Assembly on Unemployment

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Despite a turn out of 3,000 delegates from all over the country, the Labour Movement Assembly on Unemployment was staged managed by the organisers from start to finish. They did this to ensure that any decisions taken were kept within their planned limits of protest action, turning away from the TUCgovernment measures to boost unemployment and slash wages through state pay laws.

A day-long parade of Stalinists interspersed by 'left' bureaucrats and MPs made up the list of speakers, with the solated exception of one WRP speaker (who clearly slipped through the Stalinist vetting system) and John Deakın, leader of the IS "Right to Work" march.

With few exceptions the speakers vied with each other to give the most demagogic "left" sounding version of the reactionary Communist Party/Tribune Group policies of import controls and a reflation of the (capitalist)

The Assembly, called by the London Co-op Political Committee and the Greater London Confed.. was deliberately designed by the Stalinists and left bureaucrats as a safety valve to let off some of the pressure of hostility within the workers movement towards the pro-capitalist policies being carried out jointly by the Labour government and the TUC.

The main resolution, which November 26th demonstration against emerged unamended only through gross Stalinist manipulation, called, therefore, only for a programme of protest action designed to seem very active while avoiding every sharp political question.

A "Day of Action" has been called for May 26th to protest against unemployment, and there was talk of campaigns for a recalled Labour Party Conference and TUC.

RESTRICT

The clear intention of the 'lefts' and the Stalinists is to restrict the fight against unemployment within these channels to avoid the necessity for occupations and political struggle against redundancies in every factory.

We support the call for a Day of Action, but this must not become a single issue divorced from the fight for a programme against unemployment throughout the labour movement, and the fight to expose and remove the union bureaucrats and Labour leaders who have conspired with the employers to create the present 1½ million unemployed.

There must be a fight for strike action in every sector of industry on May 26th. Bus and train loads of trade unionists and unemployed must be brought to the mass demonstration in London on that day. The fullest mobilisation must take place.

FULL RIGHTS

But at the same time the fight for full union rights and recruitment of the unemployed into the trade unions, for complete opposition to all closures and redundancies with occupations to force through DANC unemployment demands for work sharing pay must press ahead.

Where employers claim they cannot afford to meet workers' just demands for the right to work, the demand must be that they open their books to elected trade union committees.

If this proves they cannot pay, it also proves the firm must be nationalised without compensation, and managed by the committee.

In fighting for these demands in the daily struggle against the employer, workers will confront again and again an unholy alliance of the management with not only the right-wing but also the left' demagogues and the Stalinists who waxed so eloquent at the Assembly.

REFUSAL

A measure of the Stalinists' determination to restrict the Assembly to talk was their refusal to change the date of the proposed 'Day of Action' to coincide with the May 21st court hearing of charges against the 44 Right to Work marchers arrested after the police attack on the March.

There was no argument for calling the Day of Action on 26th May rather than May. 21st - and the Stalinists only achieved this by the most blatant manoeuvre to avoid discussion on the question, then turnong round to blame the outraged IS delegates for "disrupting" the Assembly!

In this way, then, the mass gathering of delegates was turned away from a real fight for new leadership in the working class and into a 'left' cover for the TUC-Labour bureaucracy.

But the mass hostility within the Bidwell working class movement to the antics of their leaders remains a solid force to build upon.

The need is therefore to step up the fight at every point to defeat Stalinism and reformism and defend all jobs against the attacks of capitalism *Full union rights for the unemployed.

*Trades Council sub-committees organise and defend unemployed Buckton workers!

*No redundancies! No closures! Occupy and démand work sharing on full pay!

#All out on May 26th!

*Full support to the 44 Right to Work Marchers!

*Recall the TUC and Party Conference!

*Reject all state pay sliding scale of wages!