PHILIPPE Marchan revolutionary shop steward at the plant France. Was. On 8 February he shot himself, driven to suicide by management witch-hunt.
former Chrysler plants in Britain -has Jong history intimidation of its workforce. Many of its plants are terrorised by a proof Free Trade includes known fascists among its bully-boys.
In many shops the foreman is a CSL •For the immierani workers who make up much of the workforce, joining the CSL is the price they pay for avoiding the sack and the long journey home.
Al the Aulnay-sous-Bois factory the biggest French union, the CGT, has had the works council elections annulled time after ime for CSL malpractices. In 1977 the CSE replied by a terror campaign on the re-run and only 30 workers out of 5,000 even voted.
Marchau himself was a member of the CGT. How management responded to his election as a steward can be judged from the list of provocations given in the statement issued by the CGT section at Sochaux after his death.
According to this, Marchau was the victim of 'too many of the worst insults, provocations, punishments, several letters, serious warnings ... and sixteen days suspension in two years, including six in a single month.
The CGT federation accused management of 'ferocious exploitation' organising "permanent repression', declarig that for three years Marchau had been the 'object of persecution by hand-picked management finks.
Stoppage Management described "shameless propaganda, the workforce to judge it in their hearts and consciences'. workers stood could be seen on une morning of the funeral, when a fiveminute stoppage took plant in memory of Marchau.
But Marchau was not just a trade unIon militant. He was member organisation, the Communist League (LCR section of the Fourth International).
In its own statement, said: 'It is with rage in our hearts that salute the memory the daily repression of the Peugeot bosses, their systematic against militants...
•Peugeot management wanted to break this CT delegate, organiser of the defence and the struggles of the body shop workers. the most exhausting multiplying harassment suspensions. As a result he is dead, victim of his determination not to yield to the intimidation, exploitation and repression of the system...
*The LCR calls on all the workers organisations, militants and workers for a united struggle to put an end to the Peugeot dictatorship.' That dictatorship Britain. It is already strength redundancies at the Linwood plant in Scotland. Solidarity against killers of Marchau will help convince all Peugeot workers of the common enemy they face.
Socialist Challenge IT IS whether the was Sochaux, Zimbabwe by Robert Mugabe.
Unions), which very of Zimbabwe disastrous.
exclusively Continuity plots, ragging, fraud both internationally.
The hardly a police metalworkers' and nationalist guerillas.
white reservists.
service body practical preparations, this calling on Where the turnout! place in the April's, will martial law also revolutionary more than Revolutionary constitutional French the LCR been suspended.
of this Seats Rage against The Muzorewa victory. win.
They gave him Heavily and Africa, National Council Peugeot DICSS.
Yet Muzorewa support drift away extends Lancaster House proposed the substance.
Muzorewa compromised 21 February 1980 Page STILL uncertain ceasetire in Zimbabwe will hold until the start of next week's elections.
The main reason for doubt is the vicious campaign by the Brilish colonial power and the white Rhodesian state against National Union (ZANU) led The root of the problem lies in the of the ceasetire agreement. The belief that the people could achieve liberation courtesy of the British state - an idea pushed in the workers movement by the Labour lefts and the Communist Party - has proved It may be surprising that Soames has been so openly partial to the whites and Muzorewa. But it was inevitable that his power would rest racist apparatus — for the Lancaster House agreement provides no alternative.
So As a symbolic demonstration of continuity the elections for the 20 white and 80 African seats are even being held on different days. The elections will be run by the same team which produced Muzorewa's victory in the internal settlement' election last April - widely denounced as a ZAPU Zimbabwe and same police force will in the conventional sense, being more used to paramilitary actions against the As happened last April its ranks will be reinforced by the mobilisation of some 35,000 The Election Directorate, the civil which deals with is virtually unchanged from April. There will be no registration of voters, leaving the way open for widespread fraud. The adoption of a similar procedure last time meant that some constituencies recorded a more than 100 per cent Above all, the election, like last be conducted and of Emergency. Lord Soames will need This share of expertise to explain how democratic elections can be held when all democratic guarantees have have thus done everything in their power to ensure a Yet Muzorewa he is unnkely even te get the 31 African seats needed give him a majority in coalition with the white members of parliament.
financed by South the Bishop's United African (UANC) superficially the best equipped party. (The Patriotic Front parties are even WILD having problems finding a printing allowed has seen his the him even though he returned to campaign for the election a month before the came accords were signed, and a full ten weeks before Mugabe was allowed back. He has all should the trappings of power but none of its is hopelessly by his years collaboration with the white regime. ZANU supporters turn out to greet Mugabe the and the Rhodesians are badly in need of a second string - a black politician with mass support who can be trusted to abide by the settlement and look favourably upon Western capital. Joshua Nkomo is enthusiastically auditioning for this role.
The Patriotic Front alliance of and ZANU broke up only days after the Lancaster ZIMBABWE DAY OF ACTION Saturday 23 February MASS PICKET 1pm to 2pm of the Foreign Office Downing Street RALLY 6.45pm to 8.30pm at the National Liberal Club 1 Whitehall Place SW1 Speakers from ZANU(PF) and PF(ZAPU)
Alex Lyon MP and a representative from the International Defence and Aid Fund (recently returned from Zimbabwe) 50p BENEFIT & DANCE 9.00pm to 12.30am at the National Liberal Club 1 Whitehall Place SW1 Bands from Southern Africa JABULA IMMIGRANT (a special reunion benefit performance) £2.50 Rally and Benefit £2.25 Publicly responsibility for this seemed to rest •ZANU, ZAPU to pose as defenders of unity and thus inherit Patriotic Front label undoubted electoral asset. Hear least crossly for ple least equally from leadership of Nkomo's party. Its idea of unity was that the ŻANU cadres "rejoin' ZAPU, which they had left in 1964. Such an attitude could only harden ZANU hostility.
The British have aimed for a split in the Patriotic Front for as long as the alliance has existed. But even they white cannot have expected that Nkomo would be so obliging.
• His long multinational proof of his ultimate sympathy for imperialism, but he has than that. His armed forces have fully co-operated with the British monitoring forces, to the extent of lodging House ZANU ceasefire violations. Endorsed Nkomo's endorsed When longtime leader community, urged blacks to vote for ZAPU in preference discredited Muzorewa. However, this was something of a mixed blessing which Nkomo may yet regret The problem for the British is that Nkomo is also unlikely to win the election. Mugabe has a far stronger base among the country's majority Shona people and indisputably played the major part in the guerilla war.
It will be surprising if ZANU does not emerge Nkomo has precautions against this by informally approaching the Thumber of the smaller African parties with proposals for a coalition.
Lord Soames can be relied on to co-operate. Under the terms of a report by the supervisors at the February, appoint Nkomo as prime ministe even if Mugabe wins!
Nkomo's attempts to patch up a coalition, against attempts on Mugabe's life all indicate the deep fear of a Mugabe victory the feeling that this would mean the final destruction of the racist state. After such a result it is difficult to believe that the African population would willingly return to a daily grind the of low wages, tiny plots of land and humiliation by the white state. which the Weakened Zimbabwe is thus lurching back towards civil war - though this time one in which the nationalist have been politically weakened. The anti-ZANU coalition, ranging from Nkomo, now threatens the elections themselves.
Defence of movement therefore immediate necessity for the Western labour movement. The most effective VOTE association with une Lonrho was Many done better have complaints against alleged Zimbabwe's credentials were lan - Smith, the all its troubles. of the white the resolve his supporters guevance Results as the largest party.
already taken UANC and beginning of Soames will be able to administrative ZANU, and the and militarily the white army to BENEFIT (NU(PF) the nationalist becomes an VARY way to do this is by campaigning for British Governor and his troops ZANU supporters (anc rank-and-file ZAPU members) may gone into the settlement believing that the British presence was a guarantee against intimidation, but few can believe it now. In the space of a few weeks Lord Soames has made it clear that far from being symbolically at least — the source of The deployment of British troops is strikingly reminiscent of their use in Ireland in 1969. There too their arrival was tentatively greeted on the nationalist side as some protection against reactionary attacks. There too the British government believed that short-term military means could long-standing colonial The results of the Irish experience are there for all to see. No doubt the British government does not want a repeat performance, but it has yet to problem of how to withdraw its forces.
could easily happen is a swift decline into civil war with the British troops still in place and, of course, playing a far, from impartial role. In that case the British state will once again be embarked upon a long and bloody colonial war - a war in which the Western labour movement cannot afford to be neutral.
ZANU: WE ARE OUK OWN LIBERATORS THE PASSIONS FRIDAY 22nd FEE ONDON POLY OXFORD CIRCUS, W.i ICEEDS TO ZANUF) £2
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