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They were returned to the employers turned more directly remain in the totally impover- workers have repe other strike breaking ished homelands' They were returned to the municipal compounds in which munirinal communds in which they are housed, their wage demands rejected, and all Cir Counc spokesmen announced that the strike had been "contained". . The mass of workers employed by the City Council paid little attention to the announcement.

They met the sacking with a massive show of solidarity and more and more workers came out in struggle alongside the suitab group thet kers de demands.

Within days the vast majority of the council's 15,000 black workers had joined the strike.

The strikers resisted employers attempts to impose appointed stooge-negotiators and demanded negotiations with, and recognition of their own elected union representatives.

Having failed to halt the development of the strike with the threat of dismissal, the employers turned more directly to other strike breaking weapons provided by the repressive labour system.

Housed for the most part in 1? primitive compounds. groups of council workers are isolated, not only from their fellow strikers in other compounds, but from the massive nonmigrant urban working class.

During the strike, riot police have cordoned off workers inside compounds, and repeated efforts have been made to force workers, under armed guard, to break the strike.

"Homelands"

As migrant workers, the majority of strikers are only allowed to remain legally in the urban areas if they have employment. Dismissal means immediate return to the "homelands".

• The mass of unskilled labourers are particularly strongly threatened by dismissal and replacement from the pools of unemployed workers forced to

Tribalism

In their efforts to break the strike, employers have also turned to the tribal authorities to intervene to "restore discipline".

Tribalism-a reactionary relic of pre-capitalism has been assidvously nurtured by the state as means of disciplining and dividing workers, misdirecting worknis anger and frustration away from the class memy and against other workers.

In the municipal compounds in which workms are housed, every effort is made to maintain traditional tribal allegiance and repressive tribal authority structures ovn workers.

It is testimony to the decay of capitalism that bosses, in their quest to control workers and boost profits, are forced to reinforce backward social systems of the past.

Yet despite the persistence tribal traditions and culture, workers have repeatedly forged levels of unity in s levels of unity in struggle which break through state-fostered divisions such as tribalism.

Even with the protection of the police, tribal leaders have been terrified of testing their authority by facing the anger of the workers in an open strikebreaking role.

At the present time, reports indicate that the massive employers' onslaught on the strike, culminating in the direct intervention of armed strike breaking police has forced groups of strikers back to work.

Forced back

The union leader Joseph Mavi has been arrested and more than 1200 strikers have been forced back to the 'homelands'.

The only thing which has stood between the strikers and the strike-breaking attacks has been the organised strength, determination and solidarity of their action.

This struggle must be supported and strengthened by the solidarity of their class brothers and sisters.

In particular, the working masses and youth of Johannesburg must take the lead in building support for the struggling migrant workers.

With proposed rent increases for Soweto serving to fuel developing determination and combativity which recently led to a series of substantial victöries on pay by black carworkers, the struggle of workers is bound to sharpen further in the coming period.

Committees

Workers' committees must be built to take up each issue facing workers, to build action in support of each demand serving workers' interests.

As morn and morn workers take action in support of these demands, councils of action must be built to link and develop different struggles alongside eachother.

*Build support for struggling Council workers!

*Unconditional re-instatement of all strikers.

*Release Joseph ' Mavi: release all political prisoners.

*No victimisations.

*Build united working class action against every state attack.

*For a national minimum wage determined by workers' committees and protected through a sliding scale.

*For. worksharing on full pay.

*Build South African Trotskyist party, section of the reconstructed Fourth International!