MANY TIMES in the past Red Weekly has criticised the International Socialits for economism, for failing to take up issues other than the wages struggle.
But what is now clear is that with the coonomic and political situation in Britain gettimg more and more serious the politics of IS are becoming dramatically inadequate even on the wages front, This is vividly shown in two recent major articles in Socialist Worker.
INFLATION
In an article in the 1 June issue Tony Clift draws a most extraordinary conclus ion from what hu calls the present situation of hyper-inflution". He says: Hyperworkers towards unity and strugele.?
But half a moment's thought, and the direct practical experience of every worker militant, shows that this statement is totally one-sled and therefore in practice falve Inflation can be a spur to putting in wage increases, but it also lends to fragment the working class berween low paid and high paid, between the worker and his wife, and even between the worker seeing himself as worker and the worker secing himself as COLLET.
What Chiff is correct in pointing 1o is that the working class, for whom unity is a vital condition in any strupple, attempts to find ways of overcoming the danger of disunity. But this process is not spontancous, and the whole of the working class, or even the majority of it, will not arrive at an adequate solution without any conscious interventions. The danger therefore exists of sections of the working class, even largo ones, falling into passivity. or cyce booming prey to reactionary proposals on incomes policy and so on.
Cliff does refer to this danger at a few points in his article. But the purely propagandistie solution which Cliff gives is that of putting forward arguments which Photo: Worker Pres Ford canteen workers stood firm for a threshold rise - and won CAMPAIGN FOR A wages at prosent, how to protect them from inflation, is not dealt with adequalety, and no clear ansiver is given as to the The key demand which the 15 amit from their latest programme is that-for the sliding scale of wages. The reason for this is doubtles that a couple of years ago 15 rejacred the slogan of cho sliding scale. The arponent given them was that it produced "passivity. This always was a stupid argument tin Italy for chample various fornis of aurom aric cost af living incroses exist but no-doe could accuse the Habian working class of passivity ). But now, in a situation of roaring inflation, the position of 15 is not merely false theoretically, bur is drastically wrong in practice, The 15 position is based on a belier that you can projoct the practice of the 1960's into the mid 1970s When inflation was only at tove of sik per cent then most of the working class could gain, by sectaral struggles, wagu increases which kept up with the rate of inflation. A few groups of workers may succeed in this in 1974, Hut the trend now, and one that will increase in die future, is for the working class nor to he able to keep ahead of inflation by the old pattern of SLIDING SCALE Of course, revolutionaries must be in the foretront of struggles for all wage demands put forward by the working class - even where these demands are inadequto introdoc into the movement demands Iscound. wis core to gaps wit too woods so LIs new situation. The demand which is above all important is that of the biding scale of wages, Tha always was a correct propaganda One thing iney should certainly discuss 1s demand, but now it becomes an urgent and Not to raise it will leave revolutionaries sliding along in the tail of ovents and not playing a politically leading role in thens.
In fact the underslanding that the old way is no longer adequate as beginning to dawn on 15 - which is why the demand for thresholds is included in their progTSune. But threshods ore not adegante in their prosent form - they mast be made nil-norm, based on a workers cost of living isely be turned into a sliding scalea The demand sh 15 raises is The thresholis now. Don't let the bosses stop you getting what you re enticed ba. But what about after November? Then no-on is entitled to anyrhing under thiesholds Isa t it necessary do gropose a campaign for Diresbolds to be extended and Loproved In fact improved into a sliting scale of wages!
GENERAL STRIKE
But as all as perting into a big tangle on the sliding scale of wages the 15 also falls berween two stools on the question of what action to propose to pain key demands. Chill's origmal position is at least relately coherent on this.
struggle simply on moral grounds. Same times a particular sectional struggle is so Important for the working class that workers will support it quite regardiess of any immediate guin of their own. But, in getsaal, fiebting unity is created by соленол длім дні сомол SіMS.
But Cliff's position is one of sectoral strugeles without common goals or aims. Of coars, on that basis all that can be called for is simple solidarity. It is just not possible to sriously carry Brough the task of unifying the working class in strugele on that basis But once you propose class wide demands, such as Socialier Winter is now discussing, then the logic of the situation is very different. For what is the logical culmination of unified strueples for class wide demands? It is abviously the most class-wide of actions -she general strike.
It is quite clear that in it policies on the wages fight the IS is vacillating between ten different positions The first ly wrong, we that of Cliff's article. The second position - the one the ENG has is that, in addition to their work in the soctoral struggles, revolutionaries must begin lo campaign for classwile demands of which the most important at present is the sliding scale of wages. But this lacles position also has a ingic at the level of what form of strug gle is proposed. It leads to the demand lar the unification of strugdes, the extension of which is clearly the demand for a general strike to gain these class wide demands. A soction of 15 clearly But it does not yet see the logic of the We know IS comrades are discussing many things in their organisation at present tho lack of colcronce of line which their leadership is putting forward even on the wages struggle. The line they should adopt is that in addition to fighting in the sectoral strupte revolutionaries shoul push forward the line of immediate class. wide demands of the working class. The be a campaign for united industrial action to delond and extend the thresholds into a sliding scale of wages.
RED MOLES- Internationals: First twenty