Desperate SNP demagogues turn to adventurist tactics

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In a desperate effort to recoup their declining fortunes, as manifested in recent opinion polls and poorly attended demonstrations against unemployment, the Scottish National Party at their conference in Aberdeen have launched into the politics of adventurism.

mean of protest against high levels of unemployment in Scotland, the Nationalists ure obviously straining to adge back into the public rision.

The British ruling class re no doubt quaking in heir shoes at the prospect of occupations of the previously intended Scottish AssemMy building in Edinburgh and job centres throughout the country.

This new turn is not entirely unexpected considering the collapse of electoral support fór the SNP from 35% in 1977 to 17.5% in 1979 and lower still since then.

Dismayed at their failure to profit from working class hatred of the Tories and divisions within the Labour ranks, they are now seeking to regain a popular base with the tactics of "non-violent direct action"

Most of the credit for this new stance must go to the leftist 79 Group which has found a tribune in arch opportunist and petty demagogue James Sillars.

Having broken with the Labour Party, Sillars tried unsuccessfully to build himself a power base through the ill fated Socialist Labour Party, on the demise of which he switched to the SNP.

There, together with George Reid, Stephen Maxwell and Margo Macdonald (now his wife) Sillars has sought to give the SNP a more leftist orientation.

The success he has had in this springs largely from the disenchantment within the ranks of the Party with the old guard leadership of Gordon Wilson, exuding middle class respectability, and Donald Stewart, spouting Presbyterian morality.

Sillar's success in challenging the established leadership is proven by his election to the post of executive vice-chairman where he will play a key role in the formulation of policy and tactics.

The fact that the policies of the group he represents are a vacuous hotch-potch of decentralisation, social distributivism and a complete failure to tackle the central problem of the power of the multinationals within the context of the Scottish economy will not hinder Sillars and his ilk from exploiting any available opening to establish a populist party, nor from exerting a disorientating influence upon the Scottish working class.

Whatever the weaknesses in the policies of the SNP, it would be misleading to suggest that they will be unable to build a base of popular support in the present political and economic climate.

In so far as they do so, it will be by default of the established trade union and Labour Party leadership in Scotland and their refusal to mount a meaningful campaign against the policies of the Thatcher government.

Speakers at the SNP Conference could correctly lambast the STUC for their refusal to organise challenge on the question of unemployment.

The cancellation of the planned march against youth unemployment and the betrayal of the workers in dispute at Ayrshire Marine Construction at Hunterston are glaring examples of this refusal to fight.

Retreats Alongside this we have witnessed Labour controlled councils, with. a few honourable exceptions, implementing the Tory cuts without even a blush of shame. The further these retreats proceed, the more they will give heart to the Nationalists now seeking a way into the urban working class of the Central Lowlands.

Exploiting a genuine sentiment among Scottish people for a greater measure of devolution of power, they seek to falsely equate this with the struggle for national independence in "Zimbabwe, India and Ireland"

The sentiment in Scotland is not of the same order as in the independence struggles of these countries cited, and those who make this equation are harbouring a disastrous illusion.

Certainly socialists must take cognisance of and grapple with the phenomenon of the "new nationalism" : which have emerged in the advanced capitalist states in the seventies, but that can only be done in conjunction with an unrelenting exposure of the dead end politics of the populist nationalist movements, such as the SNP. A POLICY " BL FORL WORKERS Mili.

TILL AVAILABLE League pamphlet A POLICY FOR rice 45p including postage from WSL, BM Box 5277, London WC1N 3XX

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selling jobs are over!

Wraps over disused machinery What is it like in the occupation?

Lorraine: Great-there's fantastic entertainmentlocal bands come up to play discos, even adult puppet Cathy: We've worked out some great songs. You know the one Shut up your face' well we sing: "What do you think we'd do-Hey!

What did they expect-Hey! Go down to the Broo? -Hey! Will we bloody heck! -Hey! We will оссиру -у That is why we cry-y Don't shut up-a da place"

But apart from the singing and the shows it's finished our social life! You're allowed a night off if you ask, but only a special night-we're all expected to do our shift.

Women with families get what time off they need for It is not every first the shopping or washing.

We've all a rota of duties, chores from cleaning floors to oiling machines.

You get on a certain thing for two weeks and then on to another--the place has never been so well kept.

We've got an absolute rule about no drink on the premises and we have really strict security with full searches going in and out to check nothing has been taken.

All we've to to bargain with is a million pounds of unfinished and finished garments and machinessome brand new as well as a new laundry six months old.

We've got the entire Sweden spring collection-so god only knows what they're wearing, but it ain't Lee Jeans.

The feeling in the placewell | can't explain it's -mo re-mavero fantastic-just like another home-one big family.

Of course you've got a wee bit of coming and going and have to put up with eachother. We get on eachothers' nerves-but we're closer than we've ever been.

An unmarried girl came back from maternity leave and brings her kid up with her fur!". it: and everybody t .: a wee shot at looking afier it.

And Su..a beautiful jumpers have been knitted! Cathy: There's been some bad moments like on the second or third day the management stuffed all the heating pipes with paper.

It caused parafin to run down the walls-if anyone had lit a cigarette we would have all gone up in smoke. What's been the help from your own union officials? Lorraine: Well right from the beginning they've not done much. We all know now they're not as good as they're made out to be.

It took six weeks to get it official and they said we had to have a vote from the Irish workers first.

Cathy: We had a battle to get Ellen Monaghan, the convenor, to speak at our annual conference. The General Secretary turned up 18 weeks after we occupied.

He said he was just passing by!

We told him we wanted more than him just passing by. He got quite a knocking -we told him it was money from our jobs that was keeping him where he was.

None of the union leaders thought we'd stick it, they've got a real fight now they 'Il have to listen.

They also say we've got to keep politics out of it.

What they mean is other people's politics, not their own!

But everything we do, every move we make is political.

The factories are being closed because of politics. The officials in the union wouldn't agree to organise blacking, they just didn't want us to.

So we told them we'd organise it ourselves.

We went to the dockers' unions, to the ports all over the country, London, Liverpool, Grangemouth.

We got a great response from the dockers. They've given us a 100% blacking.

The docks could that VF would not be worried about us sitting in because hough they could sell the stock and the plant they could leave that a while.

But they don't like their products not getting into Britain to sell, so no profits can be made over here.

It's profits they're worried about.

What about the attempts you made to open the books?

Cathy: Well their excuse for closing us down was that they're bankrupt-but we don't take their word anything; we knew they no proot.

When we occupied we got hold of some important company files but we couldn't get the accounts.

They were desperate to get the files back but they wouldn't hand the books over.

So we couldn't prove they weren't bankrupt. We know they're just using up government grants. When the grant is up in Londonderry they 11 just dump the Irish workers too.

VF has had free rent for five years in Greenock! Lorraine: We keep trying to tell the Irish workers that it's the same fight-that we're both up against company that doesn't give two fingers for us, our jobs or our families.

Cathy: We want them to black, but the women in Derry are so afraid that the management will lay them off. They say they can't afford to be sacked-it's difficult to give them the encouragement that they've got rights and should stick to them, ind for them.

All we want to do is worksharing with them but they won't have any of it. Isn't that understandable?

They can't afford to take a cut in wages.

Lorraine: Well we can't afford to lose our jobs. Ellen Monaghan has tried to show it's one and the same battle. Is there much chance of a court order?

Cathy: We don't know, the company has said it will leave the factory open till August but we don't know what'll happen then.

Is there a chance of getting strike action from the other NUTGW members nationally if you're touched?

Cathy: ! don't think so. They'll just not get the leaders and they're not going encouragement from the to do it on their own.

Lorraine: We're not going to be inoved from that factory. Cathy: No we don't care if they send in the policewe'll not move-we'll all chain ourselves to the machines.

The miners and the shipyard workers won't let the police or any of them through.

We can't let them chuck us out. Everybody's watching us to see if we're going to win. We're not going to give up this fight.

: We owe it to the people, to our kids to everyone who's supporting us. We also owe it to Ellen Monaghan. Without her there'd have never been such a fight. She lost 5 pounds in weight in the first month of the occupation. We all adore her for what she has done.

She'll never live it down. She's been a shop steward for ten years and has fought the company all the way for everything that's going.

She'll never listen to the company's problems, she doesn't want to hear-it's us and our rights she cares about.

She's not thinking of herself, she's got her two children working at the factory. She says she'd happily be a housewife but there's no way she'll give up fighting until those jobs are saved for the kids of the future.

Donations. and messages of support should be sent to Greenock.

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Ellen Monaghan, 55 Cambridge Road,