Workers' government only answer to jobs crisis

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Everyone agrees that unemployment is national scandal. Even Tory MPs and the CBI shed crocodile tears about it. But the question is, what are we going to do about it?

The miners" victory showed that direct action can save jobs.-and scare the life out of the Tories! But there are still 2½ million unemployed, and it will take more than a slight shift in government allocations to deal with that!

Calling on this government to 'change course' is (at best) a waste of time. Our aim must be to beat it back, to kick it out-and to commit the labour movement and the next government to a series of measures that will take on the root cause of unemployment, the capitalist profit-system itself.

First and foremost, we must challenge and defeat the notion that "if there's less work available, there must be fewer jobs" • Against this, we need to raise the call "cut the hours, not the jobs" -in other words, work-sharing on full pay and under workers' control.

35 hour week Combined with this must be a serious, national fight for the 35 hour week. This has long been an officially stated objective of the unions. But up till now, it has been the first demand to be dropped in negotiations at both local and national levels.

Putting a stop to overtime has to be part and parcel of the campaign for shorter hours-otherwise all that will change is that the employed will get time and a half for working the extra hours that could provide the 5277 , London WCIN unemployed with jobs.

And, of course, we must go onto the offensive for improved basic wages, witn automatic inflation-proofing, ending once and for all the situation where workers have to do overtime to earn a living wage.

The basic principle throughout must be the unity of the working class, including unity of the employed and the : unemployed.

Trade unions must be committed to resist pressures to force black workers, youth and women out first.

The unemployed must be integrated into the existing unions with full membership rights, paying special low rates.

This, of course, in no way should detract from Organiser, 214 S building a National Unemployed Union recognised by the TUC (unemployed members of existing unions could ---11 have dual membership).

The workers at Gardners in Manchester showed the power that a factory occupation gives us in the fight against redundancies. The women at Lee Jeans are doing the same.

Elementary duty

Support for such struggles should be the most elementary duty of any trade unionist. But we need to go further, and fight for the nationalisation (without compensation) of companies declaring redundancies.

The workers' inquiries at Lucas and Vickers revealed many real needs that are not being met because of the profit motive.

A big programmit ur hin public works under the democratic control of the workers' movement paying full union rates, could wipe out unemployment and at the same time provide much-needed housing, health facilities, public transport and so on.

But where's the money going to come from for all this? For a start, the massive resources currently being squandered in the build-up to war could be used to finance such a programme. More money, It needea, could be raised by taxing the capitalists.

This would have to be combined with the development of workers' inspection of the bosses' books and accounts.

In short we need a alamnad nes of nahlic recaut- pidicu use us puvur ivovut ces. For an effective plan, the banks, the finance houses, and the corporations which dominate economic life, must be in the hands of the state.

And for the plan to meet working class needs, the state must be in the hands of the working class: the,whole apparatus of top civil servants, judges, police and army must be cleared. out and replaced by working • class power.

All this will require the stepping up of the campaign for democracy in the Labour Party and the trade unions, so that the labour movement can take on the capitalist state and impose a govern-