[• But on both occasions it has -and…]

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• But on both occasions it has -and have the opportunity to been previously used against the give a lead to the entire American There is little doubt that in helped make the miners' strike so voting to reject the bosses' offer, effective.

their willingness once again to office the bankrupt officials and defy the law and the US state's negotiators who lent their support Behind this tenacity is bitter Party that is now invoking the hostility to the contract proposals powers of the state against their included provision for the sacking legislation, the miners must issue of unofficial strike leaders, and a call to every section of the US substitution of a private company labour movement to support their The shattering 2-1 ballot decision by 160,000 US coalminers to reject a contract offer endorsed by their union officials, and to continue their 90-day strike has created a dramatic new situation in the USA.

President Carter, forced into action by a mounting energy crisis that has caused tens of thousands of layoffs and huge power cutbacks, has declared he will invoke the union busting Țaft-Hartley laws to break the strike.

Such action is a direct challenge to the entire American labour movement. It must be met by a general strike in defence of the United Mineworkers Union that has historically played such a central role in the unionisation of American industry, and is now fighting for its life.

Taft-Hartley means in practice the Carter administration seeking a court injunction to instruct the miners back to work-and the intervention of Federal troops to escort shipments of scab coal.

UMW it has been defied.

miners were last week declaring strikebreaking machinery.

which, while conceding most of union. the UMW's cash demands, also run health scheme costing $10-14 struggle. a week in olace of the previous free scheme that was controlled by the union.

This offer had been endorsed by a majority of the union's 39man bargaining council in the hopes of avoiding a confrontation with Carter and a disruption of the long established links between the UMW and the capitalist Democratic Party.

Now the offer has been thrown aside miners are posed with enormous political questions working class, whose support has Their task is to sweep from to the bosses' offer, and to break all links with the Democratic in defying the Taft-Hartley All those union bureaucrats that have made speeches declaring support for the miners must be called upón to translate their words into general strike action to defeat the Carter government.

Now is the time to fight for the formation of a Labor Party to represent the independent interests of the American working class-to scrap all anti-union legislation, and nationalise coal and other major industries.

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