Printers stop work over right-wing advert The end of freedom Red Weekly 4 January 1974 Pagn 2 bung led by a militant left wing loudership..." Ibe response of printing workers to this crass attack on workers in strugale has been good. Machine room workom at the Timer stopped work to protest to the management aboul the ad, and warkers at the Saidoy Expreis forced the management to publish a statement trom the NATSOPA and SOGAT chapel prolestingat the advertisement, and won a commitment to print it reply by Ray Buckton.
However, their response was too defensive. When, two years ago, print worken on the Prening Standard tried to stop publication of a sanderous cartooa, directed agarnst lbe power workers, tbey were accused of toying to consor the Tree press. Thie has made print worten cautious about using their industria. strength to stop such anti-working class propaganda.
The joint chapels statement in the Express rojects the accusation that Trade Unionists are 'anti-British, and "bent on destroying Britain's cconoms." Tho scakness of this is self-evident. The strugzle of the working class does indeed pose the wrecking' of the econonny, but this is the result of the crisis of the capitalist systems, and results from the attempts of worken to defend theinselves from the effects of that crisis. By accepting the terans of debate set hy the pro-capitalist Sanderers the print workers tie their own shoe-theos together: although they have laken -astep forwand they can only get tangled up. Day-hy-Lay the ruling class wages the class war through the media. The thio trickle of working class propaganda is insignificant beside this corrent. By stoppung the publicaLon of the must sanderous matcrial print workers workl not he exercising "cemorship", bul redressing the balance. The working clans faces a ruliess enciny, und can never win uniess it is prepared to attack that enemy al its weak points. Just as it is legitimate to stop producing commodities for the cnemy, il is legitimate tostop the pruduction of enemy propaganda. Print workers have that poser in their hands and they ought tot letters, literature, etc were all seized and examined. Those raided included members of the International Marxist Group, IS, Clann na hEireann, CPB (ML), and other militants. A legal advice centre, financed by the YWCA was broken into and letters and files examined The Trades Counell took up the question of the ruids after a vigorons campaign by the Bristol Committee for the Defence of Socialists. But the Home Office rejected the Trades Couneil's plea for a public incairy into the affair, and opied instead for an internal police inquiry headed by the Assistant Chief Constable of Liverpool, John Bailey. The old palk' act could not have been more blutant, since Bristol's Chief Constable spent 35 years in the Liverpool force So the Trades Council then decided to hold its own inquity, and invited all interested parties to give evidence, although the police said that it would be 'unproper" (?) and "discourteous' (!) for them to participate, Amongst evidence heard at the inquicy were statements from Kirk Mann and Andrew McConell, squatten who were detained for 25 hours under very unpleasant conditions without access to friends or legal assistance, Mike Fitzgerald of the IMG testified that the police had taken masses of papers, literature and address books from his house, and members of IS and the CPB (M-L) gave similar evidence Angelika Ladd, who is German und has a poor command of English, told how she was held in prison from 4.00 pm until midnight with ber 10-month old baby. She was not allowed to feed the child for fire hoars, or to change its nappies for six hours.
Thi action by Bristol Trades Council ought to have a much wider application, Police repression, which started against leish groups and has been extended to the rerolutionary left, is now a major problem for all militant trade anionists. By making it cleat that it will defend and publicise the cases of all victims of repression, Bristol Trades Council has performed a vuluable service to the whole labour und socinlist movement,