The writing is on the wall. Students are in for a tough time. Last week Reg Prentice announced that middle of London last week The only major sanction the Labour Government has applied against the junta has been its refusal to renegotiate the foreign debt with Chile. This was an important step forward, but one which was only taken after enormous pressure from the labour movement and which on its own is nowhere near enough.
The two submarines are nearing completion in the Scott-Lithgrow shipyard at Greenock. Technically these ships have already been officially handed over to the junta with the Government's blessing-but since they are still in Britain there is no reason why that decision could not be reversed.
The Labour Government does not share that view, however. Questioned in Parliament last week, Mr. Callaghan expressed 'some regret' that these ships had been handed over but felt "it would be wrong to interfere." Of course, if you put Britain's credibility as a capitalist trading nation above everything else then there is nothing that can be done.
The labour movement must reject this shameful attitude and demand that the Government instead puts solidarity with the Chilean workers and peasants first by breaking all links, refusing to hand over the submarines, and ending all trade. That.
IN CHILE SO. DARITA RESISTANCE It seems that the Labour Government is preparing to deal yet another blow to the Chilean workers by handing over two submarines to the Chilean Navy. This follows the delivery of two frigates, the continuation of all trade links-particularly the importing of copper-and the maintenance of full diplomatic relations with the murderous regime. This last fact, for example, enabled the Chilean Navy to hold a celebration banquet in the among other things, would be the most effective way of demonstrating solidarity with the Chilean sailors at present on trial for refusing to support the military coup.
Resolutions to this effect are not sufficient, however. In the face of the refusal by both the Labour Government and the TUC to organise a ban on all trade with Chile, it is necessary to organise independent boycott action of Chilean goods wherever possible.
Such a campaign-which has been called for by the exiled Chilean TUCis already getting under way, with effective boycotts now operating in at least a dozen places. In Bristol workers at Imperial Smelting are refusing to work on any Chilean copper, while at the printing firm of J.G. Arrowsmith in the same city the workers have said they will print no more labels for Chilean wine -BOYCOTT ACTION At Anderson Mavor in Glasgow, workers discovered that conveyor belts for use in the Chilean copper mines were being made in the plant.
Too late to stop the delivery of the belts themselves, they were able however to prevent the gear-boxes being sent-thus making the belts useless.
In Hull, Liverpool and London TRISONER Some of the 70 demonstrators who picketed the Chilean Navy banquet in London last week official backing.
be the Chile Solidarity Campaign trade union conference, which a recent meeting of the local CSCs decided to call for October, This TUC conference on Chile, which was intended only to show our bring the junta down.
on the national CSC Executive to sit on national and regional executives as of right. This was necessary following an attempt by the Communist Party in Scotland the IMG and IS from the decision-making bodies. In reversing this position, the local committees the broad unity of the solidarity campaign. docks there is a general boycott being operated on Chilean goods. And at Newhaven docks, action by crane-drivers in the NUR meant that a cargo of Chilean onions had rotted by the time it could be unloaded.
These actions show what real working class solidarity means. Every effort should be made to extend them and ensure that they get overwhelming support from the rest of the labour movement-including - CONFERENCE An important factor in this must conference must ensure-unlike the abhorrence to the junta'-that really effective action in the form of boycotts is organised which can help to The same meeting of local CSCs rosters. also took an important decision to allow all organisations represented to exclude completely members of * meeting struck a powerful blow for
LONDON NALGO RALLY
We will not be the sacrificial ambs for any government incomes policy and are read for a hard struggle. That was the message coming from a rally on 20 May of the Lon don Metropolitan District of NALGO, the local government workers union, in suppo of their pay claim.
The claim of £10 plus 15 per cent gives an average rise in pay of 38.7 per cent. So far the employers have refused to enter into serious negotiations over the claim NALGO's negotiators are bound by a decision of a national meeting of branch delegates to produce the goods by 1 June. If no settlement is reached by then, the union will be putting forward a plan of strike action to win their demands.
M: Many speakers at the rally pointed out that it isn't just focal government nent workers' pay that is under attack but the whole of local government spending-witn ess the massive cuts inflicted on the social services by Healey's Budget. But despite this the union leadership has failed to link the pay claim to a fight against the threat ened cutbacks in social service spending A struggle for automatic compensation of both wages and expenditure against in flation would gain widespread support throughout the labour movement for the act ion local government workers will be forced to take to defend both their own living standards and the quality, of the social services provided for the working class MEDIA REDUNDANCY CONFERENC Nearly 200 delegates and observers attended the first ever conference organised acro union lines to discuss the fight against redundancies in the media industries.
The initial impetus for the conference-held in London on 17 May-came from rank-and-file militants in the various media unions, although official backing came later from the NUJ: Among the speakers were delegates from firms already hit by re dundancies, like Penguin Books, the Stratford Express, Mabbutt & Johnston, and Drawing from these experiences the conference went on to discuss a general pro gramme to fight redundancies based on a resolution put forward by the organising committee. Among the points stressed were the need to break down the present divis demand for nationalisation under workers' control An amendment put forward by IMG members in the industry which called on me dia workers to black newspaper and radio/TV stories distorting the struggles of work ers to defend their jobs and living standards was carried despite the opposition of the IS group. This tactic can both help to boost the morale of the strikers involved and deprive the bosses of one of their most powerful weapons. Such actions would also lay the basis for establishing workers' control over the media.
An ongoing committee was elected by the conference to help organise support for future struggles in the industry and to centralise and disseminate information and experiences. One of its first tasks will be to generalise support for the occupation agains closure by the plate-makers at Mabbutt & Johnson.
Copies of the resolution and information about the committee's activities can be obtained from Carl Gardner, 50 Ingham Road, London N.W.6 or phone 01-837-9987
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Four infernata
ive craft divisions in the industry, the importance of the occupation tactic and the de mocratic organisation of struggles, the role of solidarity action, and the relevance of t