TWO GROUPS of workers have come under the 'iron heel" of the Portuguese army in the past few weeks.
First of all, striking ground crews of the national airlines, TAP, sudden ly found themselves dragooned under military law and ordered back to work, So far, however, they have refused to obey, and the situation remains stalemated, with all TAP aircraft, except two ferrying Portuguese soldiers home from Africa, stuck on the ground.
While this was going on the army moved into the occupled premises of the Lisbon daily newspaper, Jornal do Comercio, where the workers were on strike and in occupaton.
In a big operation, during which a major part of tlie city was sealed off, they cleared out the strikers and shut the building down under military guard.
The military scem to have been worried by the advanced methods of strugale adopted by the strikers. On strike over a series of demands, including the firing of a nolotious anti-working class munager, the workers had put their occupation of the paper's plant to good use.
Until the army's take over they were producing and distributing a special 'strike edition' of the newspaper to win support for their strugBle. They had aiso called a meeting of workers' delegates from all the firms in the Borges Group, one of Portugal's big monopoly groups. which owns the Jorna! de Comercio. along with two other neaspapers, one of Portugal's biggear banks, a supermarket chain, and a string of otber companies includine the tyrer firm, Mabor, whose factory in the northern Portuguese city ot Porto has been on strike for two months.
Despite the army's attack, the strike goes on, and pickets have been mounted outside the paper's promises.
The meeting of delegates from the Borges Group went ahead, and o workers cominission embracing the whole group has been established.
Plans lor solidarity action with the Jorral do Comercio workers are presently under discussion by other Lisbon newspaper workers and by fellow-workers in the Borges Group. CHRIS BALFOUR
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to crush workers