put in a branch about 15 miles outside the city. The union never adequately discussed their problems of pay, hours and conditions. When the workers finally went on strike the refusal by union officials to make it official almost resulted in the workers leaving the union altogether, Again, at Jaffe & Sons Ltd. in Nottingham, T&GWU officials never once, over a period of ten months, discussed with the workers how to improve their appalling pay and conditions. When the workers finally came out on strike these bureaucrats refused to make it official.
Despite this lack of support from the official structures, black workers have played a big part in unionising small factories. For example, at Hardwood Cash Ltd. In Mansfield, a few dozen Asian workers have unioniied more than haif of the predominantly white labour force in a few months. But the lack of union democracy and the apathetic, or openly racialist attitudes of union officials and national organisations to the special problems of these workers has often led to a general disillusionment with unions. The danger of breakaway unions being formed in this situation is a real and immediate one, Such moves would be a step backwards, since breakaway groups become isolated very rapidly, and are then either smashed or swing to the right. This would also give the trade union movement an casy excuse or ignoring the problems of racialism which they must tackle if the working class movement SHE DO CA workers. it çan only attack the symptoms - a guaranteed recipe for ineffectiveness. The failure of such legislation is inevitable: it is an attempt to use a section of the capitalist state apparstus (parliament and the courts) to attack a basic need of the capitalist economy. In the Mansfield Hosiery Mills strike, for instance, the Race Relations Board was extreinely hesitant to make public its findings on the situation in the factory. Yet the strike was in large part won because of widespread public sympathy with the dispute - something that was due almost exclusively to the initiatives of the strikers themselves. Again, at Hardwood Cash in Mansfield, the Board's report on in stances of discrimination was given no publicity. (ii) Trade union leadership, Pressure on the trade union leaders is frequeatly proposed as the way to make the labour movement face up to the reality of racialism. But while we should deamnd that the trade union leaders take up the matter seniously, this is in no way a sulficient answer to the problem.
The first problem is that an effective fight to Smash racialise in the unions must be based on rank and file democracy, which is an erosion of the position of power held by the bureaucracy. It is thus unlikely to receive a welcome from them. Secondly, racialism can only be smashed in the working class by a clear challenge to the system which spawns it, capitalism. This challenge is unlikely to be spearheaded by a trade union leadership which acts as a broker between the employers and the worcing class, Certain essential tasks confront the labour movement in the struggle to smash racialism.
The right to independent black organisation must be fought for as essential in a situation where black workers find themacives in a largely racialist working chase. As the Black Power movement showed, such independent organisaLion can be the means for black poople gaining the self-respect and strength of which they have hitherto been deprived by centuries of capitalist COURSER Police iay ina birck mittens during Norting Hill demontation over Mangrose case At Mansfield Hosiery Mills, for example, the Asian workers found that it was from fellow strongest support. This also gave them a perspective of fighting in stronger numbers for democracy and representation in the union, and for better conditions for all black workers in the industry. This co-operation has been extended since the strike ended to cover the whole and in initiating independent activity on the East Midlands area and to include workers in the T&GWU as well as those in the NUHKW, This has greatly strengthened the workers" fighting ability in such struggles as that at Jaffe's in Nottingham.
Crucial in this process, however, was the simultancous recognition by the Asian workers in Loughborough of the need to remain united with white workers within the organisations of the working class, the trade unions. But they realised that this unity could only become some - officials. Adequate literature in immigrants' thing real if it was based on a recognition of the rights and equal status of all the parties involved.
Support for independent black organisation must not be confined to the union situation, either, but must be extended to similar organisations in the community which are an essential Finully it is necessary to stress the need for form of protection against constant racialist attacks by the police, the law, landlords, white hoodlums, etc.
(i) Tha labour movement must be involved in active stepe to fight racialism at all levels of society. Racialism is manifested in the community through bad housing conditions, colour bars in lodgings and pubs, police attacks on black youth (as in Notting Hill and Dulston), and in much of what passes for 'education' in