TUC keeps firemen isolated

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of 10% plus promises of rises later.

And he has made no call for other unions with claims outstanding to take action now.

When the bosses offer was put out to the membership it met with resounding rejection. Yet the FBU executive met for nine hours last week to discuss the vote.

"Flexibility"

Afterwards, the Executive immediately proposed talks with the local authority employers to seek some improvement that would allow Parry to recall the delegates conference.

On Monday night, after talks had allegedly "broken down" with employers, Parry declared that he was simply looking for "some flexibility" either on the 10% or on the phasing of the future proposals and then the matter will be resolved."

This ignores completely need to destroy the 10% limit. 14 million workers are in the pay queue behind the firemen.

Healey's pay controls must be crushed if living standards are to be defended for any section of workers. Even the latest offer to the firemen makes that clear.

The firemen have claimed 30% now. The employers have offered only 10% with a two year commitment to take firemen to the level of the top 25% of skilled workers.

Cut in wages

By leaving pay controls intact, this offer would ensure that the members are tied to a steady cut in real wages in future years beyond the scope of the deal-and that the rises over a two year period will be limited to three sets of (say) 10% plus just under £9 spread over the two years.

The FBU-if it accepted this deal-would set a precedent for both and the TUC to move

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A mass meeting of Babcock Wilcox strikers in Viscaye RMGARD MOLLER,U The National Front coalition government in Turkey is in acute crisis in the aftermath of this month's municipal elections.

Eight deputies have resigned from President Demirel's Justice Party-leaving him stranded with only 221 coalition supporters in the 450-seat Parliament.

The elections themselves were marked by increasing fascist violence which ended with 13 dead and 67 wounded. The results paralleiled the October General Election.

Lost heavily

The Justice Party lost heavily, particularly • in the municipal areas. The main bourgeois opposition partyEcevit's RPP-now controls 42 out of 67 of these local councils, while the Justice Party won control of only The fascist National Action Party took contral of S councils. But the left wing parties attracted only 2% of the total vote and failed to win control of a single area.

The swing to Ecevit's party-which only won 33 councils in the last elections indicates the growing hostility and resentment at the right wing policies of the NF government.

No way forward But it also indicates the crisis of political leadership n the working class, since Ecevit's party is in no way a vorkers party and offers no way forward for peasants.

Meanwhile the fascists are gaining in electoral strength, and growing more confident as increasing sections of the capitalist class begin to conrule not adequate to solve their acute economic problems.

No stability The resignations from the Justice Party must be seen in this light. While the immediate consequence might be the fall of Demirel and Ecevit forming a government, this will not create stability The IMF are demanding drastic measures against the working class before agreeing to part with a $1 billion loan vital to preserve the Turkish economy.

Running out

Industry in Turkey is even now running out of essential raw materials through lack of foreign currency.

Whichever government continues in office, the capitalist class must attempt to enforce further devaluation of the lira, price increases, and wage controls if the IMF is to be placated.

To do so means confronting the workers movement. And this is why the fascist forces are now gathering strength. Provocations are increasing.

ritty four students were wounded after a bomb went off in a care in Ankara known to be frequented by leftists.

The illusory Turkish PHOTO: Mark Rusher, IFL But in this sharpening situation, the Turkish Communist Party and the trade union bureaucracy still remain tied to the politics of class collaboration. "Democratic" alternative They still advocate support for Ecevit's bourgeois RPP as a "democratic" alternative to fascism.

And, as it did in Spain in the 1930s, such fake position could result in a monumental defeat. for Turkish workers.

But even while. the Stalinists create confusion sections of workers, including miners and metal workers, are engaged in struggles. These must be extended.

Overthrow

aim must be not the one of a 'democratic' capitalism, but the overthrow of capitalism.

In the struggle against class collaboration and for a programme of independent action, a revolutionary leadership can be built.

A one day general strike (opposed by the main reformist and Stalinist leaders) brought about half the industry of Biscay (Viscaye) province to halt on December 2.

The strike, which over 100,000 workers supported, meeting of Babco was called in solidarity with the locked-out workers of the large engineering firm Babcock Wilcox.

This firm is one of the largest in the great industrial area around Bilbao employing 5,000 workers.

Babcock is 10% owned by the British parent company, 12% by well-known Spanish capitalist families and 8% by THE RELEASE the Bank of Viscaya. The are small shareholders.

Babcock has long been notorious for its repressive attitude to its workforce.

So when the military section of the Basque nationalist organisation, ; ELA, decided to stage a dramatic event to interfere with last June's elections, they kidnapped and then killed the Chairman of Babcock's board of directors, Javier de Ybarra.

At just about the same time Babcock began to attempt to sack a large section of their workforce so as to impose massive speedup on the rest.

Their plan was to sack 40% of the workforce in 1218 months. But the reaction of the workers has been so strong that the bosses now want to sell off the few profitable parts and shut down the rest.

The factory has now been occupied. The bosses have been forced to open the books to representatives of the workers' assemblies.

Owed £700

They have been prevented from moving out machinery and from paying money to the government rather than

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