reason it was necessary for all those wanting strengthen struggle leadership to aid the building unofficial national committee and to support the key militants involved.
Unfortunately, the activities of the Socialist Workers Party detracted from this. It first launched the Real Steel News bulletin, openly to the SWP.
In response to the failure of this project, then launched Workers Charter, but this came out of the blue, unconnected to the rank-and-file leadership of the strike.
The formally correct demands of this charter were therefore not fought for as answers to the problems that this layer of militants was attempting to answer and millants looked to the SWP were away from the key task of buildling unofficial ¿national committee.
The total lack of influence of the Communist Party among the active strikers meant that the struggle leadership did not have the burden of the traditional 'Broad Left' strategy, which attempts subordinate actions to the wishes of left bureaucrats. But the CP did play a role in the strike — essentialv one of sabotage. Hit For the strike manufacturing industry had to be hit. the class the CP at strike products. impassioned only Connolly of the strike committee, tied Convenor Steel Ford is another Dagenham, agreement to essentially to strip continued was on v directed rank-and-file Yorkshire strike indeed did Sirs local class this.
Said the steelworkers. It develop between miners arid dockers pulling in of other sectors succeed, general strike to government. Stewards and union officials led by meeting of the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions held in Sheffield during the sixth week of the strike refused to extend a boycott to all steel This • was despite an plea by Bernard South Yorkshire backed by Keith Jones, the local ISTC official.
example. Dan Connors, the leading CP convenor at limit picketing steel which would have meant Ford could have working indefinitely. the determination of the pickets South which succeeded changing this. But by that time, the strike was in its twelfth week.
The CP recognised in words - as - that the strike was a struggle against the Tory government. But it refused to accept the logic of If a defeat for the steelworkers was a defeat for the whole class, then everything possible had to be done to was vital to generalise the links which began to the steelworkers, • as well as the - into a bring down the