Wages Struggle Spans Europe

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Argentinian car workers demonstrate against Videla Almost every day some new event confirms that the control of wages is a central plank in the anti-working class policies of virtually all the governments of Western Europe.

In ITALY, the minority Christian Democratic government of Andreotti is battling to force the unions to accept a curtailment of the so-called 'sliding scale' included in current wage contracts.

At present inadequate compensation. for price rises is added to wage packets every three months.

Andreotti wants to extend this period to six months and to exclude from the price index used for compensation a whole range of products whose prices have been rising fastest.

The bureaucrats of the three trade union federations have no wish to overthrow the Andreotti government which is kept alive in parliament by the abstention of the Communist and Socialist Parties.

But they dare not agree to Andreotti's wage plan as it stands since it would threaten their rapidly declining ability to control the anger of the working class at its falling living standards.

Last week, negotiations between 'Andreotti and the union leaders broke down, with the latter threatening strike action if Andreotti introduced his plan unilaterally.

But far from demanding a real sliding scale of wages which would protect pay against inflation the bureaucrats treacherously offered Andreotti other methods of cutting labour costs including speed-up, suspending some national holidays, the abandoning of movement of labour agreements, the reduction of redundancy pay and a campaign against absenteeism.

In FRANCE, too, it is the trade union leaders, most importantly those of the Communist Party trade union federation the CGI, who are refusing to lead any struggle against Prime Minister Barre's economic programme of spending cuts and savage wage cuts.

Just as in Italy, the objective of the bureaucrats is to maintain the tottering right wing government in power.

They have been forced by growing working class militancy to call a number of strikes but have succeeded so far in keeping these within the bounds of tokenism.

CGT leader Georges Seguy, sharing his troubles in a speech last week, said that 'rarely has the trade union movement faced so many obstacles' He never spoke a truer word; and the chief of the obstacles is himself. His abject collaboration with the government, however, canCHI not stop the growing move among French workers to answer the cuts in their real wages with strike action.

In WEST GERMANY as well, events of the last week have brought major wage strikes closer. Negotiations over new wage contracts in the metal and engineering industries, covering four million workers, ground to a halt employers and the major union involved, IG Metall, failed to reach a compromise.

The unions have been demanding an increase of 9.5% against the employers final offer of 5.5%. The engineering deal is normally a pacesetting deal for other industries.

The deadlock, therefore, paves the way for growing confrontation over wages throughout West German industry. Predictably the bureaucracy now talks of calling 'token' strike action.

Almost simultaneously in neighbouring NETHERLANDS deadlock was reached in wage talks in the metal and construction industries.

As in Italy, a central feature of these talks has been the question of automatic compensation for inflation which in limited form has existed in the Netherlands for some time.

The unions claim this as an 'acquired right' while the employers want to abolish it.

These instances - together with order to prove it, he has lifted all restrictions on the sacking of workers and wage cutting and virtually abolished the right to strike.

'READJUSTMENTS'

True to its treacherous form, the People's Party (the name used by the Panamanian Communist Party) accepts the measures, describing them as "tactical readjustments in the revolutionary: process'. have already come ork on indeenit, however, strike unti the measures are reversed.

These workers are endangered by the position of the leadership of the main trade union federation which restricts itself to protest and implicitly exhonerates Torrijos by calling for the resignation of "the minister responsible" for the new measures.

PERU

In PERU, the military dictatorship has also been helped to stay in the still unresolved conflict over wages policy which nearly destroyed the DANISH government six weeks ago, and the growing threats to the fragile Stage II of the British Labour government's wage cuts policy - all point to the decisive importance of wages in the capitalist offensive against the working class.

The problem of automatically preserving living standards against inflation features in all these confrontations.

Despite the limited compensation achieved in some European countries like Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands, the trade union leaders everywhere oppose the demand which really answers this problem - a sliding scale of wages, based on price indexes drawn up by elected committees of trade unionists and housewives.

And they all shrink from the only weapon which can win this demand, unlimited strike action.

While fascist police have been shooting at and beating up workers in the streets around Bilbao, the leaders of the Spanish 'opposition' have been having what they call 'satisfactory' talks with the government which orders the police brutality.

On four successive days last week demonstrations of up to 10,000 workers and students assembled in one of the industrial suburbs of Bilbao to demand an amnesty for all political prisoners. After the fraudulent 'amnesties' granted by King Juan Carlos last year, 200 political prisoners remain from Franco's rule in addition to all those who have been jailed by the two post-Franco governments.

In one demonstration. a youth of 15 was killed by the police. This murder has greatly reinforced the fury of the masses of Euskadi against the fascist government.

This renewed proof of the nature of the rulers of Spain had no effect on the 'opposition'. In November the Platform of the Democratic Opposition (which includes the Socialist and Communist Parties, various groups of Social Democrats and Christian Democrats and the three "Maoist' parties to the left of the CP) appointed nine-man team to negotiate a pact with the Suarez One of these was Simon Sanchez Montero of the Communist Party who has now been replaced by the party's General Secretary Santiago Carrillo, fresh from a spell in jail -which he refers to as if he was an honoured guest of his respected friends in the 'realistic' government.

When Prime Minister Suarez refused to negotiate with the CP the committee of nine formed a sub-committee of four to conduct talks, composed Christian Democrats, and two "socialists' including Socialist Party Secretary Felipe Gonzalez.

The CP (let alone the parties to its left) was happy to be represented by the bourgeoisie. The. government isn't talking to the CP; the CP is talking to the government. Two enemies of socialism are happy

CHILE

THE CHILEAN ECONOMY has been hit by a major financial crisis. Thousands of small savers have been demonstrating in the streets of Santiago outside the doors of small banks which have gone bust.

The bankruptcies have been engineered by the economic policies of the military dictatorship following the advice of Nobel prize winning economist Milton Friedman to cut the money supply, already leading to the sacking of thousands of workers.

In his first statements since his release from jail (in Brezhnev's sordid dea, with Pinochet) Chilean CP General Secretary Corvalan has shown that his commitment to class collaboration, which paved the way for the military coup in 1973 is completely unshakeable.

Most of the Chilean military, he asserted, want to put an end to the present 'eminently transitory' dictatorship. It can be overthrown if the Popular Unity parties form a sufficiently strong alliance with the Christian Democratic Party (which supported the coup).

He has welcomed the election of Carter and called the Catholic Church (which also supported the coup) 'a source of inspiration to the Chilean people' INDIA THE PRO-MOSCOW Communist Party is reaping the fruits of class collaboration. It performed its role in giving full support to the development of the dictatorship, and it has now been discarded by Indira Gandhi who launched a scathing public attack on the party and arrested some of its members.

The Moscow government still supports the "progressive policies" of Mrs Gandhi.

MEMBERS OF THE Workers Defence Committee, set up to aid workers on trial for their part in last year's general strike against the economic policies of Gierek's government, have suffered further repression, Members were beaten when trying to attend workers' trials. And two leading members received letters threatening that they will be 'sorted out" and hinting at deportation, CZECHOSLOVAKIA THE STALINIST bureaucracy has launched a major attack on the 300 intellectuals and others who signed a manifesto called 'Charter 77' demanding "human rights" in Czechoslovakia. Several have been arrested; others have had their phones cut off and all have been daily vilified.

AFRICA TWO POLITICAL prisoners were found hanged in their cells last week bringing to 17 the have died in since the June.

The authorities made the unbelievable claim that all of them committed suicide.

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