From ANNE MACLELLAN and JIM MORRISON Some of the more immediate problems in winning the docks strike are well illustrated by recent events at Montrose, a small unregistered port where 500 dockers and 200 police clashed on Friday 4th August. The clash occurred after police refused to allow pickets to speak to the drivers of lorries entering the port, which is 30 miles north of Dundee, Police also refused to allow any of the pickets to go inside to speak to the scab labour working the dock, the main objective of the picket apart from that of stopping the movement of cargo.
An attempt to alter the balance of forces by holding a mass picket the following Monday proved impossible. Concentrating on Mon trose would have meant abandoning many of the other unregistered ports wiuch bave recently sprung up in the area. So militant picketing there was ruled out, and the effects of this situation were reinforced by the lack of any real organisation or leadership. Several potentially fruitful suggestions by the rank and file about tactics were simply not taken up. The resulting attitude lowards the local union leaderslup was best summed up in one docker's phrase: "Here comes the back to wark squad."
Among those picketing at Montrose were Aberdeen dockers. Having just been involved in a dispute over the payment of Social Security benefits, they were only too well aware of the role of the press, wluch bad described them as 'spongers They, bke other dockers, have already seen the effects of this, being refused service in shops, pubs, garages, etc. One group was even stopped from using the toilets in Invergordon! Another effect of this campaige is that students are increasingly being persuaded to act as scab labour, particularly in the northern ports. This is a point which we are taking up with the National Union of Students.
The situation in Montrose reflects that faced by striking dock workers throughout Britain The problem which is holding their strugele hack, and which has to be overcome if a real victory is to be won, is their isolation in terms of active support from the rest of their class and from other social layers which could he won to support them. cine tanang pos! in the miners" strike was the closure of Sallley depot when the intervention of engineering warkers an active struggle deenively altered the balance of forces in that situation in favour of the working class. That is the kind of situation which must be fought for today.