Writing in Red Mole in 1970, a few months before the elections, Robin Blackburn dismissed the early Labour Party as a 'bureaucratic manoeuvre'. Facility almost always has a knack of distorting the truth. The early Labour Party was not hatched (as Blackburn implies) in the com mittee rooms of the then equivalents of Callaghan or Williams. It was born despite such figures out of the escalating struggles of the labour movement, at the turn of the century, and the hesitant understanding of ever-wider layers of a common interest to The creation of the Labour Party took place, interestingly enough, in a period similar to our own in several respects. Its seeds were embedded in a decade of shocks and upheavals sparked off by the growing threat to Britain's dominance in world trade by the industrial powers of Germany and the USA. In order to retain their slackening grip over the world market, British employ. ers resorted to a well-coordinated attack upon workers' living standards and rights almost identical to the one we have witnessed over the past decade or so.
An intensive drive was heralded to reduce wages, introduce 'speed ups (productivity deals), abolish restrictive practices and break the backs of the unions which had grown enormously in the preceeding period. (Trade union membership, between 1885 and 1890 alone had tripled).
Such an offensive, coupled with the attempt by the employers to create a ready supply of scab labour' in the National Free Labour Association, gave rise throughout the 1890s to a whole wave of 'lock outs' and provoked Sunkes In spite of the pittance which nurses are paid, the government's contemptible offer of 14% is in reality a savage cut when inflation shows no sign of abating from its current level of 22%. And in some areas, health authorities are considering rent increases of up to 100% for nurses' accomodation.
In the wake of the 31% award to the doctorsthe Tories know that they need support from somewhere- nurses representatives were told at 10, Downing Street, that the nurses could have 14% and 'not a penny more'.
CYNICAL Thatcher hoped that the nurses 'can find it in their hearts to be well pleased'.
In other words, she was giving notice that the Torie:
are willing to cynically exploit any reluctance by some nurses to take action in defence of their living standards.
But evidence of a determination to fight is alreday materlalsing. Last month in Glasgow, a 700TAFF VALE The impact of these struggles on the consciousness of the labour movement- particularly newly. minimised. They gave birth. siowy and hesitating!!, to a growing awareness among more militant layers of a common interest of the labour movement that had to be uncompromisingly defended.
Up to that point in time, as Pelling is eager to point out, 'there had been little concept of 'labour' as a distinct class in the community, and there was often intense hostility between the semi-skilled and older craft unions. The ofstrong march took place, demanding a 30% pay increase, a freeze on rents, and an end to hospital cuts and closures.
was strong pressure from delegates to the annual conference of COHSE, one ol the three nurses unions, for decisive action from the leadership. At the time this article goes to press, preparations are going ahead for a nationwide mobilisation during the resumed negotiations with management in July.
BACKING One thing is predictablethat if the nurses stand up for their right to a decent living standard, they will be subjected to a vitriolic barrage of propaganda from the Tory press.
For this reason, the widest possible backing from all sectors of the labour and trade union movements will be crucial. Not only is the nurses' claim well-deserved on its own merits, but it must also be recognisea tnal tne government has to be shown that workers will always come to the support of those sectors which are under attack. increasingly centralised through the creation of Employer's Federations, slowly began to overcome 'craft' and 'sectional' differences as the unions increasingly identified together around the Even though this process was among the new!! gradually spread to the more craft-conscious unions whose interests were clearly endangered strike action, was seen to have There MOBILISE Trade union and Labour for demonstrations and pickets.
must be shown that the nurses- or any other sector- will not bear the need to defend the cause of labour.
LIBERALS Partywas to fall.
Liberal Party.
Democratic Party.
most obvious in the initial stages unionised. it labour movement.
by attacks upon trade union autonomy which reached a climax in the Taff Vale judgement of 1901.
This 'judgement', forcing the railmens union to pay the employers damages for all losses incurred in DEFEAT Party branches should express their support for the nurses' claim and mobilise Thatcher and Co.
brunt of the bosses' crisis.
large majority. It was clearly recognised that this was a threat not only to the railmen's union but to trade unionism itself, since, if any union could be made to legally compensate a company for losses incurred in a strike, the unions would be rendered virtually powerless.
It was in response to such attacks upon the unions, no longer on a sectional but on a national basis, that the fertile ground was created on which the propaganda of the early socialist groupings such as the Social Democratic Federation and the Independent Labour The deepening awareness among unions of common interest to defend- that of the labour movement- began to drive a wedge through the "mariage of convenience which had hitherto caused the unions to clutch at the apron-strings of the Up to that point in time, the majority of the unions- particularly the craft unions- had trailed behind the Liberals in much the same way as today's labour movement in the USA supports the The unions advocated support for the Liberals in exchange for the latter's policy of free trade (which guaranteed cheap food prices) and a less antagonistic attitude towards the The sharp offensive launched by the employers, however, cemented in the labour movement a growing awareness of its class interests and pushed growing layers inside the unions to break from the alliance with Liberalism and seek an independent political voice.
The advent of the Tory govern ment has clearly begun to affect ASTMS members, as could be seen in the militant mood at conference this year.
The NEC's compromise line was challenged a number of times and- on certain significant items- defeated.
The mood of the conference was registered at the beginning when the NEC's vague motion of opposition to the Employment Bill- pledging no real action- was challenged by an amendment from the floor.
The amendment clearly implied the need to break the law to defend members' interests and pledged solidarity with other unions under attack.
While the NEC won the day, its position was challenged by a large minority.
The NEC didn't have it all their own way, however. Its position of support for the Edwardes Plan- axing 25,000 jobs at British Leyland- was challenged by an emergency motion from the Birmingham district. Despite Jenkin's opposition to the motion- which deplored NEC acceptance of the plan - it was carried by a What this showed was Unions such lake place overnight. as the NUM decided to break from the Liberals as late as 1908. Nev. ertheless, it was out of this deepening awareness of a common class interest that had to be defend ed that, in 1899, the Labour Representation Committee was formed. The LRC, sponsored by a loose federation of trade unions and socialist currents, set itselflimited objectives, it is true.
It wasn't even sure whether its aim was to set up a party, let alone a party based on clear socialist principles. Its aims, as originally defined, were as limited and fuzzy as they are today, ' to ensure that working class opinion should be represented in the House of Commons by men sympathetic with the aims and demands of the la. bour movement and whose cand. idatures are promoted by one or other of the organised movements.
Behind these unclear and hesitating words, however, lay a radical change in consciousness by important layers of the labour movement which 'marxists' such as Robin Blackburn contemptuously dismisses when comparing the Labour Party with the Demo. cratic Party in the USA. A radical change because, in the decision to promote candidates 'sympathetic with the aims and demands of the labour movement' lay an aware. ness of the need for these layers to create a political voice for Themselves This fact should not be underestimated by those- particularly outside the labour movementwho see only its negative features represented by figures such as Callaghan or Williams. The Labou Party symbolised, in its creation, an important step forward in the awareness of millions of workers. an awareness of lnemselves ds d class with distinct interests which had to be fought for not only at an industrial but also at a politica!
level.
the growing worry about job prospects in the face of Tor!
'rationalisation' schemes. It was implicit in other motions relating to new technologyseen by many at the conference as a threat to jobs, living standards and union organisaMotions were passed opposing any introduction of new machinery without ASTMS agreement, and any 'voluntary' redundancy schemes. Any increases in productivity, it was stressed, should be paid for by the shorter working week and not longer dole queues.
LABOUR PARTY A similarly militant mood was apparent on the question of the Labour Party. Several motions were put endorsing the position of last year's conference (mandating of MPs, election of the party leader and NEC control over the Manifes to).
What now remains to be seen - as the Tory attacks escalateis whether the NEC will live up to some of the positions which conference has adopted. Certainly, the ASTMS left will have to organise seriously in the coming months to make sure the the leaders support any group of workers who come under attack
Half a year after thousands of Soviet combat troops entered Afghanistan, the government in Kabul is still facing stiff resistance from counterrevolutionary guerrilla forces.
Operating in numerous small bands, the insurgents stage hitand-run actions from Afghanistan's rugged mountain regions or seek to create disturbances in the cities and towns. They attack Afghan and Soviet military units, burn schools, destroy hospitals, mine roads and bridges, and murder supporters of the revolution.
The rebels claim to be fighting for Islam, but they are actually fighting to preserve the class interests of privileged layers of Afghan society. Their armed actions are aimed not at liberating' Afghanistan, but at obstructing the land reform programme, literacy drive, expansion of women's rights, and other progressive measures enacted by the PDPA regime.
BACKING As it has from the very beginning this counter-revolutionary drive has received open encouragement and covert material backing from the Imperialist powers, particularly Washington.
In mid-February, a White House Scial admitted that the General the press lies Kabul's Moscow and Kabul.
On report claimed that Moscow Former political prisoners walk away from the freed by the mers Aghanistan i proment Pul-E-Chakri prison after being Soviet Communist Part! daily behind by Pete Marais The prison, on been crammed with up to President Hafizullah Amin had been deposed.
OVERTURES :: Me: 10 the outskirts of the capital, had 15,000 inmates before hind it.
Socialist Action PUBLIC DEBATE Soviet troops in or out ?
Socialist Action and Workers Action Wed 6th August 8.00 pm at Lansbury House 41 Camberwell Grove London SE5.
class in Afghanistan is quite small - only about 330,000 industrial, transport and communications workers out of a total labour force of 5.6 million- unions have been set up in Kabul, Helmand, Kandahar, and other areas since the PDPA came to power. DEFENCE If the counter-revolutionary bands are to be decisively defeated, however, it will be necessary in the next period to organise the workers and peasants to a much greater extent than before.
The Soviet intervention into Afghanistan was a clear aid to the revolutionary process there. It was a firm rebuff to the guerrillas, and their Western allies, who were trying to destroy the real gains of the PDPA regime and take Afghanistan back to the teudal age.
What is needed now - to defend that revolution and take it forward - is to harness the strength of Afghan's working population be
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unionised sectors who lacked the conservațive approach of the old- er craft unions- should not be