Twenty four building workers will reappear in court on 25 April on charges which include conspiracy, arising from picketing in Shrewscourt on 25 April on charges which include conspiracy, arising from picketing in Shrewsbury during last year's building strike.
Six months after the event, the building employers have kindly provided a test case in the use of the criminal law, now that the victory of the Shrewsbury 24 -and six further men have recently been committed in various courts in North Wales - is a crucial task for the working class today. This view was also emphasised at the conference of the Liaison Committee for the Defence of Trade Unions.
- By The working class have forced the State to drop charges before. The Longannet miners last year were released after the Scottish NUM threatened a national strike. Mass solidarity sirikes last summer brought about the release of the Pentonville Five from prison. Today. the working class must prove to the ruling class once again that it is not intimidated by its legal machine.
URGENCY OF SOLIDARITY The urgency of solidarity is increased by the fact that UCATT, the building union, is still dragging its feet. The bureaucracy are frightened by the word conspiracy and want the men to plead guilty to the charges so that the conspiracy charges are dropped. Today. after their shameful refusal of a lawyer for the men last month, the union leadership is now deliberating about financial aid. But the Shrewsbury men must not be left to rely on the bureaucracy as far as cash is concerned. The bureaucracy is liable at any time to do a deal with police or to pressurise the men to picad guilty. The men must therefore be supplied with enough cash - which may mean as much as £5,000 - to allow them to choose. But most important is solidarity action on 25 April, and not only in the building trade. Massive delegations should be sent to Shrewsbury to prevent the police from blocking off the town as they did last time, thereby depriving the men of the support of thousands of their brothers outside the Court.
Already local organisations are taking initiatives of this sort. In Oxford, the Council of Action has given the issue immediate priority, with all delegates pushing in their unions for delegations to go to Shrewsbury. In Sheffield, building workers raising the issue at meetings have met with an enthusiastic response. Militants in the engineering industry are campaigning for a mass meeting of workers in the area on 18 April, and several union branches have already agreed to send delegations to Shrewsbury. In Rotherham a Site in Park Gate is oryanising a coach to go down, and Rotherham UCATT joint shop stewards committee is producing a bulletin on the issue for mass circulation.
The outcome of the hearing will not at all necessarily depend on the balance of forces inside the court: a widespread and determined campaign in the labour movement can have a decisive effect on the court's decisions. All efforts must be tumed to ensuring that that decision is
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bury during last year's building strike. Twenty four building workers will reappear in
Industrial Relations Act has had to be placed in cold storage for the moment. Ensuring the