SUPPORT for the workers is growing. Solidarnosc militants have been touring factories and workplaces around the country rallying support, more solidarity established.
At this point the Solidarity Campaign has chosen to launch a vicious witch-hunt country including those who are supporting Solidarnosc's struggle.
January 1981 bulletin carries entitled 'On the left' which the acais reacons from what it terms 'the totalitarian (Leninist) left in Britain'.
charges that the 'essential ingredients' of the left's Callpairl those of 'appeasement in general: the deflect attention Soviet responsibility, Photo: JOHN HARRIS struggle Polish and more and committees have been bulletin of the Polish against socialists in this treat repression as an interlimit responses (if any) to directed ones, Jaruzelski alone. And will typical hunters' sleight of hand it Stalinists and Stalinists the sallie Socialist Challenge totally refutes this distorted picture which only weaken the Kozlowski and Garztecki from the Solidarnosc working group at the head of the Birmingham demonstration earlier this month solidarity movement in this country and harm the of the Polish workers.
Socialist Challenge and the SHOUTER have fully and without qualification supported the struggles of the Polish workers une bureaucrats. Since August 1980 we have devoted page after page explaining what Solidarnose is fighting for and why it should be supported have never 'blamed' Solidarnosc for 'facilitating the coup' as PSC bulletin article suggests.
Since the imposition of martial law last December our solidarity efforts have been redoubled. Our supporters localv have been in the forefront of organising highly successful tours of workplaces and labour movement bodies, establishing direct between Solidarnosc and workers in this And we have supported and helped initiate many solidarity marches, pickets and rallies. Covered We have not 'covered uD or une berlicious role of the Soviet bureaucrats in their attempts to crush the Polish workers. Throughout the breviou. 18 months we explained that the existence of a mass democratic independent working class movement, Solidarnosc, was a direct threat to the continued existence and privileges of the Soviet and Polish bureaucrats.
But all the slanders and innuendo of the PSC bulletin article are a cover for political difference with Socialist Challenge That Is, we believe that solidarity with Solidarnosc is a matter for workers in this and the organised labour movement. don't believe InaL Thatcher, Reagan, the SDP/Liberals or any oinel Doureeds figures can or will give any help to the Polish workers There is widespread evidence that the international bankers put considerable pressure on the Polish and Soviet bureaucrats to crack down on the workers 'to solve the economic crisis leaders of the imperialist — Reagan, Thatcher, Schmidt and co shed only cynical crocodile teas over ine repression against Solidarnosc. They teared the rise ot a mass democratic and independent union as much as the bureaucrats OI Eastern • Europe.
Nor do we agree with the PSC bulletin's articles stated priorities for campaigning! "The most important tasks are: to break Manchester torchlight rally last month Manchester and Birmingham all links by the TUC, unions and the Labour Party Soviet bloc 'unions' and parties which all support ine repressior in Poland; industrial action against trade and contracts with Poland and the Soviet Union For us, the most effec tive solidarity work would be to build a political cam paign the labour material aid for Solidarnosc, to build direct links between Solidarnosc and workers, and organise campaigns of rallies, marches and pickets in support End These should demand an end to martial law, the freeing of Walesa and all restrictions Solidarnosc's right to organise. These are exactly the demands put forward by the new National Commission of Resistance in Poland itself Campaigns which concentrate their fire primarily on an economic boycott Piotr Kozlowski from the Solidarnosc trade union working group at a Socialist Challenge porters played a key role in organising the solidarity actions in bott have two problems. • First mey tan into tne ordit ol all the hypocritical Cold War campaigns of Reagan and Thatcher, who aim to willo up an-commons propaganda the better to allack tell own working classes.
Second, an economic boycott of the Soviet bloc will have little or no effect on the Soviet bureaucrats. They will use such actions as an excuse to step up their drive against the workers of Europe political campaign solidarity with Solidarnosc both helps to isolate the Soviet and Polish bureau crats and aids the workers in inis country their struggles against Thatcher's own austerity and anti-union drive.
Socialist Challenge is optimistic about the opportunities for building a serious movement solidarity with Solidarnos where it really counts among working people. We don't think that such a movement will be helped by the witch-hunting type of article printed in the last PSC bulletin.
sup for working class,
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GREATER MANCHESTER
POLISH DARITY VAIGN