Led on inflated interest rates -and a mumber of maller French banks, which settled for the full lemands of the striker in order to make a quick illing at the expense of the bigger banks. These types of radical action ure not simply sore effective ways of pressurising the employrs. In a situation where they are decided upon y the mass of workers, they qualitatively ransform the struggle-from one about an crease in wages and the bettering of conditions, a direct challenge to the power of the The employers are very conscious of the hallenge, Hence their readiness to call on the eIp of the Government and the police. But such a line of action has in its turn roduced a response from the workeis. When le Government sent in the police to the central encies of the National Bank of Paris, the orkers responded immediately with a demo lled by the national strike committee in rich 50,000 marched through the streets of ris.
Such actions and experiences cut completely ross the intentions of the Union of the Left's ommon Programme, For the Communist rty, especially, the Common Programme is a y of uniting all struggles of the working ss around elections.
Accordingly, while the programme includes posals on wages, it is also intended to be d to intervene against strikes-to limit their pe and tone down their militancy. This is cisely what the call for a 'truce during the ction was about.
The growing "Lip consciousness" of broad tions of the workers vanguard cuts across i reformist project. The rapid transformation truggles from economic and defensive nands to a confrontation with the employers their repressive forces has led to a very nite politicisation.
The conduct of the struggles-the democratly elected committees and commissionsbegun to breed a consciousness of selfince and the need for independent classe organisation which is hostile to parliamry solutions. It is for this reason that the opposes elected strike committees and missions. The last thing that the leaders of Union of the Left want is to get into power he crest of a working class upsurge a Seguy put it recently, "It is absurd to say we would flood the left in power with a • of demands and unrealistic requirements; h would threaten to jeopardise this experihe bank workers were among the first to what this meant. Against the almost unous decisions of the general assemblies, bove the heads of the strike committees, liated a settlement well below their foll nds. After much discussion, and in order feat for the political parties of the right. sign, with the main bourgeois party-the Yet the roforendum went decisively against Church, Including the Pope himself. , now faces the thorny task of trying to • during the divorce referendum, and is ed by the Italian people. en there are dear signs of growing dissatis workers. nilitant, a delegate (shop steward) in one of count of one of the most important struggles the meetings to make them vote agsinst more outlant workers, clo Could you explain how the general strike developed on 27 February?
The 27 February general strike had mass participation, certainly the biggest participation ot any strice in recent wears Between toe ri and thirteen million workers can be said to have participated. In a number of cities, a large portion of the strikers were service-sector salatied and wage workers, This serike demonstrated the militant readiness for struggle of broad Bectots of the workers. But the Union bureaucracy failed to respond to this combativity. It advanced only very general demands, and ho concrete demand. Ar a time when such a desire to strugale exists, this policy in extremely to avoid a split return to work, the strike committees decided to recommend a return on these terms for all the workers.
BREAK WITH THE CP In order to get the bank workers back, the CP had to pull out all the stops, using lies and slanders in much the same way as the bourgeois press. There is a qualitative change in this respect Then we also saw radical forms of struggleoccupations of factories, and even workers' control of production in some places. But at that time the hold of the Communist Party was almost total. They could order a return to work without much opposition. And in general, the CP was able for a whole period after that to seal off any militant struggle that might break out.
The France of Lip is no longer like this. Now it is becoming possible to develop struggles even if they bring about a direct conflict with the CP/CGT. It was against the sabotage of the CP, for instance, that the strike at Credit Lyonnais was generalised to the whole banking system.
This has resulted from the failure of the CP to isolate the Lip struggle. Faced with official hostility, the Lip workers look the question of solidarity into their own hands, and replied to a pathetie demonstration of 5,000 peopie called in Paris by the trade union leaderships with a demo of almost 100,000 just a month later in Besancon, Now awareness of the need for this type of response has penetrated to much broader layers. The bank workers were able to call a whole series of solidarity demonstrations in Paris, which were supported by tens of thousands of people. GT (meekly followed by the other unions) are now beginning to break in action froan the Broad sections of workers, in other words, Influence of the Stalinist and reformist leaderships. This also has other implications, as shown negative. Following this strike, the Rumor government fell.
The bureaucracy and the bosses took advantage of this crisis to move quickly toward reuching an ugreement at Fiat. Trentin La leading bureaucrat told us on 21 February that we should not occupy the factory but prepare for a very long, hard struggle. Two weeks later, he signed an agreement with the management! Strikes developed throughout the week before the agreenient was signed, and the very day of the signing there was a total strike in all departJents of Fiat with very militant, powerful demonstrations.
What are the terms of the agreement!
On investments in the South there is a promise that if the market situation is not mifavourable, Fiat will invest in the automobile al the presidential elections.
against the existence of the bourgeois army trade unions, similar mobilisation against the Royer and needs of decaying French capitalism.
taken place one of the largest came right in what these women thought about the truce". seeking ways of linking up with the workers' movement. Significantly, the school students mobilised in large numbers for the solidarity workers, the youth, and the women's move. victory of the bourgeoisie.
geoisie because-Unlike Chaban-Delmas-he ation of Gaullism were no longer present. Giscard realised the need to transform the Gaullist "bonapartisc' regime into a more catereria, trom 550 to 350 Ire. in the hupe vote for the far left in the first round FOR A UNITED RESPONSE During last year the emergence of the high school students moverent rapidly displaced the students in terms of their mobilisations and militancy. The campaign against the Debre laws on conscription rapidly turned into a campaign itself, Hundreds of thousands of school students were mobilised, forcing a united front on the wanes In the last three months we have seen a Fontanet laws, which are attempts to rationalise The only steps he has taken so far have been to the French educational system in line with the Over the last fow months a women's move that needs to be done ment has also developed-around the questions of free abortion on demand and state financed nurseries. A whole series of mobilisations have the middle of the election campaign, showing Both the school students and the women are demos called by the bank workers. It is through uniting in such ways the struggles of the militant ment that a reply will be found to the electoral A POLICY OF CONFRONTATION Giscard got the backing of the French bourunderstond that the conditions for the continuFoed, Londan N.J, Industry in the South: If the Government makes proposals for developing public transport and railways, Fiat will build factories in the South for these sectors. Similarly, on the question of the organisation of work assignments, there ute only promises, as in the case of 'social measures"
(on public transport, etc). Do the central issue, wages, the agscement is the following: an 18,000 mand.
Jire increuse is granted, bur at is not a direct wage increase and it is not an across-the board raise. In effect, part of this 18,000 lire wil be paid in the form of a yearly bonus, which means, for example, that my basic wage increase is only 14,000 lire. Finally, there in a 200 lire decrease in the price of meals in the What do you think of this agreement?
It is a had aercement. It is inadequate connormal, presidential-cype regime. Now he proposes to form a conservative parliamentary partyhis "new majority"-capable of giving support to the policies which he will be forced to adopt.
These policies-in contrast to the proposals made by Chaban-steer well clear of any attempt to integrate the working class organisations. The economic situation is too serious for that, Indeed, the economic situation is likely to prevent Giscard from implementing even his paltry election pronises on prices, inflation and Inevitably he will have to confront the power of the working class. But in order to do that he will have to construct his new majority fudge up an electoral alliance. Much more than The worker have felt their strength during this election campaign. The Common Programme is going to be seen as less and less relevant as the prospects for its implementation are put off to the next decade. Already the Lip experience is sinking into the consciousness of broader layers of the working class as an example of how to take the struggle forward Now.
What is necessary is to draw all these forces students, school students, women, and vanguard workers-together into an assautt on the the regime based on their own extra-parliamentary methods of struggle, before Giscard can sew together his new alliance, Such is the condition for a decisive victory.
JIM CLYNES The spic struggle at Lip was rigorted extensively in a number of issues of Red Weekly, Copies of these are stiff awailable for readers who missed this series of arcie. les bur wowd flee to know more about how the struggle developed. Please send 30p to: Rod Weekly fLipl, 182 Pentoride Spared to the workers real requirements today. and also compared to the type of struggle that has developed and the militancy that has been demonstrated. But we don't reject this agree ment because we wanted 'to get all our demands' The demands themselves were unlavourable and the agreement is the result of this kind of deIn the meetings to come, we will intervene Do show that the agreement must be rejected, in order to struggie essentially wround three objectives: (1) major wage increases 140,000 lire): 12) a real sliding scale of wages; (3) no taxes on working people.
These demands affect all Italian workers and the struggle must therefore he extended toward a goneral strike, which is the only way to get these demands 23 May 1974 Page 5.
The Executive of the National Union of Students has begun to wilt under the pressure of the massive campaign in the media against the anti-racist policy adopted by the last NUS ConTerence.
They have decided to submit an amendment to the NUS conference in June, restricting the implementation of the resolution passed at the last conference to noo-violent means.
This well-publicised decision will cancer comparat to pur nos pousy into effect.
Even before this decision the засля umon a warwick university voted, by 180 votes to 120, not to support the 'no platform policy, and the press is crowing over the success of the Monday Cluh chairman, John Biggs-Davison, who spoke, (but was not heard) ar Essex University last Friday (17 May).
Al a Students Union meeting called an hour before Bipes-Davison's arrival at Essex, the Communist Party argued that the Monday Club meeting was a deliberate provocation, An attempt to disrupt it might be used to push the University Senate into accepting the ultra-repressive discip Snary procedures which it is to discuss next week, they said.
TEST CASE
Essex IMG militants argued that the meeting was a test case for the NUS policy, and if Biges-Davison spoke it would be claimed as a big victory by the press, who would in any case distort action by students. The way to defeat repression by Univeruty authorities, was to make it clear, through militant action, that they would not get away with it The 400 students who crowded the foyer, chanting and singing in an Above: students and engineering worcers breait up meeting for Childan junta sookos man at Hatfield Polytechnic last wonk-an actiOn which was conveniently hot men.
tioned by the Communist Party and their against the ultra lett, Photo: CHRIS DAVIES (Report)
Right: campaigners have bean mobilisine mombs or the worth west London Com mittee Ageinst Racism picketing North London Blood Translusion Centre to pro test at the refusal of the Director, Dr Tom Cleghorn, to take blood from black donora. It is reported that Or Cignorn, having Justified the ban on alleged "scientific' grounds, has now found new 'scientific' reasans for backing down and dropping the ban, Photo: PETER HARRAP (Reporti These two set-backs show that many students have fallen for the old argument that trce specch Is satred, even for the thugs who wish to smash the labour movement.
approached otber socialists following the defeat at Warwick and a Commitlee against Racism and Fascism was set up. It will begin a programme of education aimed at reversing the vote at a future Union meeting. Preparatons for a big teach-in on: "RacismWhat It Is And How To Fight It', are already underway.
The committee will also try to get student support for anti-fascist and anti-racist activities, Already it has persuaded a Union General Meeting to support the strike by Asian workers af Imperial Typewriters in Leicester, and the rally against the National Front in Birmingham. included members of the labour Party, the Indian and Bangla-Desh Workers Associations, IMG, IS, CP Women's and Gay Lib., Sinn Fein, Clann na hEireann and the trade It was because of this that the IMG union movement.
with horses prevented the rout of the fascists, and NF chairman John ('Hitler Was Right") Tyndall had to address his mass rally" from behind This victory shows the way to defeat the fascists militant united opposition around the slogan: No Platform For Fascists". And it is on the basis of this experience that NUS militants must fight for the rejection of the Executive's weak-koced amendment.
Only the drafting in of 500 police four or five lines of police and horses. ist press.
Front demonstration the IM1G.
Soref, second in command of the Monday Club, were part of a campuien launched in both the colleges and the local labour movement agaiust the growing threat of the far right. Instead of supporting the Oxford stud. ents actions, the NUS Executive declared themselves 'borrified" and joined in the attack on those who took took part launched by the Daily Telegraph and the rest of the capitalThe NUS policy is getting Increasing support inside the trade union movement candidate The actions of students and engineering workers at Hatfieid Poly against a rep resentative of the Chilcan junta were pat mentioned by the Communist Party and their allies on the NUS Executive in their trade against the ultra felt", nor was the mobilisation by students and workers in Birmingham Last Friday aguinst a National No. the EP is tar more intensed in Party to bathe the plodge in the Flection Mandesto to eliminare discitmitation an the ground of colour", The main slogan of the demonstration was "Hack an White, Unite and Fight'. Bur the LPYS, showed that they had no lee an bow to Tenge this unity in practice The National Demoeratic Freedom Movement, a Lecus-based Tascist oreanisaare to waite supremiser had pledged themselves to distupt the Bot the LPYS insisted that the demonstration must at all costs be orderly. At a everyone was warned Do not be provoked! Stay in your ranks? The stewards will cool down any locidontst" IMG members who protested against this and argued that saly actionay the mass of the demonsoreoes could drive the fascists off the streets sere answered succincliy: We don t want Doublemakers on this deitonstration!
The stupadecy of this position rook its inevitable toll. Thugs organised by the fascists stocked members of one Trades Council and ripped up their banner on their way to the assembly point. Expec ting that the fascists would try to push home their advantage on the march itself. delegates from the Tormarden Trades Council in Lancashire decided to march with Mick Blair, vico-president, told Red Weat, In the intorests and safety of our delegation me decided to march with the IMG contingent. We regret the line taken by the offical Labour leadership. which can only be described as spineless. As the economic crisis deteriorates and the ugly Law ol taschmi fails is bad the whole trade union movement will have to organise workers detence guards.
The truth of this was bore out only minutes later. Jost in front of the ING contingent, the fascists pognoed on an individual militant. When we tried to protoct this comrade, the stewards moved in •.. to attack the IMG! Mick Hair was actually punched by an LPYS seward as ho tried to help To add insult to injucy, to action was caken hy the organisers to prevent the absur situation oi the demonstraton being fed tor some distance by a alection cons paign car for Merrick, an openly racist The LPYS's policy only serves to give credibility to those forus who are in and grow The NDFM, who organised the attack on the Bradford march, claims, after only months in existenor, a membership of more than 200 in Leeds alone!)
"Militant" must make its position clear In the past they heve staled that they pre in Cavour of not allowing the fascists to
----- pull-quotes -----
it strike militancy