dressed up as "left'.
tion".
For 4,600 workers threatened with the sack with another 4.000 affected in their wake-Foot's exhorrations about needing guts has a hallow and cynical ring, Workers denunciations of him as a 'Judas" and I traitor, and demands he should "get out" were appropriate and justified.
But more than fury and anger in needed to defeat the plans of Foot and the Labour Government to close down steel making at Ebhw Vale. Nor will simple demands for nationalisstoon sullice-after all Lobw Vale is already a nationalised concern. BURNING WAY The Ebbw Vale closures reveal in a burning way the need for a working class stralegy to defend jobs, To rely on the Labour Government lo provide a solution is futile-after all the person who defends the sackings is the Labour MP for Ebbw Vale, Labour's Minister of Employment and a fervent advocate of the soctal contrick?, The first step to take is to occupy the works and to put all the machincry and equipment under the control of the workforce. That is the best and most effective base to start arguing /rom.
Up to now all the action and the decisions have rested solely in the hands of the works" council. No mass meetings hake yet been organised. This situation must be remedied in mediately. If a real fight is to take place against the sackings then the entire workforce must be involved. They must be convinced on whut steps have to be taken to light the sackings, their ideas for conducting the struggle have to be harnessed, When the ruling class want to stick a knife in the working cluss they like nothing better than getting some social democrat to do the job for them. And there was no better assassin for the Ebbw Vale massacre than Michael Foot, that tired old liberal Before depurting for the rigours of Hampstead and the hard slog at the Ministry of Employment, Foot told demonstrating reality. This means elected committees of workers deciding what hours should be worked, how the labour force should be organised. and exercising the right to scrutinise all decisions of management.
be for a guarantee that there will be mDTS at mase sackings.
of pay.
The fight of the steelworkers must Workars at BSC's Shelton works neir Stoke built a stainless steel statue of a steelworker to commemorate their fight against redundancies. But they are stilt going to lose B00 jobs. The works at Ebbi Vale have come out even worse. Lucky talismen are all very well but only a united national struggle will defent BSC's plans and prevent further atti As usual the Red Heokly is nearly skint. Ten days have gone by in February and all we have in the Find Drive is £57.39, That gives us just 18 days to raise £350 which is the minimum needed to make sure that the paper comis out.
One of the readers suggested a special appeal to our wealthy maders like Tory MP Eldon Griffiths. Howaver, financial masachism is not a normal deviation amongst such people and they are raluctant to subsidise their oum expropriation.
Although the IMG always gets the biggest police contingent on demonstrations, and sarre the police more overtime no redundancies, and that all work must be shared on the basis of a reduced working week with no loss Ebbw Vale is not just about a struggle in steel. It is central to the fight of all the working class in smashing rising unemployment.
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steelworkers: You have to show some guts in this kind of situa- Bob