stry fion and with a guarantee of no loss of jobs, *The unions should make it clear that they do not intend to allow a million of their members to be thrown on the dole and the whole working class to have its standard of living cut by live per cent or more simply because the survival of capitalism demands it. On the contrary, against the miserable White Paper of Labour the unioas should advance a trade union plan for the nationalisation of industry under workers control.
*Finally, it should be settled once and for all who a Labour Government is responsible to. It claims to base itself on a party of the working class and to speak in the name of the working class. But who sanctioned all the appalling retreats of the last six months" Not the rank-and-file of the Labour Party or the trade unions, that is for sure. The demand must be fora Labour Government which is responsible to the organisations of the working class not to Parlament. The first stepe to that must be the demand for a Labour Party conference to decide on the election manifesto and the organisation by Tocal trades councils of conferences: to disciss local Labour Mi's positions.
On one issue we will make a clear prediction, No Labour Government which attempts to carry through the policies of the present Goveriment will survive. The present proposals mean a Labour Government presiding over 1-1%6 million unemployed, a 20% rale of inflation and a deop in the standard of living of the working class by live per cent or more a year. The British working class is at present Tar too strong to passively tolerate any such situation.
If Labour tries to carry out such a policy il will lead to electoral disaster and. to the seatest upsurge of militancy against any government since 1926. There will he the most Terocious in-lighting ever seen within the Parly which would tear the Party аритт.
At the moment the weight given hy the possesion of office to the extreme tight- wing and leadership of the Party is leading Lahour either to electoral defent or to the crippling and destruction of the next Labour Government, And that may be a setback for the working class, but it will dearroy the present political line of Lahour, alons with its authors months equivalent to a drop of over 11 per cent in a year.
Such a fall in the standard of living, which will of course hit the low paid and the unemployed even harder than average figures indicate affects not just items such as drink, radio and so on. It hits the whole quality of the living standard of the wurking class right down to absotute essentials. For example, Jt is alrady clear that the diet of the working class is worsening. The Daily Express on 19 April reported that tust year consumption of meat Teli from 134.7 Ibs. per head to 127 Ibs. The amount of fish per head caren fell from 18.3 Its. to 17.6 Ibs. and each person ate cight less oggs. While consumption of tbese healthy foods fell, that of potatoes, peas, beans and carrots r Furlherniore all these deteriorations in income are accompanied hy a delerioration on all Tronts of social expenditure house bulding is Despite the general uselessness of the Labour White Paper on industry there are some individual points which can be used by militants in the coming months and on which the trade unions should campaign.
The most important ones are:
1. Nationalisation through the National Enterprise Board and other means, The Economit speit out the dangers for the ruling class: The danger of the Natonai Enterprise Fung/r magazine sneerad conter CELI NO BODOS TOR TALH MIMDVHN THONSEnCH "The interests of all concerned' -but antugonasm or antarasts batweon workcers and capitalists. Any Governmo which refuses to broak with capitalism will and up serving the interests of the tiny handful of capitalists who control the economy.
al ib lowest level for 14 years, a working clas child has to wail 18 montes for a hospital bed to have his tonsils out, a working class woman! has to wait 12 months for a hospital bed for any gynaecological operation.
It is to partnership in these types of proposals and development, that the Labour White Paper is attempting to commit the working class movement. As someone once sald: "You can fool some of the people all of the tinle and all of the pople some of the time, but.
Unemployed workers in the 1930s stage a sit-in at a dinner for big industrialists. The labour movement must act now to prevent the capitalist crisis unleashing such mess unemploy ment agalin. like British Leyland) to isaue mass will then respond with sit-los and jobs be saved by takeovers by the National Enterprise Board. If the employor can afford to do the same today because industry Minister Bann'e schemes Income range Top 1 % Top 5% Remaining 95 % Bourd may come when next yar's slump causes some big firms (perhaps redundancy notices to workers, who occupations, demanding that their Board obliges, every one of the more than one million workers who seem likely to be sacked in the winter of 1975-76 will ten take very serjously the idea of a sit-in providing the best HIL 'ADEL US SURIO DOneS BUORRU SAnGO Number of persons 412,000 2,060,000 39,140,000 hope of saving his job. This lear is what the unions have to turn into a reality in the coming months. Any redundancy should be met with an occupation and demand for nationalisation with guarantee of no loss of 2. Workers Control.
Workers controt is left totally vague in the White Paper, and is in any case dealt with under the totally contused term industrial democracy.' The White tuper simply says the following: "The Government cavisages a major development of industrial democracy throughout industry in the ycars ahead, Within that frame work, the National Enterprise Board will play ils part in ensuring that enterprises under its control providé for the fall involvement of employees in decision making at all levels. It adds: "The Covernment Intends that the plans to be covered by a (planning) be irrelevant. Duing the 1950s and agreement will be drawn up by managcment in close copsultation with trade union re presentatives trom the firm. The framing and updating of agreements will thus involve a continuing discussion between managoment and unions and will consfitute an important advance in the part to be played by industrial democracy in the planning of company strategy. cent. The Goverriment envisages that union represen tatives from companics. whie not formally partics to planning agreements, would also take part where they wished to do so in consultabions on agrecments with the This is wailie, but prociscly because of that it can be given many contents depending on the relation of class-forces. The Labour Ieaders no doubt intend that the unions should agree to what the companies propose ald the Government accepts. But given the nature of what the companies propose und che corapanies ate going to hava lo do in the next few years, i.c. sack bundreds of thousanda of workers, it is pot clear whar the unions Ril actily do. bankrupt and which the Government Socialists mist iherefore demand the unions to be given real veto powers over management plans.
3. Opening the books.
This is cosmected to the previous point. There arc proposals wilich are potentiaily important in the While Paper on company infogmation: IE Identifiable Percentage of wealth E29,040 million 30% £54,208 million 56% £42,592 million 44% tive, union representalives must be provided with all the nocesury information elesant to the costents of planning agreemenb, The Government will therefore require employers to disclose information of this kind."
There is of comse a get out clause which says that this need not bo done where disclosure could seriously prejudice the company's commercial interests." There is no doubt that firms are going to be forced to cough up some information. Again a big intervention must be made by the unions on ths to demand full disclosure of ail company information.
4. Partially state owned firms The White Paper says that when Ihe proposed Aittiondi Sihterprise Board gives financial help to a company it should take over a correspon dine proportion of che shares. In a time of capitalist boom this would 1960s British companics on average generated 70% of their own Lives!ment funds from their own profits and could raise the rest fairly casily from the stock market or trom bank loans. But with the present profits and liquidity crisis the estimates are that this 70 per cent is going to fall to about 30 per With stock exchange prices having fillen in real termus over two-thirds in the last two years the stock exchunge i5 virtually excladed as a way of obaining significant new finance, As for bank loans very fow ailing comparies would have sections of thei shares owned by the state. This is going to raise the question of gavernment control, of pirtially government controlled firms threatening redundancy and so on which the employers do not want la be discussed al all.
The unions must demand that all such fenis are fully nationalised This is going to be important in Che case of companies such as British Leyland which are clewrly going will be called upon to bail out.
Despite the faci that certain parts of the White Paper, o they are put into effect, can he used by the unions there should be no illusions whatever that this White Paper as a whole is going to solve any thing ut all for the working class Mean average per person £70,485 E26.314 E4 for one yanr send cheques or postal orders to:
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Red Weekly 29 Agust 1974
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