May Day fight

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whose general «recom- legal. mendations have been In accepted by Minister of Labour Fanie Botha, is a tactic to defend the capitalist-apartheid state against the challenges to it from the black working class.

The Report has been widely and warmly reported in the bourgeois press as a proposal to extend black trade union rights and abolish statutory racial job reservation.

Not lessened • But the recommendations do nothing to either promote the democratic rights of black workers or to lessen their exploitation and repression.

In fact, the report represents a further threat to the struggle of black workers.

Statutory job reservation (now to be abolished) affects only 3% of all jobs.

The vast majority of black workers are excluded from jobs by agreements between employers and white unions.

The Minister of Labour has made it clear that he endorses the Commission's recommendation to keep LEAGUE restrictions Many case the mass of other controls (the bass laws and the lack of training and education opportunities for blacks) ensure the continuance of a de facto racist job reservation.

Extending Whatever changes are made to legislation about industrial organisations will have the sole purpose of extending control over the organisation of black workers.

By imposing extremely stringent conditions for registration, legislation will aim to destroy those few black unions, now unregistered, through which some workers have sought to build an independent trade union movement.

The stringent rules will most likely outlaw all except the most docile and controlled black unions. Or black workers will be forced into unions totally controlled by whites.

Warm response

Already, black reformist unionists have responded warmly to the recommendations, which they realise are perfectly suited to their own capitulationist LEAGUE LEEDS 'Capital' Reading Group, ST South African Prime Minister Botha argument that the extension of legal union rights to blacks would safeguard against extremism!

Skilled labour

In a situation in which the international crisis of profits has led South African capitalists to turn to increased mechanisation, the Wiehan Commission recommendations are designed to meet their demand for a large and cheap skilled and semi-skilled labour force.

Clearly it is in defence of profits, at the expense of workers, that "progressive' sections of capital have been loud in their demands for greater freedom to fill the shortage of skilled labour.

And politically the ruling class seeks to develop and exploit divisions inside the working class-between skilled and unskilled, between urban and migrant, between manufacturing and agricultural workers.

The Wiehan recommendations are one part of a rigidly controlled and limited programme of reforms through which the ruling class aims to coopt a layer of black allies, drawn from the small but politically significant black petty bourgeoisie and an upper layer of skilled black workers and union bureaucrats.

Even while the programme of reforms is carried through, the repression, control and superexploitation of black workers is extended and even more oppressively enforced.

The only real defence against that is the building of the organisations and political programme which embody the independent interests of black workers.

The May Day celebrations in Turkey went ahead, in defiance of the massive repression mounted by Ecevit's government and the military to suppress them.

istanbul, a 29-hour enforced by the. tanks and armoured cars which patrolled the streets to make sure that the ban on marches was not broken.

The picture was the same in all the other 19 provinces where martial law is in force.

Nearly 2,000 trade unionists and left-wing militants were arrested in various towns all over the country-in istanbui, the leader and 400 members of the Turkish Labour Party among them.

The leaders of the DISK trade union confederation were In her final statement before May 3 Margare Thatcher began to let somi more Tory cats out of thei election-time bag.

One of these was that shi would force the long-tern unemployed to accept any job whether they were suitable o not.

"We will look at rules to see that such people take jobs which are available"

This is a clear threat to th benefits of the unemployed whi correctly refuse to take low also arrested before May Day, and all the trade union headquarters were raided by the police and army.

Yet despite this massive repression, May Day was celebrated in 43 provinces by thousands of workers and left wing militants.

Kurdish fighters

On the marches. in the eastern part of Turkey, hundreds were arrested-some of them wearing the uniform of the Pesh Merga Kurdish liberation fighters, which has not been seen on Turkish May Day celebrations until this year.

In Izmir, more than 80,000 workers participated in a march organised by the Turkish Communist Party, and another 30,000 took part in a march called by different left wing groups.

May Day was celebrated. But the ability of Ecevit's government and the military to suppress the march in Istanbul must be recognised as a setback for the workers movement, since this is the province where the working class is strongest.

The Stalinist Turkish CP and the reformist trade union leaders bear the major responsibility for this blow.

Right up to the last moment they continued talks on a compromise with Ecevit.

When the talks broke down, the CP shifted its forces to Izmir and the Stalinist leaders did nothing to mobilise forces but confined themselves to militant speeches.

Their sectarian action enabled the DISK leaders to cover their own capitulation by blaming the CP for the split in the trade union movement.

The May Day demonstrations also exposed once again the nature, of Ecevit's regime and its shift further to the right.

There are rumours of further splits in the government and military hierarchies.

The chief of general staff threatened to resign if the curfew was not imposed in istanbul. There is significant opposition also emerging within Ecevit's RPP party.

Ecevit However the turning point for the present regime will be the ability of Ecevit to introduce the anti-working class measures demanded by the IMF.

30% devaluation is a major item in this catalogue. The confidence of the bourgeoisie in Ecevit will depend on his ability to impose these measures on the working class.

Should he fail then the Turkish ruling class has already prepared the ground to instalt military or fascist dictatorship as an alternative to Ecevit.

NSIDE: • Mandel's dance with Stalinism • The significance of the Transitional Programme • The U.S. SWP 40 years on. Price 45p plus 15p postage from WSL, 31, Dartmouth Park Hill, London NW5 THR.

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