Socialist programme rallies support 'ITS PERMANENT' SAYS CALLAGHAN ON WAGE

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endanger fight PHOTO: Andrew Wiard, Report Callaghan As if making a last-ditch bid to boost the Tory vote and Labour abstentions, Prime Minister Callaghan chose May Day to issue another clear declaration that the Lib-Lab Government is firmly dedicated to permanent wage controls.

It is impossible for the government to stand aside from pay policy, said Callaghan.

Subservience The government itself employs a large element of the national workforce, which interlocks at many points with the private sector.

And of course, Callaghan's complete subservience to the 'national interests' of British capitalism means that the working class must be forced into continuing state regulation of wages.

But the feelings within the labour movement on this issue were indicated by the response of the normally docile conference of USDAW, the 450,000 strong shop workers' union.

Despite warnings from USDAW leader Lord Allen on the "dangers" of a wages 'free for all' delegates unanimously carried a resolution calling for an end to wage restraint-though the target they set themselves was a pathetically low minimum of f55 for a 35-hour week.

The bitter experience of three years of bureaucratically imposed pay limits shows that rank and file hostility to wage control, and willingness to wage militant struggles are insufficient in themselves to defend living standards.

It is essential that the struggles on wages within the trade union movement are coupled with the fight to construct a political leadership capable of exposing and defeating the official union bureaucracy, and spelling out the need for catching-up claims linked to cost-of-living clauses to compensate for inflation.

This battle within the unions must be combined with the fight inside the Labour Party to remove the Callaghan/Healey coalitionist leadership and all those who defend wage controls.

Fake Such a fight will be obstructed at each turn by the fake 'lefts' of the Tribune group who verbally pose as opponents of Callaghan, but have in practice supported each round of wage control, the Lib-Lab Coalition deal, and the whole package of reactionary policies that have flowed from it.

By demanding that these 'lefts' put their militant words into practice and carry out a fight against Callaghan/Healey we highlight their impotence and the necessity for Labour Party militants to break from these 'leaders' CO UNCIL ELE ICTIONS Due to the difficulty in obtaining adequate information about the council election results in time for this issue we have put off an analysis of the local election results until next week.

The Ratepayers party found its leader and deputy leader kicked out of their seats-held by the Ratepayers Coventry's 'left' labour MP Audrey Wise joined a picket outside an exhibition of imported machine tools two weeks ago.

The exhibition was being held at T.I. Polmach a firm established eighteen months ago by Tube Investments and Metal exports, the Polish machine tool agency.

Despite the fact that last year T.I. Polmach imported £2.6m worth of machine tools while exporting £4.5m worth, the picket was organised to show fears of British industry being "swamped" by foreign imports.

As redundancies in the British machine tool industry increase (90 were announced last week at the Matrix machine tool firm-also part of the T.I. group) the struggle to defend jobs must not be channelled into appeals for Ron Doughty Secretary of the Coventry Machine Tool Workers Committee-which was formed a few months ago to protest at the threat the Council to denounce capitulations and betray and to launch the fight fr socialist programme. to the British Tool industry was quoted in the Covent: Evening Telegraph as sayin!

"We must become moi competitive and spend mor on research. We have ti basis, all we ask is to be give the opportunity instead seeing our jobs beir swallowed up by foreis firms."

The solution to job cu is not import controls whis tie machine tool workers ! the fortunes of Briti industry in a way graphical illustrated by Doughty comments.

Workers threatened wi the sack must fight for we: sharing on full pay and :: opening of the compa: books as a first step in t: fight for a nationalis: machine tool industry witt: the framework of a planni socialist economy.

Labour Party memte must step up the fight agair. the nationalist policy import controls which peddled by Tribune Grot members like Wise, and whi: has now become a part government economic polic: