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£БОO FUND It is essential that we try and raise the full amount if the Socialist In the first four days of October we received, BLMC Cowley Assembly Plant workers, £7.50; North London, £13; Coventry, £5 and If there was an empty chair at the Labour Party Conference it should have been labelled 'Socialism' The Labour government, responsible for the fastest rise in unemployment and the biggest fall in wages and social services since the war, was not short of critics at the conference.

But that did not stop all the major capitalist policies which the Labour government is using to attack the working class from being steam-rollered through the conference.

By the end of the first morning an overwhelming vote had been obtained in support of the policy of wage control and the social contract.

After some reactionary lecturing from the new Education Minister, Shirley Williams, the conference defeated the mildest possible motion opposing cuts in education spending.

On other questions, the spokesmen of the government made it quite clear that conference resolutions passed against government policy (such as the rejection of elections to the European parliament and the nationalising of four The September Fund closed with ment on the previous month but still of £600.

Press is to be able to expand and develop.

Leamington, £5.

All donations should be sent to: Socialist Press Monthly Development 31, Dartmouth Park Hill London NWS 1HR CAMPAIGN FOR DEMOCRACY IN THE LABOUR MOVEMENT PUBLIC MEETING Wage Control and Union Democracy Friday 8th October 7.30 pm.

NUFTO Hall Jockeys Fields London, WC1 Speakers Alan Thornett Tony Kelly Keith Vaness Jenkins banks and seven insurance companies) would be arrogantly ignored by them.

The government, far from being opposed by the supposed left' members of Labour's National Executive Committee, was given every assistance in its attempt to force these capitalist policies down the throat of the labour movement.

REJECTED

Any resolution which contained even a hint of struggle for socialist policies (such as the demand for opening the books of firms creating redundancies, or ,the nationalisation of the whole financial sector of the economy) were roundly rejected by the NEC.

At the end of the economic debate, Judith Hart, in a speech whose incoherence matched its pomposity, actually compumented the Labour government on the measures it had taken to combat unemployment! favoured by these lef, policy The one alternative NEC and the trade union leader™ ships was the familiar nationalist class collaborationist call for import controls and capitalist The most strident calls for this a total of £519.02, an improvesome way off our monthly target Total so far: £30.50.

LEAGUE

PUBLIC MEETING Wage Control and Union Democracy Wednesday 13th October 8.00 pm.

Southall Town Hall

The Broadway Southall LEAGUE PUBLIC MEETING Coventry Wage Control and Union Democracy Wednesday 13th October 7.30 pm non fate Sehan! (nan S war between what he called "us" (that is, British capital) and "our competitors"

Worst among these were "the Japanese" (who according to Jenkins all belong to one class) who are conducting a "deliberate malevolent strategy" to destroy sections of British industry in order to get their hands on some of "our" oil in the 1980's!

RACISM

Far from combatting the capitalist policies of the Labour government, this kind of reaction, which borders on naked racism, simply gives the Labour government more credence.

Despite the lip service that the 'lefts' paid to socialism, all their arguments were supported by references to the needs of capitalism.

Scanion said import controls were practicable because the West Germán government was prepared to introduce them; he called for a price freeze because the French government had intro duced one.

Scanlon 'Left' speakers said that th lational Enterprise Board shoul invest more because its counterpart in France did so. Judith Hart said that the banks should be nationalised because they were nationalised in France.

In all cases, they implied, these policies were justified because they did not threaten the capitalist sostem in ist system.

Only one case did the conference pose any real challenge to the government. Against the advice of the NEC, including the "lefts' , conference passed the NUPE resolution rejecting present and future cuts in public expenditure, supporting Labour councils which refused to implement them and calling on the NEC to launch a campaign against them.

INCAPABLE

But the NEC's cowardly retreat from anything which will challenge the present leadership of the Labour Party makes it incapable of carrying out such a campaign in any significant way.

That campaign must be built throughout the labour movement, in the trade unions, and in the Labour Farty not only against the Labour government but also against those lefts' of the NEC who refuse to launch a real fight.

LEAGUE

PUBLIC MEETING Birmingham The Black Struggle in South Africa Sunday October 17th 7.30 pm Digbeth Hall Digbeth BRITAIN 6 issues. 12 issues 24 issues Now in its 19th week the strike at Trico's has reached a crucial stage.

As the strike has developed it has become clear that the leadership of the AUEW and the T&GWU only pay lip-service to the fight for equal pay.

In this struggle, the 350 women and 150 men involyed have stood firm, and have been given 'official' backing from the local District Committee of the AUEW.

But the role of the leadership of this District Committee and in particular Stalinist District Secretary Roger Butler, has been to arrange for the strike committee to travel all over the country colecting money and calling on particular factories to 'black' the products but avoiding the most important question of all.

This is the fact that the EC of the AUEW could call a national official black' and send out instructions to all car factories or similarly the Midlands Region S TGWU Committee could back the calls for a 'black' While this is not done, what is developing is another Fine Tubes' strike with T&GWU and AUEW members using either Trico products or alternatives and therefore helping the employers to break this strike.

WAGES...Cont'd from Just to list some of the main events of last week makes clear the scale of this crisis, the pressure on capitalism to restore its profits at the expense of the workers.

*On Monday the pound fell so sharply while Healey was driving to the airport, that, after a rushed phone-call from Callaghan to President Ford, Healey cancelled his trip to the IMF meeting in Manilla.

*During the week it became clear that the IMF will demand public spending cuts and tax increases totalling £3,000 million as the blood-money for its loan, plus a squeeze on the money supply further boosting unemployment. Callaghan refused to deny that such a "package" was being prepared.

*Healey spoke of thee million unemployed, and rioting in the streets'. But even among the hand-picked delegates at Blackpool his policy, speech brought boos on an unprecedented scale.

At the end of the week, Common Market cuts in subsidies were announced, which will hike the price of basic foods by around one-quarter in less than a year. At the same time, the collapse of sterling will boost import prices so as to wipe out much of any £6 increases (£4 after tax) even before present levels of inflation are taken into account.

.21 • 24 OF THE 6 issues. 12 issues 24 issues..

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: Socialist Press, 31, Dartmouth Park Hill, Le EUROPE 6 issues. 12 issues 24 issues bscriptio les, I end The strike committee should now turn their membership toward these bureaucrats who say 'Keep working' in Leyland factories using Trico products, while at the same time they claim they are in favour of equal pay.

The following resolution was passed on Tuesday 21st September:

"This Brentford No. 2 Branch of the AUEW salutes the fight of our members of Trico who are striking for equal pay for our women members, a demand which it is official policy of our • union to uphold.

We, therefore, call upon the District Committee to involve all trade unionists and particularly AUEW members in support of our sisters and brothers at Trico.

The branch requests that the •District Committee renew the call for a national blacking of Trico products and all substitute wiper blades and requests that the EC ratify that call.

And further that the District Committee set a date for a day time demonstration in support of the Trico strike and by so doing support the trade union movement's policy to fight for equal pay for work of equal value."

t Pager Yet despite this the working class remains undefeated and ready to fight. Only the treacher•ous and bureaucratic gendarmes in the top layers of the TUC protect the Callaghan cabinet from direct struggle on wages. and unemployment.

STRANGLEHOLD

Only the struggle for socialist leadership in the working class can break the stranglehold of the bureaucracy and detend the most elementary interests of the working class.

We demand:

*Down with the control of wages.

*For pay rises cover to inflation in full!

* End redundancies ployment!

*For work sharing on full pay!

*Restore thé cuts in public spending.

*For programmes of public works at trade union rates to employ the unemployed.

*The 'lefts' must drive out Callaghan and Healey.

*All Labour MPs and council: lors and all trade union officials must vote and act against pay cuts, sackings and public spending cuts.

*Support the October 24th Conference for democracy in the unions and against wage control. For the widest possible support from labour movement organisations!

.£1.15 • 22 .£1.50 -£3.00 .£6.00 r to ›cialist lose

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