The Political Fight The Red Mole has so far concentrated heavily on exposing the economic meaning of the government's incomes policy proposals. But Heath's package is part and parcel of a political attack on the trade unions. Anyone who doubts this should take a look at the speeches at the Conservative Party conference. Lord Carrington, Heath's right hand man, let the cat out of the bag when he said that the fight against "inflation" was a battle against "industrial unrest and anarchy" POLITICAL FIGHT For the capitalists, inflation means rising wages and the fight against it must mean a political fight against the organisational strength of the Labour movement. For the working class, inflation means the rising cost of living in a capitalist economy, and the fight against it and the struggle for higher wages, inevitably involves a political fight against the organisations of the capitalists: the struggle on the picket line against police strike breaking; the fight against the courts which have been trying miners, dockers and building workers over the last months; the battles against the Social Security which has been trying to prevent trade unionists from claiming their rights when on strike; and the struggle against Parliament, the main political centre of capitalism for passing the laws which are designed to attack the workers on many different fronts. So far this year, workers' struggles against inflation for higher wages have succeeded in out-manoeuvring the ruling ciass time and again, thanks to the mass initiatives of the rank and file. Thus the flying pickets of the miners defeated government attempts to use the coal stocks in the power stations, and the building workers flying pickets defeated the employers attempts to break the strike.
COUNTER-ATTACK The Government is now counter-attacking on two fronts. First, it is trying to line up the middle classes, backward sections of workers, and the trade union bureaucracy against the struggle to defend working class living standards. In this way it hopes to isolate those sections of workers who are prepared to continue the struggle. But secondly, the Government is reorganising and strengthening the repressive forces of the State to defeat the new strike tactics and the rank and me organisanion or tne working class The coming wage struggles will see a great stepping up of violence against strikers. Two events on 11 October gave us a foretaste of government plans. At Courtauld's Deeside Mill, peaceful women pickets were viciously attacked by police. Two women were injured As the Government steps up its pressure on the living standards of the working class there can be only one answer. Negotiations with the Government should be broken off, and a clear policy for defending the working class and not profits should be put forward by the TUC But instead, the TUC and the Labour Party are getting dragged further and further into confusion.
The TUC finds itself in this situation because it accepts that in some way the trade union movement should protect the interests of private industry and therefore of profits. This is rubbish. The job of the trade unions is to protect the interests of the working class, not to sort out the problems of capitalism. By starting off on the wrong basis the TUC is getting enmeshed in irrelevant arguments with Treasury economists over what the exact rate of inflation is, etc.
REAL SITUATION Arguing over decimal points has nothing to do with the real situation. The Government's proposals amount to a wage cut for everyone earning over E25 a week, and an attempt to get the unions to rely on the state machine rather than their own strength for winning wage rises. The trade union movement should have nothing to do with schemes to bail out capitalism, yet with the honourable exception of Doughty of TASS and Sapper of the cine-technicians, every member of the General Council has accepted the principle of negotiating an incomes policy. No union leader has yet come out clearly to explain the simple fact that the guard against price rises can only be automatic wage increases for every penny on prices and a massive flat rate increase in wages for all. Such a policy must be carried through by the trade union movement, and not by a state machine whose job it is to defend the employing class. PREPARING THE SIRUGGLE Union branch resolutions, demonstrations, mass meetings and stoppages must be used to try to stop a deal. Immediate united action by all groups and organisations opposed to the deal is an urgent necessity.
If the worst occurs and a deal is done, then the struggle is undoubtedly going to be harder, but that only means that organisation must be tougher and greater effort put in. Even if the TUC does a deal, big sections of the working class are not going to accept it. There are going to be big struggles as the Government tries to enforce the agreement. Local representative bodies must be set up in all areas to organise solidarity with any section of workers in struggle against the deal. Against a determined government attack and treachery by union leaders, only solidarity action on a truly massive scale will ensure victory.
DEMANDS A real campaign against the deal can still stop any negotiations being successful. It has to be realised, though, that this will not be the end of the story. If the Government cannot get what it wants by guile, it will try it by force. Inside the kid glove is the iron fist. The task now is to prepare united action of all trade unions, and if the TUC does a deal, of all trade unions rejecting the deal, Despite the resignation, and the manner of The struggle to free the five began to show the kind of unity in action which is needed to defeat Heath's pay plan to present a common front to the Government and employers. In order to prepare the struggle action committees need to be prepared in every area. The key demands now are: * An end to the negotiations.
Demand from the employers: * Automatic wage increases to compensate for every single penny of price increases. * A flat rate actoss the board increase at whatever the highest current wage demand is. * No acceptance of any form of incomes policy from any government under capitalism. For socialists and revolutionaries the key tasks. now are: * To fight for rejection by all unions of any negotiations with the government on incomes policy. * To form united front organisations in every area and union to fight acceptance of the deal and if it is accepted to organise action against it. * To get all existing Councils of Action and LCDTUs to reject the deal and to propose nationally co-ordinated action against it.
ber, for which support is expected from all