AT THE TORIES'• ference Thatcher will say government Will remain course. For millions of workers that course means huge spending on arms, unemployment, poorer hospitals and attacas on laac unhon rignts.
Even among the most militant sections of the working class, the question will be raised: Have the Tories succeeded in defeating the strength of the working class?
At the same time, a mushrooming of labour movement conferences and demonstrations, meetings and lobbies follow the TUC conciercess offering the means to discuss and act on the present Tory of the policies and personalities of the left wing of the Labour those fighting in the trade unions.
So what are the prospects for joint action between the Labour Party and the trade unions against the Tories?
Unemployment Unemployment weapon of the Tories Drilish working class. million unemployed and many more on short-time working, with no clear lead from the TUC, In the car industry, expected wage settlements 18 months in Talbot and 10 per cent per claim) in the car components sector of Lucas, show the potential impact of ine recession on wages.
The Tory cuts in the public sector, Prior's Employment Act, and the attacks on women's rights are being pushed forward against background of the recession, despite the manufacturing base, is being allowed virtually a full head by the Tories.
But the defensive mood in the workers movement is ov no means the whole story. On the contrary, the steel strike (despile the threat massive closures following those al warrington and Consett); the coming dockers' strike and the fightback at the Brixton picket in defence of the victimised. civil militants, show that the fighting spirit at the base of the trade unions is still there.
In other words, it is not defeat at the hands of the Tories appalling treachery of the leadership remains obstacle to a successful fightback.
Polarise The Tories' attacks on the working class have upped the stakes in the class. struggle. Genesel acuons naked praise of capitalist system and profits. They show cullellol UCLODeT conthat the firmly deal with the capitalism. inflation, schools and of import contros. auotas Soviet Union.
British society.
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the main against the With over two else.
masked a weaker the trade union Coll original cel witt lne poncies Labour government Tom Jackson's successful Transport and the Britain's service union but the union the main to large parts of the Labour lefts.
However, their the broad enough the need for for Callaghan and Healey! traditional tinkering with the system. They reject any old-style two party informal agreements about how to problems of British The Tories stand against systems sidies and for massive defence spending and unwavering hostility to the they try to polarise Consequently, any mass anti-Tory movement is bound to reflect a very disillusionment the capitalist system itself. A successful struggle against this government is a much greater risk for the ruling class than the fall of Heath in 1974.
The fall of Thatcher would not just create a crisis in the Tory Party, not just push to the left all of the organisations of the working class, crisis affecting all the which the ruling •class short, m tic lace or tne massively mounting Tory attacks, the TUC Congress was strong on rhetoric but very little Even Scargill's impassioned opposition to the Employment position than that adopted by the TUC against Heath's Industrial Relations Act a decade ago. Nothing significant was said about a TUC-coordinated fightback now.
What did emerge was greater conFor a future committed to a pay deal in the terms of Bill Sirs' and motion.
One apparent move to the left was the General Workers Faced with a problem in their efforts to ally themselves with a section of the trade union leadership leadership for the most party unified around a narrow conservative consensus with all hopes pinned on a future Labour government - the Bennites are having to step up their appeals for support to the trade unions.
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attacks. The starting point for most of these events is the growing appeal