Mass Rejection of Spain's Social Contraci

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A vast gulf is opening between the Spanish working class and those who pretend to be its leaders.

Workers have shown themselves virtually unanimous in rejecting the popular frontist, anti-working class economic "agreements" which the party leaders entered into a month ago with Spain's Francoist premier Adolfo Suarez.

The workers' contempt for this "Moncloa Pact" has been made unmistakeably clear. A wave of huge, militant demonstrations has erupted in virtually all Spanish cities in the last two weeks.

Not explicit These demonstrations have usually been called around siogans which are not explicit rejection of the Pact.

They have often been supported by the main trade unions, whose attitude to the Pact has either been to support it (the Workers Commissions) or to "oppose" it in ambiguous terms (the UGT and others).

In Barcelona last week, for instance a demonstration of 200,000 workers was called by all the main unions around the deliberately confused slogan "For a way out of the crisis favourable to the workers".

Rejected

This was only a few days after the Barcelona Assembly of the Unemployed had called their own demonstration, supporied only by the CNT and left political parties around slogans explicitly rejecting the pact and its consulences.

This march was broken up by the armed police with great hrutality-still tne standard procedure of Spain's 'democratic' police ENTE DE 127D 06R force for dealing with any workers' mobilisation which is not sponsored by the Socialist oi Communist Party leaders.

Workers Commission and UGT leaders started by trying to prevent the demonstrations.

Head off

Increasingly they are being forced to participate in the hope of heading off the mass movement against the Pact.

But they have been completely incapable of preventing hundreds of thousands of workers taking up slogans not only against the pact but also against the Suarez government.

After massive demonstrations in Madrid, Barcelona, San Sebastian and scores of other cities, the protest reached a new peak in Bilbao in Viscaya Province last Saturday when another 200,000 workers marched through the city in one of the most united, anti-capitalist and anti-government demonstrations seen since the death of France.

Sackings

The demonstration was called by the Commission of the Unemployed and the Coordinating Committee of Workers from "Factories in Crisis" (those that have taken advantage of government rules which permit uncontrolled sacking and the suspension of wage payments if the firm pleads bankruptcy).

The unitary leaflet refrains from mentioning the Moncloa Pact.

But no worker could fail to recognise that everything it protests about is a part of the Pact.

Opportunism

This exhibits the most naked political oppor nism on the part of the bureaucrats and most particularly of the Workers Commissions, who with one hand salute the Moncloa Pact and with the other beckon the workers to "action".

The demonstration also shows, however, how the main bureaucracies are approaching desperation point in their fight to hold back the working class.

Appear to lead

In order to cling on to their leadership of a working class which is ready for a serious fight against the Francoist government, the Stalinist and reformist leaders have to appear to lead a fight against those very measures which they have helped to design.

And obvious some of the demands of the demonstration that the only possible way to persuade the workers of their sincerity is for the bureaucracies to subscribe, even if only formally, to a number of very important demands.

These, if seriously pursued, would pull down the wall of class collaboration into which the Stalinist and reformist bureaucracies are trying to confine the workers' movement.

The demonstration organisers now intend to call 24-hour general strike threughout Viscaya Province.

This again is designed to appear as an active measure while intending to demobilise the movement.

With each successful The November 5 march in Bilbao mobilisation, however, and as workers • develop their own struggles, independent of the union "leaders", against it more difficult to hold the workers in check.

"Democracy"

The arguments that "democracy must be consolidated" carries less and less weight as workers see that unemployment with "democracy" produces no more used against workers struggling for their rights.

It must have been with a feeling of chill in their bones, therefore, that the government and the bureaucrats of the workers movement listened to the chants which echoed between the buildings of Bilbao last Saturday night:

Against unemploymentworkers' struggle!

Down with the Pact!

Fight and win-workers power!

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redundancies and falling wages, the bureaucracies find