Brazil goes to the polls and the three year-old Workers Party (PT) faces the first major test of its spectacular political and organisational development.
that the themselves will change very much. Local and assemblies and - for the first time in 18 years -governorships as well, are all up for grabs. But the presidency and central government remain firmly in military hands.
Despite frantic manoeuvres by the realle to rig the electoral rules, it seems likely that its own party, the PDS, Will be savaged by the opposition in all the major cities. Even if the main bourgeois opposition party, the PMDB (which counts a rapidly growing number of industrialists, as well as Brazilian Communist among its supporters) does win a majority in many areas, its power to do anything will be severely limited: first by its own extremely moderate intennons, second centralised military-technocratic state machine which really runs Brazil.
The ? has aways this, and analysed the whole electoral opening as an attempt by the ruling class to recycle its status unpopular lines. The PT has centred Its own campaign less seats (which it may well do) than on bullaing ine strength of the movement and its own organisation.
The party's advances have been impressive by anybody's standards. Emerging out dustrial struggles of 1978/79, with a clear emphasis on class independence, the PT now has almost law 'dissolving' tions in the period December 1981.
It also dishonoured the pledge made on December 1981, that Solidarnose and the other unions would be allowed to resume funcioning accordaice their charters.
Today, through such
civilian mouthpieces Rakowski, the junta is trying to convince a terrorizand international public opinion that since 13 December Solidarnosc has not sought any dialogue mutual understanding therefore must now be liquidated in the interest of 'socialism' and peace' We want you to know that these claims are abject lies. On many occasions, the members of Solidarnosc and their underground leadership, including our Solidarnosc Inter-Enterprise Workers Committee Warsaw, have demonstrated their CISCISSOR and dialogue. The only condition we posed was an elementary VIIC as humanitarian as political.
We asked for the release of O Partido sem Patrões Brazil?
The main problem is the structure of the trade unions. Brazilian unions are not free. ment which has control government sack its leadership, and put own people.
hunance. government prohibits any unification of workers. aren't allowed to have our own TUC set up to collaborate with the state structure we want to demolish. we're fighting for is free trade unions decided on by the workers and completely free of ties with government or the bosses. We want a union based 01 grass-roots organisation tories. And we want a union with a clear class position, not one that seeks collaboration between bosses workers.
Workers Party (P7) should play in all this? the pr has aim to be wor ans That's popularise the demands that workers are making: the demand we're making is for free, class-oriented unions, which can open the way to a society free from exploitation.
As a workers' party It sets out to be the PI has to nu itself at the service of workers, help ing them to achieve their true objectil sea ergies on the side of ple all its energies on the side workers' independent working to politicise all their strug gles.
socialist, it has to be right there where workers are struggling, spreading and Signed: Miedzysakladowy It is for this reason that interest dialogue with Solidarnosc It there are WIll still believe that what is at issue in Poland is defence of power' 'collective ownership of une seas they are, if we may be perspeak plainly, They depend on the governcatiency severe the The can step into a in their Sallic Brazil.
It has the power to decide how the The are used • according to the law file workers nationally. but to I his is all part of the trade unio same, war? in the fac quiet and the French think rrench The take detests regime. We DUWE which is what form Britain tain to organisation Since the PT's stated objective is countries, 'hopeless idiots'. The junta in Poland is endeavoring to maintain at any cost a 'socialism for idiots suclailsill based on the whip, terror, corruption, prisons, despotic factory managers, military com. missars, police agents, and apparatchniks. The Polish workers have already had "socialism' and 'people's power'.
The junta thinks it has 'dissolved' Solidarnosc So, some of you may be wondering whether there is Many and supbor it nos supporting should know that Solidar'dissolved' nosc cannot be since the Polish working class cannot be 'dissolved'. It can be crushed, but that would mean the physical smashing of Polish labour This prefer say on our part. 'Solidarnose', say 'freedom' You say 'socialism we say 'justice and self-management' Ask yourselves: the workers' aspirations for freedom, justice, a decent life, and control over theil workplaces be confined within prison walls? Since they cannot, Solidarnosc as OL been • Cano be, 'dissolved'. Even underground anc with many of its leaders and activists jailed, and it itself 'dissolved', Solidarnosc still strikes fear into generals and the apparat. chniks.
Friends, we are hoping for joint statements and mass actions by the unions and workers' parties in the West defence Solidarnosc leaders each and every struggle concrete possibilities the workers' movement in Brazil and here in Britain?
I visited Ford's at Dagenham. The workers there are subjected to the business of alienation there are differences. But the struggle is the same.
In concrete terms I think it's im portant to set up meetings of rank anc of works committees, from the different Ford plants interAnd not just for a chat, organise combined and coore are coo. ll ine boss is une then the struggle has to be was the reactior among Brazilian workers to the Malvinas First of all we were suprised to see the British labour movement keeping so • to see it seeming to line up with Thatcher. It reminded us a bit of working-class movement during the Algerian war, when for the most part it came down on the side of imperialist forces.
Brazilian working class the Argentinian military : knew perfecly well that military shantee o Malvinas war in order to hold on to and keep on killing workers But in Brazil we are all against an of And the Malvinas are not British; one fine day 'conquered' the Falklands and It's long since been time for bri get out.
At the same time we realise that the main aspect of imperialism today is not its presence on a few remote islands in the Pacific or the Atlantic It is ils presence in the very neart of al through its multinational We hope that you will cal the military 'gorillas' account public opinion on every possible occasion for their record of violence and terror We hope that you will focus attention on the fac that the so-called tradeunion law passed on & Oc tober is in violation of the convention of the interna tional Labour Organisation and that it in fact puts recognition of new unions in the hands of the secret police The sort of tradeunion movement the iunt: is projecting for the coming years is nothing but the 'model' followed by Pinochet in Chile. The application of this 'model' Involves the transformation of the entire state administration into a kind of 'army overseers and privileges on the model old Czarist of Ranks' (the Nomenklatura).
We are convinced that the unions and the worker parties the West prepared to take up a consistent struggle in support of the rights of labour in Poland. We are convinced that in supporting Solidarnosc you will also find an effective way for defending the fundamental interests and rights of workers in the West For today and the days that lie ahead, wt art depending on you for helf and solidarity That what we look for most of all from you. us inere Is one lning you car. count on that we will Socialist Challenge 12 November 1982