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Workers have no need to be the Social Contract has been attack on their living standards.

But it is worth pointing out that the value of the take-home pay of workers has been slashed by this Labour government to an extent which has no historical precedent in this country.

Before this government took office the biggest fall in real wages ever recorded had been a 5% drop in the economic crisis of 1857-120 years ago!

So the Social Contract has managed to do more relative damage to employed workers' ability to maintain their living standards than even the economic cataclysms of 1873, 1921 or 1929-33.

Just how much damage? The government's official figures showed that over the year up to February 1977 workers' average gross pay had gone up 11.4% while prices (at least the way the government calculated them) had gone up 16.2%.

That meant a cut of almost 5% in the value of gross pay.

But the cuts in take-home pay have been even more than that (about 6%) because as nominal wages go up, a higher proportion of told that a vicious OUR ECONOMICS INFLATION FIGI GOVERNMENT-TI STAGE THREE OF CORRESPONDENT IRES IN THE CO C PREPARATION WAGE CONTROL. LOOKS TEXT OF › FOR Judging from speeches from the 'Militant' dominated platform at this Easter's annual conference it would have been hard to guess that the Labour Party was faced with an enormous crisis.

The effects of the toolroom strike, and the continuing strikes at Heathrow and Port Talbot against wage control, forcing the right wing Labour government into an open alliance with the Liberals, the Junior party of the employers- this major issue facing the working class at the moment was not tackled.

RESOLUTION

This was not through our lack of trying. Composite resolution 35 including a Sheffield LPYS branch resolution drawn up by Socialist Press supporters, called for the organisation of, and support for, strike action against wage control and for catching up increases linked to rising prices, relating this to the fight for the removal of Callaghan and Healey and all those responsible for the Social Contract.

The overwhelming majority of delegates-'Militant' supportersrefused to debate this resolution seriously and quite happily went along with the platform's recom mendation to reject it.

Their alternative? Resolutions like the one from Gateshead East LPYS demanding Callaghan implement socialist policies and that TUC leaders-the very people responsible for major attacks on working class living standards, trying to sabotage any attempt to break Phase 2-campaign for free collective bargaining after August!

SLIDING SCALE

But other 'Militant' supported resolutions even called on the Labour government and TUC to implement demands like sliding scale of wages, work sharing and The obvious fact that these policies will only be won by the working class in conflict with these bureaucrats fighting for their removal, for a break with the Liberals and for an alternative leadership, developed and tested in the class struggle itself was conveniently missed.

DECLINE The declining size of the LPYS Conference from 1500 last year to 1200 this year testifies to 'Militant's' bankruptcy.

Unless a new leadership is built in the LPYS which will direct youth into the unions and the Labour Party to fight for socialism against the bureaucracy both left and right this decline will continue.

The alternative of the Ler: Action' talk shop of the Workers Action, Ked Weekly, and Chartir supporters, was a tallure at the conference, attracting little interest from the solid ranks ite 'Militant' supporters since it take up the most pressing P rotiez.s they face.

COALITION

A WSL leaflet however on the fight against wage control and Ine coalition. it dealt WILD 'Militant's' pro-Stalinist policies in the trade unions and their complete refusal to fight on the shop 100: for their paper demands io: a sliding scale of wages.

The leaflet aroused much FOrC interest and was still being read and discussed the day after given out.

This initial small success must be developed and more defimize support gained at neti year's conference i the LPYS is to go» and DoI