Breaking the silence on the cuts

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John Lister reviews the new Workers Socialist Leag reviews the new Workers Socialist League pamphlet NO MORE "How to Fight the Cuts" , published by Folrose Ltr it the Cuts" , published by Folrose Ltd, price 30p plus 9p p&p from Folrose Books, 31, Dartmout) from Folrose Books, 31, Dartmouth Park Hill, JOBS FIGI FIGH November 17, 1976: plenty of placards, but where was the describes the turning point in seed from which the EGA "It was not until the local continued the fight within and labour movement became around the work-in for the drive involved, when the anti-cuts towards workers' control of the sub-committee of: Camden hospital, and complete indepenTrades Council persuaded the dence of the work-in from the NUPE stewards to hold a joint smooth-talking slow-acting meeting. with them at the union officials who seek only to hospital, that the first important head off class confrontation Socialist League members from who led the way in the fight for we woulo, of course, continue to argue for all of our political positions and affiliation to the Fourth International.

Amongst the youth we believe that the necessity, and possibility, of creating a single revolutionary pole is all the more immediate. This because of the possibility of winning thousands of young people to revolutionary marxism and the youth's thoroughly healthy hostility to all varieties of sectarianism.

Thus we think it is both possible and necessary for our respective organisations to put the building of a united revolutionary youth organisation amongst our highest political priorities.

In order to test out our capacity to reach principled political agreement, and advance along this road, we propose collaboration of our respective young members and supporters in producing a revolutionary youth paper whose explicit aim would be the construction of such a unified youth organisation.

We would propose that the paper's independent character be guaranteed by editorial control being in the hands of that goal any nearer.

To those serious youth who genuinely wish to see the unity of the revolutionary movement we repeat the words of Trotsky:

"When centrists . begin to declaim too much about unity, the Marxist is duty-bound to be on guard. Unity between whom? In the name of whut? Against whom? Unless there is a clear definition of aims and prominently, in an anti-racist march to tasks the become trap."

NO!

Brick Lane regular meetings/conferences of supporters starting with a national meeting in December to regularize the paper and establish both policies and democratic structures.

Without prejudicing this meeting's decisions, we give notice that we would propose the platform printed in Revolution No. 1 as an initial basis for discussion, and a structure based on equal representation of national political organisations • and regional representation of supporters' groups.

In summary, we therefore propose.

1. Discussion of these points and any others you may wish between now and December.

2. To give equal space to the views of our respective organisations (as well as local groups) on questions of policy and structure in the December issue of Revolution.

3. A period of joint work between our respective organisations and supporters' groups of Rebel, Red Youth and Revolution between now and December.

Comradely greetings Redmond O'Neill (IMG Youth Organiser)

slogan of unity can the worst possible The IMG would have youth unite with the most programme and practice. The WSL is pleased to note the rejection of this perspective by the Socialist Youth League.

Two years ago, as Chancellor Healey announ: ced cut after cut in the budget of the Health Service,. Education and other sectors of the public services, his actions were greeted by a chorus of protest from every section of the 'left'.

• The pages of Socialist Worker and the International Marxist Group's paper Red Weekly teemed with articles on Even the union bureaucracy, embarassed to the core by the savage attacks unleashed on their members by a Labour government whose policies they secretely endorsed, were pushed to the point of calling the great national demonstration of November 17 . 1976 which advanced on parliament demanding "Stop the cuts; Save jobs".

But now, as the impact of the cutbacks announced by Healey is really being felt in terms of actual closures in the public services, actual cuts in manning levels, actual deterioration of services and erosion of the rights of workers, the clamour has ceased.

All of a sudden hardly anyone has anything to say about the cuts.

Why? Because it is clear to all those affected that protesting about the cuts, marching against them, writing articles against them, is not enough: if there is not a serious perspective of all-out action, occupations backed by strike action, to stop the cuts, then they will proceed.

Frightened

This prospect frightens the life out of the 'left' talking union bureaucrats and their supporters in the Communist Party; it knocks the steam out of the stunt politics and oppor tunist practice of the Socialist Workers Party; and lit leaves the rearguard politicians of the International Marxist Group searching round for a bandwagon to jump on to.

The imnartanca nf Workers Socialist League booklet How to fight the cuts is that it avoids the manifest confusion and hesitation of these tendencies, pointing instead to the political lessons of two actual struggles which have gone to the lengths of all out action and been fought through tenaciously in the teeth of opposition from every quarter.

WSL members and supporters have played a prominent and influential role in both the work-in at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital in London and in the occupation at the South Oxford Nursery class.

NU Tandon NIG 1ID London NW5 1HR action?

The booklet draws on the rich experiences of these struggles.

At first sight, neither the EGA nor the Oxford nursery seemed ideal arenas for an advanced level of proletarian struggle. The hospital staff was only partially organised into unions as the threat of closure loomed, and the Nursery Campaign remained throughout a heterogeneous grouping of parents, trade unionists, vicars, local dignitaries and left wing activists.

Not What transformed these bodies from limp protest to decisive action was not their spontanenusiv revolutionarv content, but the tenacious fight within them for a clear programme and political perspective carried out consciously by Trotskyists of the WSL. The pamphlet the EGA fight: development took place.

'"At that meeting, Workers FIGHT - FIGHT FIGHT"

ROPE LATE the sub-committee, and from the parent NUPE branch at University College Hospital argued that ultimately the only way to defend the hospital was to occupy it, and for the occupation to form the basis for a workers' enquiry into the state of the hospital and for the opening of the books of thé Area Health Authority to reveal details of expenditure and the health service needs in the area."

Of course these demands then caught the imagination of the EGA workers and supporters, were taken up, and became the basis of a fight extending far beyond the membership or resources of the WSL.

Eventually, in diluted form, the demands were even adopted by other 'left' groups who had at first scoffed at the ideas.

Continued fight

While sowing this crucial blossomed, the WSL has whenever it shows its head.

It was also WSL members A WSL:

the policy of supporting strike action-both within other hospitals and from industrial workers to back up occupations against the cuts.

We have consistently fought for action to force leaders of the public sector unions to jointly call all-out strikes to reverse the cuts and establish a sliding scale of social expenditure. to maintain the social services in the face of inflation.

When this demand for supporting strikes was first put forward it, too, seemed far in advance of the labour movement in the public sector.

But the EGA struggle and subsequent battles against hos pital closures in London have since shown that it is possible to mobilise supporting strike action from wide layers of the working class.

Indeed it is the continuing threat of such action in the case of moves to close the EGA that has kept it open to this day.

Of course struggles to stop the cuts will not always prove immediately successful. In fighting the cuts workers are up not only against the Labour government's strategy to preserve the profitability of ailing capitalism but also against the full weight of the bureaucratic machinery in the trade union movement, which hates nothing more than the independent struggles of the working class.

Impact

The South Oxford nursery occupation lasted six weeks, and has had a lasting impact both on the labour movement in the town, on nursery struggles nationally and on the overall fight against the cuts. But it has not prevented the closure or saved the 30 threatened nursery places.

But it has offered a clear perspective and directed relentlessly into the organised workers' movement--the trade unions and the Labour Party, whose leaders are carrying through the cuts.

If fought to the end such campaigns. are never wholly defeated-they bring to the most advanced layers concerned an awareness of the political problems confronting the working class and the necessity for a principled programme and And though the South Oxford Nursery class has itself been closed, plans by the Tory council to close the next door Middle School were simply reversed by Education Secretary Shirley Williams-clearly influenced by the prospect of a further occupation:

Experience Our movement categorically rejects the defeatism of those groups and bureaucrats that declare or believe that workers will not fight the cuts. Our experience in practical struggle has proven otherwise.

And we reject with contempt the prospect of opportunistically hanging back on the sidelines until cuts struggles get underway before joining in mouthing the current popular slogans.

Our members, strengthened by the fights recounted in this pamphlet, remain in the forefront of the practical struggle against the cuts as a crucial part of the construction of a revol. utionary party to lead the whole working class in the struggle for power.

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iNDUSTRA Strikers from Booth's Gin in West London lobby the TGWU Region 1 committee º 10 The attack by Leyland on the 2,500 jobs at AEC Southall demands that a principled lead be given by the unions in the plant.

After years of lies and smokescreens, the plans of Leyland were revealed by a former managing director of Bus 'and Truck, division, Des Pitcher, in a letter to the Times last month.

He stated that Leyland planned to close AEC by the early 1980s. Management has now said that BL does not consider AEC to be "viable from a commercial point of view"

This revelation makes nonsense of Leyland's assertions in late 1975 that over 600 redundancies would enable the plant to operate economically; or of the call now for a further 162 hourly paid and 90 office staff to walk out the gates.

Even now the management is trying to derail the fight back by putting out the idea that perhaps the plant could operate just producing engines-as long as 100 a week were produced by just 900 workers.

At the moment about 60 engines are being produced. This level of speed-up and exploitation is obviously what management will try to squeeze out of the workers in Preston and at their ultra-modern Leyland plant in Lancashire. PHOTO: Mark Bidwell AEC bosses have already arrogantly outlined their plans for maintaining productivity when the December 3 deadline is reached for the latest redundancies.

They want to "negotiate a fundamental change in working practices" , and their proposals include total flexibility and mobility between grades, jobs and departments.

The company also wants a free hand to transfer work between departments or even to other plants to "maintain full production requirements"

If in negotiations agreement is not reached "within five days" the company will go ahead anyway and transfer the work" for a minimum of three NEWES months."

The failure o f the present plant leadership to offer any clear policies to defeat these moves has been shown in number of ways.

The convenor Mick Martin did at one time express hostility to productivity deals, but has since fought for their acceptance by the membership.

He is also a keen proponent of the reactionary 'worker participation' set-up in Leyland.

Other sections of the AEC leadership have in the past centred on a call for import controls as the way to save jobs.

Even Bill McLoughlin, the full-time AUEW official in charge of the situation-has criticised the plant leadership for its undemocratic practices.

Local left' MPs Sydney Bidwell and William Molloy have now written to Industry Secretary Eric Varley : and Leyland boss Michael Edwardes demanding an explanation.

The letter apologetically stated 'We feel obliged to give them (the stewards and unions) our full backing and shall act accordingly."

Two weeks ago Bidwell the local Gazette:

'We've been told in the past that there is a future for AEC but decisions have got. to be made soon. They should either use it or run it down."

There is little doubt which of Bidwell's options Leyland is taking up.

The only way to put an end to the rumours, lies and innuendo is by an elected trade union committee fighting for access to all the "plans of Leyland Vehicles, particularly in relation to AEC.

Such a committee must be elected now at AEC to examine ail the plans and accounts of Leyland Vehicles and its suppliers in order to be in a position to formulate policies to fight back.

None of the machinery must be allowed to be moved from the plant. If necessary, the plant must be occupied to enforce this policy.

The fight to save jobs at AEC is essential if West London is not to degenerate further into an unemployment black spot.

Many of the other traditional areas of employment in the area are also threatened.

Firestones on the Great West Road are threatening to close; Hoovers on the Western Avenue is planning layoffs as are Magnatex, Crown Cork and Booth's Gin, who have been on strike for three weeks over what is basically union recognition.

Even the Airport is faced with attempts to contract and move a lot of work out to another area.

The readiness of the union leaders at Fords to sell their members short and the reluctance to see them mobilised on an independent basis was perhaps most vividly expressed by Dagenham Body Plant shop stewards chairman, Sid Harroway, in a fullpage interview in the Evening News a full week before the mass meeting that rejected the company offer.

Without any mandate weekend. The company are looking for a settlement and so are we."

Far from asserting the right of all workers to a decent living standard, Harroway managed to present the issue in the most servile way possible-"What our lads are looking for is a reward for the success of the company"

Presumably Harroway thinks that if the company were doing badly 'our lads' would just have to knuckle down and accept a hard winter.

But the most candid statement about the position of the leadership in the Fords strike is contained in the following extract:

•it would be wrong to call Sid a strike leader ... A rueful smile lights up his face at the mention of the word leadership. Sometimes, he says, 'it's a job to

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DERB INTEPRACIA SOL COMMULLE PHOTO: Andrew Wiard, Report PHOTO: Andrew Wiard. eport

confused centrist layers in the name of "unity" against a clear political

THE CUTS THE GUTS SAVE

THE I THE CUT SP SAVE OBS

Nursery campaign supporters HOSPITAL CUTSI How to fight the cuts