struggles will be played by the pickets, Last year two of the most important strikes-the miners strike and the building workers strike wete only won because of the massive use of flying pickets, This year, in the first Chrysler dispute, the company would have easily won without the picketing of the Stoke engine factory by Ryton workers The ruling class is well aware of the power of picketing and, for this reason, has heen concentrating its attacks throughout the summer on this form of struggle. In the Footprint dispute in Sheffield police smashed into a mass picket, arresting the district secretary of the AUEW and other pickets, Most seriously of all, the Shrewsbury 24 trial is a systematic attempt to intimidate and prevent all future use of mass picketing. In the coming months the police will attack pickets on a scale never seen before, If they can succeed in defeating the picket lines all hopes of the working class winning the coming battles will be lost.
But if the police are making their preparations, the working class has also shown it is perfectly capable of defending its picket lines. When the police savagely attacked the Hull dockers' picker lines in the last docks strike the dockers culled in mass reinforcements and fought back with the same weapons as the police. When the police consistently broke the miners' picket line at Saltley, 50,000 engineering workers struck and 10,000 staged a mass picket which sent the police fleeing in disarray. Although it is at present still smail, the mobilisation against the Shrewsbury trials was given a big boost on 3 October with strikes by Liverpool dockers and building workers across the country. This campaign must be stepped up through demonstrations and further strikes if it is to be successful. *For the formation in every strike of teams of flying pickets under the control of an elected strike committee. *For the organisation of self-defence of picket tines. *For demonstrations of solidarity with the Shrewsbury 24 in every urea: prepare for mass strike action if the 24 are not acquitted.
The higgest single danger facing the working Rally at Shrewsbury on 3 October - defence of the 24 is essential to prepare for coming struggles. Photo: John Sturrock (Report)
for a recall TUC Congress on Phase 3 to call a general strike must be put forward-but it does mean that it has to be understood that the trade union leadership will not carry through an etfective strugale against the Government. Militant have to work for other ways of co ordinating the working class attack. The most effective way of doing this is by working for co-ordination between unions in putting forward claims, and by holding local meetings of militant to discuss how to co-ordinate ind centralise the struggle against Phase 3.
Some progress is being made towards the unicing of ditterent struggles, A clear campaign for a