Last Friday more than 700 militants from all across London crowded into Acton Town Hall for a meeting in solidarity with the Shrewsbury 24, sponsored jointly by the Socialist Labour Leagues and the International-Marxist Group, Speakers at the meeting included Gerry Healy, national secretary of the Socialist Labour League, Bob Pennington, representing the International Marxist Group, and Dave Jackson, chairman of the Shrewsbury 24 defence committee. The meeting was chaired by Jim Kemp, London building site convenor and member of the London Joint Sites Committee. We reprint below edited texts of the speeches Gerry Healy traced the history of workers' struggles in Britain, and placed the Shrewsbury workers' struggle today in the context of a wider ruling class offensive against "basic rights," He stressed the need for a political campaign on this question, which would link it up with the struggle on other fronts against the Tory government. He laid emphasis on the urgent need for this question to be taken up vigorously in every locality and throughout the whole working class movement. delivered by Bob Pennington and Dave Jackson. govermment was prepared to take this trial. Eight hundred police surrounded the court, nobody got into the court, and another two hundred police were in the immediate vicinity. We certainly aren't getting any support from the trade union leaders. We have to turn for support from wherever we can find it. This is why 1 am travelling up and down the country asking for support for these lads and trying to make trade unionists and the working class in general aware of what is going on. This has been spelt out amply here already. This is an attack on their basic rights. These lads were pursuing their basic rights and they ve been made to suffer for it.
The building trade unions have started a campaign for next year. We can't even get a camabout the 'bourgeoisie" they would have thought paign for the trade union movement to defend itsclf, lot alone a campaign for another strike! It's people like the 24 who will have to go on the picket lines, These are the sort of people who, if a defeat is suffered at Mold and a further defeat at Shrewsbury, will worry about going on a picket line again. They'll worry about taking up any call that gets put in future. NEED FOR SUPPORT We need support. We need people committed to making others aware of how our struggle is linked up with their struggle. We need financial assistance. Why do we need funds? Not for solicitors. The government has shown how generous it can be by giving cach of the 24 double counsel if they want. So if all the 24 want double counsel, well have 48 lawyers in court. The trial will cost approximately a quarter of a million pounds to the good old taxpayer. It will last about five months. The lads will have to surrender to their bail every day. Now most of the lads don t uctually live in Shrewsbury. So they've got to get to court every day, live while they're there, and support their families during the trial. We've also got a campaign to run. Because while people here may be aware of what is going on, I'm afraid a lot of the working class are not aware. For these reasons we are urgently in need of finan. cial aid.
Bob Perrington sporking or Friday's meeting, with fleft to right Dave Jackson, Jim Kemp, and Gerry Healy WHOLE WORKING CLASS The QC for the prosecution has pointed out that for an intimidation charge violence or damage doesn't have to be proven, the effect of just having people there can be enough. So it's not a very good law. Because the idea of taking men out on strike, in my opinion at least, is to take them out to win, not to lose. You take them out on strike and use all the means ut your disposal to win a victory over the rulers of this country As Carr said:' the existing laws are adequate enough to deal with picketing", and underneath we know he meant "to deal with striking'. Because there's one kind of strike the ruling class like - those that don't succeed. There's nothing better to break the morale of workers than to take them through the gate, let them sit it out for four or five weeks, and then say, 'here's threepence halfpenny and a half day's holiday. now get back"
A defeat for the 24 will certainly be a defeat for the whole working class. Because if they do deteat them what shop-steward can say that an. other atlack won't come? What will his men say? There's a lot of these lads who do think about these things. They'll think of the rigma rule und the pantomime that's going on in Mold; offensive by the employing class they'll think of the hundreds of police, and they'll worry. If we can'1 show as much strength and as much organisation as the govemment has shown in this trial then we'll have failed.
You people are uware of these problems. When you get back to your organisations, your faciories and the people who you represent I'd like you to make them aware as well of the struggle that went on and what happened to these 24 lads. Because, believe me, nobody did know very much about the Shrewsbury 24. It wasn't like the case of the Pentonville 5, unfortunately It's taken a long time to build this campaign up to what it is now, and it's going to take a lot more hard work from now on. I know you will work to build solidarity for these lads and to get as many people as possible aware of what is going on.
Photo: Mike Newtan (Red Weekly)