Union Chiefs Sdewith Bosses

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It has found vocal advocates both from the ranks of the CBI -whose last conference voted in favour of selective import controls-and among leaders of the TUC, which has just published a booklet spelling out the very same policy.

Duffy

Within the labour movement itself the campaign against "foreign imports" has been taken up by elements ranging from right wing AUEW President Terry Duffy to the TASS General Secretary, Communist Party member Ken Gill; from right wing ISTC leader Bill Sirs to the lefts' of Labour's Tribune Group.

Only last week saw Duffy, along with TGWU leader Moss Evans engaged in "friendly" talks with BL chief Sir Michael Edwardes on the 'problem' of Japanese car imports outstripping BL sales on the British market.

Edwardes, as president of the Common Market Automobile constructors, has now publicly called for import controls against Japan. This should delight the Communist Party, which last week hailed Duffy's conversion to the cause of protectionism in the Morning Star:

"Good to see that Terry Duffy and others on the AUEW Executive have decided to do battle with the multinationals and fight for import controls. Let's hope they put up a better show than when they were supposedly championing Derek:

Thus in the fight to defend British capitalism we find the CP sharing the same camp as the employer who sacked their leading industrial militant, and the AUEW President who betrayed him!

Textiles

This unholy alliance is now emerging throughout industry. Textile employers, for instance, have repeatedly worked jointly with union leaders to mobilise workers in protest demonstrations against imports.

The Stalinist-led furniture trades union FTATU only recently held a stridently nationalis demandin imports British' ca And i ISTC and even members' thousand, argue tha profitable restricted.

Yet t approach the fact capitalist ular the and empl identical c steel uni lined up owned sti ban on cheaper st steel from Indeed ot protect capitalism ing natio divisions i t demonstratioi a halt to cheal and urging a bu! impaign. in the steel industry I other union leaders while selling thei jobs by the tens o , pause occasionally tr t BSC could be madı if imports wer he folly of such al is well illustrated by that in other majo:

countries-in partic USA-union leader: ›yers are raising almos lemands. = USA, for instance on bureaucrats have with the privatels eel firms to call for i the "dumping" of teel imports, including 1 Britain and the EEC the whole directior tionist measures under is towards intensify. inalistic and racialist nternationally.

Were a major capitalist country to impose full-scale import controls in the present recession it could well trigger off a full-scale international trade war, in which each national capitalist class-obediently supported by reformist union leaders-fought to drive its competitors to the wall.

Imperialist war

In such conditions the possibilities of a renewed outbreak of imperialist war grow to frightening proportions.

So what is it that drives union bureaucrats and employers to adopt such a desperate policy?

For the weakest employers, of course, the call for import controls is a desperate plea for measures to suppress the market forces of capitalism that threaten to drive them to the wall.

Their ability to extract sufficient profits from their workforce is threatened by the superior technology of international competitors.

And sooner than perish by the 'dog eat c of their own anarchic they issue hysterical ar critical appeals for help.

British trade uni Labour leaders, on ti hand, seize on the import controls as an al to any struggle to def and conditions on t floor.

Sooner than ext workers the real bankru anarchy of the capitalis and its complete inal guarantee workers even to a job and decent liv dards, reformist leader: the illusion that capita be patched up, and jobs To do this they : "breathing space" is ne which British capital shielded from inter competition, and a through government ca outs-to make their of competitive.

They remain silent al meekly log' logic : system, nd hypolon and he other ternative end jobs he shop bose to ptcy and it system bility to the right 'ing stans. peddle lism can saved. argue, a seded, in ists are inational issistedsh handperations bout the

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