1981 sees the highest jobless total since the war. 800,000 have been added to the dole queues over the past 12 months and - according to forecasts - the future looks even bleaker. The Cambridge Econometrics Group, for example, estimates 4 million out of work by 1985. As the Tories' monetarist policies bite home, whole areas of the country are being turned into industrial deserts. Particularly hard hit - as Alex Kitson pointed out on the November 29 demonstration - are "...the country's most vulnerable workers - racial minorities, women, unskilled workers, the low-paid and the young".
DELIBERATE The return of the spectre of the thirties is no accident. It is the deliberin which old-fashioned British industry faces stiff competition in declining markets - the Tories are hell-bent on drastic measures. What Tories have in store for millions of workers: the dole queue Central to their strategy is cutting away the "dead wood" of the economy and creating a new, streamlined industry able to hold its own on the World market. This means increasing profit rates - at the expense of wages - so that the necessary modernisation can The Thatcher government knows, however, that profits cannot be raised simply by imposing a wage freeze. It has learned the lesson of the previous On January 24, the Labour Party special conference will take place to elect the party leader. The very fact that such a conference is occuring is a sign of the radicalisation among the grass-roots fed up with seeing conference decisions overturned, year after year, by pro-capitalist leaders. The decision to take the election of party leader out of the hands of the PLP was a major step forward in the fight for democracy and our ability to hold our leaders to account.
While a major step forward, however, the PLP has fought a desperate Heath government which came into a head-on conflict with the powerful industrial unions and was swept out of office.
STRATEGY The method of the Thatcher government is different. Its major thrust has been to promote mass unemployment (particularly by its attacks on the welfare state). Creating a pool of mass unemployed will, it is hoped, demoralise the labour movement and force wages down under the threat of redundancy.
This thrust has been backed up by an attack on the rights of the trade union movement. Prior's Bill seeks to destroy those elementary rights which are key to defending jobs and living standards.
The green light has also been given to hard-line managers, such as Edwardes oi Batish Leyland, to begin the process of crushing shop-floor organisation. The victimisation of Derek Robinson, last year, and the sackings of the Longbridge 9 recently, are clear attempts to ram home this offensive.
FIGHT-BACK Although the Tory leaders have scored some successes, there 1s utte sign, now.
ever, of demoralisation setting in. The steelworkers' strike last year - and the support it won from other industrial unions - shows the wide-spread willingness to fight back that exists. ence decisions to widen the electoral franchise.
aghan's resignation, was to hold a rushed election last year in which Foot was the winner. This was clearly an attempt to undercut the candidature of figures like Benn on the 'left' - supported by the CLPs - and foist a compromise leader on the party.
Their second tactic has been to try and ensure that the PLP retains - in decisive say in who is elected. They this November. management's 9% offer.
LEADERSHIP ment".
with the dole today.
ACTION reduction - in public services.
ations - into action.
CENTRAL Their first tactic, facilitated by Callany electoral college that is set up - a have been backed up in this by rightThat willingness to fight back has been shown in the number of protest actions that the labour leaders have been forced votes to go to the PLP.
While it is unlikely that Foot will be challenged when he submits himself on January 24th, what is important is that right-wing attempts to undercut conference decisions are.
Socialist Action believes that the most democratic election procedure would be that of conference itself which reflects the real weight of the trade unions in the party.
Socialist Action would urge all delegates - if a motion approaching such a widening of the franchise were posed - to vote for it. tive course would be to support that motion which guarantees the most democratic representation of the union and party rank-and-file and curbs the unrapresentative power of the PLP.
At present, that would appear to be the NEC motion which calls for a one third split of votes - in a future electoral college - between the PLP, unions and constituency parties. While underweighting rank-and-file control, such a motion represents at this stage the best step forward in democratising the party.