Thatcher's and C | IMGpapers 1980

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As the strike wave in Poland grew, Western leaders tumbled over each other in order to identify with the Polish flag. On his election drive in Alabama, President Carter exclaimed that "The working men and women of Poland have set an example for all those who cherish freedom..." Similar words have come from Mrs Thatcher.

But as they identified with the workers of Gdansk and Sczecin, the words must have stuck in their throats. For they know all too well that the strike victory in Poland cuts right across their aim of convincing workers -- in the USA or Britain accept massive sacrifices in the years ahead.

UNION RIGHTS What was the central demand of Poland? that they will have to conditions?

FREEDOM the Polish strikes? For free trade The hypocricy of the lories - How can Mrs Thatcher praise their efforts 'in the cause of freedom' when her government was elected on a union-bashing programme? Isn't Prior's 'Employment Act' designed to destroy those very rights the Tories pretend to support in And what about the demands for protection against inflation and a shorter working week that were central to the Polish trade unionists' strike? Hasn't the Thatcher government, at a time when inflation is raging at over 20%, indulged in major confrontations with workers over pay demands? Weren't the steel workers supposed to be the first lambs to be sacrificed in her drive to lower living Labour Party - can be seen even more clearly on the question of civil rights. Some of the key demands of the Polish workers were for greater freedom of speech and access to information about Poland's socio-economic situation.

How the Tories can support this when - more than any other government since the war -- they have clamped down on civil liherties is a mystery. Didn't the Tories encourage, for example, the British Steel Corporation's lawsuit against the BBC for refusing to reveal the 'mole' who leaked "secret' documents?

Didn't the Tories — on their coming to power - arm the police with greater powers to victimise and intimidate pickets and the Black ghettoes? REASON The real reason the Tories

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October in Mass Struggle