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01-359 8371 SOCIALIST Challenge supports the Liverpool to London march for jobs. The march opens up tne against Tory mass unemployment.
But there are signs that the potential of the march is being stifled right from the start.
imposed?
*Since when march been led by a green instead of a red banner?
*Why have the organisers refused an offer from the world-famous rock group 'The Who' to play free for youth on London end of the march?
*More importantly why did the West Midlands organiser of the march vigorously oppose a proposal at last month's Birmingham the march?
*Why, when the vast majority of affiliated trade unions are supporting the march, does the TUC refuse to call a national strike on FriMay London?
The TUC, Party leadership, to avoid making the march a mass event:
The TUC and the Labour shadow cabinet have reached agreement on launching a new social contract, with a pay policy policed by the union bureaucracy. Ine so-nour week Is not mentioned in the TUC's material for the Week of Action or for the Liverpool to London march.
The fight worksharing with no loss of pay would be a massive gam tor every ment would be largely eliminated.
But it would mean an all-out fight with the Tories and the CBI. It took a series of one-day general strikes in engineering to get just one hour off the week.
The Communist Party fully supports the TUC's approach. It calls for the same 'allies' on the march for jobs as the TUC is cuddling up to nationally Tysons who are in the CBI, the churches, the Social Democrats and the Liberals.
That is they March'. That is why they oppose strike action around the march.
The only force able to kick out the Tories is the trade union movement takng united industrial action.
You can fool some of the workers some of the time with talk economic strategy, when you really mean an incomes policy.
You may even be able to march tens of thousands of workers up the hill and down again on protest demonstrations.
But the crunch will come sooner or later, and workers are going to have to rely on their own organisations and policies.
As they mobilise for the and demonstrate Sunday 31 May, the unions, the Labour Party and the CP must ask themselves and their leaders 'which side will the CBi. the vicars. the Liberals and the Social Democrats be on then? chance for united protest action has a limit of 500 marchers been has a labour movement the dole at the the day the march enters supported by the Communist is leaning over backwards 35-hour week and worker. Unemploy firms like the builders call it "The Peoples about an alternative march for jobs workers in CND Rovel TGWU: "The Tories only one thing unabustant muscle. Look the miners. make the couc labour movement action.
Kelly Peckham Labour Party: 'The economic recesston orinos unemployment and the wat threatens the people ot ti salvador. Phil Davies FTAT executive: 'We have to get missiles, renounce nuclear weapons and if that mean getting of NATO, the better.' WANT to see demonstration on nuclear disarmament on 24 October.' That was the closing appeal from John Cox, chairperson of the CND organising committee to last weekend's highly successful labour movement conference against the missiles.
More than seven hundred delegates from the unions and the Labour Party discussed the central role of the labour movement in combatting the Tories missiles madness.
Frank Allaun opened the conference bringing *100 per cent backing from the Labour Party national executive committee. attacked the massive spenalng on millary naraware.
Every family pays £15 a week already for the arms' race 'Disarmament can only be implemented by a government, COntinued, "that means Labour government. want to see a two-thirds majonly for alsarmament on a card vote at the next Allaun finished his speech Hugo, 'Nothing Lucille can deal Victor an idea whose time has come.' 'Comrades, our time has come. We are privileged to be part of the most imporLalli KILUWIl mankind.' Trident Ron Todd, national organiser of the transport workers (TGWU), graphically described the meaning madness: 'Picture giant SUD marines each with 16 Trident missiles, 34 feet long.
Their million horsepower engines thrust them to a speed of 14,000 miles Deo miles, their course miles, their plotted by their own com puters.
'Every Trident has 8 warheads, cack times the destructive power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Twenty minutes and 4500 later they arrive on target to within too melies 'And all this will cost us £5/6bn, rising as high as £9/10bn inflation, he added. the biggest ever iR Conference platform right: Ron Todd (TGWU), Olive Gibbs (CND) and Frank Allaun MP. Todd told floor stressed the theme of 'Jobs not bombs'. Raghib Ahsan from the TGWU, Rover Solihull linked the fight against Cruise mishour week which 'would decrease unemployment overnight by one and a half million. Action Ronan Brady of the Post Office engineers took Ron Todd: 'Great speech, Ron, but what are do get TUC/Labour Party back ing for the October demo?
could the missiles, he •We have the Who was at the conference Constituency Labour parties ¡rade union branches Trades councils Regional/district union committees Labour Party Young Socialists Co-op parties CND groups Various political parties & others Total CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR left to the whole Union members in British Nuclear Fuels who process Namibian uranium.
Theresa Conway from Islington NALGO plained that 12 resolutions nuclear CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR the platform: 'Schools, hospitals anc Stale are vestr oyed in the name of the arms race. every Labour MP and councillor to party policy unilateral disarmament.' She urged sup port for Islington council and the other 41 councils that had , declared their area a nuclear-free zone.
The afternoon session was opened by • Reg Race who outlined the barriers to be overcome to win the labour movement to • Resolutionary politics not enough, he said nave lo the labour movement ideologically to this policy.
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TUC wants to march the unemployed up the hill... and down again