SYL Conference: a big step forward

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Some of the new SYL National Committee The Socialist Youth League is now firmly on its way to becoming a truly national organisation after holding its Second Annual Conference over the weekend 17-18 May.

SYL members and supporters from 15 towns and cities as far away as Glasgow and Motherwell attended the highly successful event.

The level of political debate was extremely high throughout the weekend and three excellent films-Look Back at Grunwick, Superman and the Bride and Bolivia-The Tin Mountain, were widely appreciated.

On the Saturday evening a highly successful social event was organised. Four local bands played to a capacity audience which drew in many youth a local council estate.

All in all the SYL must now be recognised as an extremely serious revolutionary youth organisation which has a national base.

SYL branches and members have been in the forefront of the fight against the Tory government and in defence of democratic rights.

In the coming year the SYL is determined to grow in size and increase its influence among young people.

The conference adopted a basic policy document concerning most aspects of youth oppression and outlining policies on how youth can fight back against the bosses' rotten system. This document will shortly be published as an SYL pamphlet.

In his opening remarks Chairperson Dale Ackroyd from Bradford SYL set the tone of the conference. "The bosses are afraid of youth", he said. "They know that young people won't swallow what they have to offer. They won't lie down; they are fighting back! This conference has to make clear an effective socialist programme for youth and workers-a programme to create jobs for youth; to end the misery of low pay and long hours; to defend and extend leisure facilities and to end the exploitation and oppression of women, blacks and gays.

Crisis

The message of the SYL has got to go out. The bosses' system is in a crisis, the bosses cannot take society an inch forward.

Our aim is to end this rotten system once and for all and replace it with one that produces goods because people need them and not because it WIl produce a prolit ior the rich."

There followed introductions and discussion on Fighting the Tories, racism, Ireland, women's oppression, the National Union of School Students and international solidarity.

Fraternal greetings were taken from the WSL, the Woman Worker, the local trades council, and the Revolution youth group.

A new national committee and an editorial board for Red Youth were elected and the conference ended with the singing of the Internationale.