they could be free with a clean slate.
He rejocted John McKinzie Jones's appeal against the Charges of consp iracy and unlawful assembly and upheld his nine month juil sentence. Jones is the first of three to have his appeal heard. The other two have no reason to expect better treatment.
Labour has promised to repeal the Industrial Kelations Act, This Act is the most concerted attack by the state on the trade union movement for decades. But the Shrewsbury jailings under the conspiracy laws ane part of the same attack. They followed the victory by the dockers pickets over the NIRC and the miners pickets over the Tory pay now in 1972.
A pardon for the pickets would be a real defeat for the ruling class's attempts to hamstring and weaken trade union organisation. Unlike the repeal of the Act, this needs no new legislation to be introduced through the House of Commons. minority position in Parliament cannot be used as an excuse for delay.
Such a move would be the clearest pledge by Labour that it intended to act in the interests of workers rather than capital, that it recognised the need to defend and strengthen workers organisation for the strugule against capital.
Despite the presence of the Labour left in the cabinet, the Shrewsbury case has not even been mentioned by the Government, In the Labour lead. er eyes the capitalist Constitution ranks higher than workers" interests. Thus they may be prepared to repeal old laws-following all the rules of Parliamentary procedure-but they will not condone those who break the law in struggle, no matter low rotten and repressive those laws may be.
This has been shown clearly in the betrayal of the Clay Cross coun cillors by Labour's refusal, when in opposition, to guarantee repayment of the surcharges tbey incurred in the fight against the Housing Finance Act.
Industrial Action will sril be necessary to repel the Shrewsbury attack. At the moment one group of workers virtually holds the Labour Government in the palm of its hand-the The first thing Roy Jenkins should do this week, as Labour's new Home Secretary, is grant a pardon to all the building workers convicted at Shrewsbury. All he has to do is sign a piece of paper and By this simple act, Jenkins could override all the Court decisions so far made against the Shrewsbury pickets. No time should be lost. On the very same day that Wilson arrived at Number Ten, Lord Denning made yet another tough decision in the Appeal Court.
miners. Labour ran in the election on the basis of immediately settling the miners' strike, and is hurriedly trying to do so. Any demand insisted on by the NUM would have to be met by the Labour Government.
Shrewsbury is not just an asue of concern to building workers. It affects the entire workers movement.
Miners are aware that they may well have to take up the industrial strug gle again in the near future, and the defence of pickets right now is essential preparation.
The call from Jack Collins, Kent arca delegate to the NUM executive for the NUM to refuse to return fo work until the Shrewsbury pickets are released should be endorsed by the NUM executive immediately. This would get Roy Jenkins signing the Shrewsbury pardons within hours.
Birmingham UCATE shop stewards agreed this week to circulate a petition calling on the NUM to take up the demands of the Shrewsbury campaign. Over 500 signatures Labour's had been collected from Birmingham building sites by Thursday's meeting of the NUM Executive, In any event, the movement to free the Shrewsbury workers must be given a big push forward. The conference called by DCATT and TGWL in London on 16 March promises to be well attended. The has been endorsed by the London Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions and speakers will include Labour MP Norman Alkinson. This conference must make a clear commitment to a mass cumpaign in defence of the Shrewshury workers, leading to indefinite indus trial action if Labour refuses to issue an immediate pardon for all th Strewsbury mutitants.
The opportunity to hegin such a campaign comes on Wednesday 20 March when the Day called by the Liverpool Shrewsbury Conference takes place. A mass demonstration and lobby of the House of Commons will be held in London on that day. The entire Labour movement must use this opportunity to give a massive warning to the Labour Government of their determination In light, by whatever means necessory, to free the Shrewsbury militants and break the ruling class offensive against picketing.