the end of the strike is itself a nightmarish piece of police intimidation. The police first laid charges in November. At the time, some of the men were told by police that they would "get life for damage and assault, others that *their charge sheet would be the same as the Kray twins - demanding money with menaces' (this was for collecting money during the strike).
But within three weeks, the charges were dropped by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The men thought this was the end of the affair. Yet in mid-February, the police again rounded up a number of the men, most of whom live in towns in North Wales, took them to Shrewsbury prison under full security guard, and the following day there were charges once again. What explains this treatment?
TEST CASE Mid-February was also the period when the Government announced its intention to toughen up the laws on picketing. At the same time the creation of a special mobile anti-picket police squad was given publicity. In the absence of a united struggle against the pay laws by the trade unions, the Government can 1,000 uniformed police brought Shrewsbur From : ALF JENNING building workers were to down tools in solidarity, the offer was withdrawn. The workers were told that a one-day stoppage on the day would do "a great disservice to the union". Clearly the unions hoped that the men would admit to the charges, thus preserving the "respectability' of the unions and freeing them from the stigma of "conspiracy'. Maybe the bureaucracy even thought they could get concessions from the bosses by stabbing the men in the back in this way. As it is, the action committee has now had to employ its own lawyers, and this makes financial support vital. The Shrewsbury 24 must not be regarded as an "isolated case'. The fight to get the charges dropped is part of the same fight as that against the Industrial Relations Act. All bodies of the labour movement must take up this case as part of the struggle to defeat the legal offensive of the State. Those workers who have already made their solidarity clear must do so again on 25 April when the men go for committal hearing again; and rank and file organisations like Charter and the LCDTU can and must play a vital role in organising to spread the kind of campaign needed to defeat the law. almost to a halt as building workers went to court.
e of the strike movement against police violence