
could pay
By Hugh Richards Battersea CLP
Labour local authorities have said that they support the public sector pay claim. Yet none has said that it will pay the claim.
But there is a way they could pay it meet the full claim and increase services and reduce rates at a stroke That is to refuse to pay interest charges.
In 1976 Wandsworth council paid 618m in interest more than either the housing or social services budgets. As a result an
strategy was put for Labour manifesto in Wandsworth in
Weargued then and now that
charges should be unilaterally cancelled.
In Clay Cross, councillors refused to put up rents and broke the pay laws. They were victimised because they were isolated from the workers in the
The largest group of workers in the area, the miners, were not
yeL EWICE HE BIC next three years they took on the Tory government and won.
Every other Labour council gave in because the Labour
refused to the rent
And yet...if every Labour council refused to accept
directive, the government must back down. In 1978 Labour Minister Pete
We want every area to help us
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every individual London, Oxford or Cambridge
Shore told councils to increase rents. Several in London ignored him and the directive was withdrawn.
To challenge the government, any council must work with its workforce. This does not mean a letter with the pay slip, but a political offensive to build a mass movement similar to that which released the Pentonville Five and destroyed the Industrial Relations Act
It also means building this movement amongst council tenants and other users of council services.
The result of this would be a change in the relationship
and the working class. No longer would the former be able to stand off and say that they know best and were elected to do a job for four
This would also be a real weapon against Labour coun cillors who backtrack. Perhaps that is why Labour councils are unwilling to carry through this policy!
The public sector pay claim is the best ground on which to organise an offensive against the financiers and those in the Labour government who defend them
Are Labour councillors prepared to stand up and be counted working class militants by giving a direction to the struggle, or will they simply remain as sometimes benevolent employers?
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← Socialist Challenge No. 82, 8 February 1979Socialist Challenge No. 84, 22 February 1979 →