the employers union leaders.
A letter has b cen sent out by the Confederation Shipbuilding and CHECOEL general sceretary to all unions concerned that from the CSEU's point of view the dispute has finished.
This has given the green light to the employer Arthur Snipe to hire strike breakers, Last week scabs burst through the Scotts picket line in an armoured van fully protected by the ponce They've been sent in to ger the 12m worth of motors ready for dispatching.
fatal mistake on their part rook place, when scab attacked Manchester Eueyting photographer lan Currie with a two foot hammer breaking his camera.
Eventually charges Wete broutht grainst Ken Messon who turned out to be a member of the Boilermakers' union and Mining CHDIOVCC Supplies, Arthur snipe s parent company in Donca With the Manchester CSEU still firmly behind the strike at Scotts, this strikebreaking srade reioniss las prot voked an angry response.
The pickets were joinand their engineering ed during the week by delegations from local factorics MasseyFerguson, GEC and Arnfields.
Dennis Barry, believes strikebreaking has to be stopped by all the local factories regulariy joining AUEW National Executive).
SL6 4LL with donations.
'We do not intend to let any of our work leave told Socialist Challenge.
To back this up, a team of strikers is going into the Doncaster arca to build a campaign in Inc movement to stop these scabs.
The battle inside the engineering union to will back official backing also stepping up.
On 12 October the The following resolution has been sent by the LSE workers to every AUEW branch in In view of the unanimous support for the Laurence Scott dispute from the 28 July 1987 Manchester North District Committee of the AUEW and the rules of the union with regard to procedure for deciding on the official status of disputes /Rule 14 Paragraph 16), this branch deplores any attampt by the executive to. terminate this dispute against the clear wishes of the workforce expressed at two mass meetings (14 July and 23 July) and calls on the National Executive to maintain official backing for this fight for jobs. (For forwarding with your branch stamp and signature to the If your branch supports this resolution. make sure one copy is sent to the AUEW Head Office and another to the Strike Committee, 20 Round Croft, Romiley, Cheshire union's final appeal court submission from the Manchester North district comabout SENC separate rules which have been broken by the union leaders in terminating the successful hearing could. according to local NO CLC Шестерсofficial John Tocher, force the executive recall the AUEW national Even if the strike moves to regain official union support are unsuccesstul Snipe is facing big problems after five months of strike. all over the reproduce Glossop AUEW branch secretary Scott dispute.
and leaving the rank and file to ger on Jignting.
WHY IS THIS NOT HAPPENING?
not submitting to the employers demands.
to the fighting members of this once prond union. to the labour movement all over the country will take orders for them. pact.
the factory and at GEC 150 have been sold Laurence Scott LAURENCE Scott strikers have been receiving messages of support from country. Here Ellams, I'M INSTRUCTED by my branch to write to the executive council deploring their attitude to the Laurence Considering the slogan "the union that fights' it seems that the generals are more interested in suing for peace with the This EC is supposed to be against unemployment This EC is supposed to be fighting redundancies. This EC was instructed by the national committee to give maximum support to our members ar Laurence Scott.
This branch has discussed your circular and we are not convinced that a lot of pseudo-semi-legal jargon can disguise the fact, that not only are members not being supported by the EC, but by their determination are becoming an embarrassment to the EC because they're The branch strongly urges the EC to restore dispute benefit and negotiate a settlement that will he acceptable TEN THOUSAND copies of the Laurence Scott strike bulletin nave been produced tor circulatior Full of the true facts behind the strike the stewards are keen that labour movement bodies In the Manchester area they ve had a big imAt nearby Francis Shaw's the convenor Alan Spinks, took one bulletin for every two workers in Bach from stewards committee. . 20 Round Soelalist Challenge TOctober 1981 Page 5
TWO small unpublicised events from last week show the depth of the crisis facing the Polish authorities. staged a short sitdown strike in protest against the authorities refusal to allow them an independent union.
Second, when the ruling Communist Party tried promise formula on worsell management worked out SoliMembers of threatened to vote il down the parliamentary chamber against the party's instructions.
In the Eastern bloc if you can't rely on your own party MPs police got problems. Those problems are keiv to become ever more pronounced during cond part Solidarity congress rently underway in GdanThe first halt ot the monia caused a storm or protests and threats from the Kremlin and their lackevs in the of Eastern Europe. The reason was a series of congress resolutions and deci sions which challenged the political monopoly of the ruling bureaucracy congress offered support to the workers of Eastern Europe BICH struggle establish dependent trade unions. It called for workers to have he final say in the running the lactories; for tree national local tions; and for an end to the bureaucracy's mampulation of the mass media.
Challenge All those positions pointed towards the elimination of the bureaucracy's and political power, and for the establishment of workers democracy.
It is this challenge for is why Party was prepared to accept any compromise with last week over the issue of workers' self-management.
The Solidarity convoted for resolution giving the workers the final say in the hiring and firing of factor: managers. mis challengeo the right of the Party to nominate its own people as every 113101 position in public life in The "compromise formula adopted the Polish parliament proposed that the party retain the right to nominate directors First, police officers in Warsaw in "sensitive' industries like defence, and for judicial arbitration in cases dispute between workers and the party in all other This undoubtedly represents a major retreat in legitimising workers' And it much for party hardliners who made last-minute ditch favour the current SYSECIOn exclusive party control. Revolt That was when MPs threatened a revolt against the Party keep the 'compromise formula But there has also been Solidarity about the com- major within Jan Rulewski, the militant Solidarity praesidium member who beaten up by the authorities Bydgoszcz and the presidium of a sell-out.
As we went to press the compromise formula 100KCE INCETOD only grudgingly accepted by the Solidarity Congriss As the document reprinted with this article shows, the selfmovement represents a powerful new weapon the Polish workers in their struggle to wrest power from the rul ing bureaucrats.
Prime Minister Jaruzelski and Party hardliner Olszowski both responded last week with suggestions of a broad national front of the Party unions, the Church WOWERS and VeTe US organisations *for the salvation of the fatherland'.
It is proof of the depth of the reaime's crisis that such ideas can be scriously tional unity with the ruline bureaucrats would be a sure method of stifling the development of workers power in Poland. Welcome The Solidarity congress last Monday welcomed speakel founding committee for an independent union of the police, Zbigniew Dudziak.
ference of 2000 delegates representing 40,000 policemen and women demanding the right to their own union, TOO LEG conference: Police should not be used to put down working class protests.
The aisc old VCOL founder of KOR, the dissident workers" defence committee, explain their reason for now disbanEdward Lipinski, 93 year addresses the Solidarity congress "Are hungry children the goal of socialism?' asks a hunger march banner reasons for now disbanding, Edward Lipinski told WARd nOW Solidarity:
consider myself a socialist. I have been COCRISI since 1906. Socialism was to be the solving working classes problems and the liberation of the working class. But the created was socialism of mismanagement and in efficiency that brought catastrophe unequalled in 200 years. It is a socialism prisons, censorship and police.
One surprising visitor LOUIE CORETOS was Len Murray of the TUC. Let us hope on his return he does something to help build soldarity with the Polish workers in this country. One small step at this week's Labour Par old founder of KOR. ty conference in Brighton.
At fringe meeting organised the East European Solidarity Campaign, Eric Heffer said:
most regrettable that there was only one resoluconference should be making a very The representatives of Solidarity, workers' self-management committees, the regional co-ordinations and the Network or arac ractories nave drawn we the following documents which the scope of activity of the workers' selfmanagement bodies. They were approved by the delegates" meetings on 8 July in Gdansk and 12/13 July in Lublin.
These two meetings necessity of drawing up a draft plan of activities for the bodies. Our commission has prepared a short term plan drawing on the concrete experiences of the workers' self-manage ment bodies already in existence in the large enterprises.
Our opinion is that ion to take compicie management of the factories unless they meet certain These are the following:
1. A vote in Parliament on the decrees relating to the way the factories and selfmanagement bodies are run, given the aspirations of society The creation at the level of the regions of an organisational infrastructure and a co-ordination bodies (bank of experts, discussions on the projects of the decrees, ete)
The creation of a system of information for the self-management bodies at a national level.
The activities of management bodies at the level of the factory 1. The democratically clected workers* self-management bodies or the founding tor such bodies mediately take measures relating to:
a) adapting general workers' self-management to the specific conditions in the lactory, b) ensuring the arrangement of the technical premises etc, c) drawing up a list of all deeds relating to d) preparing the procedures and The second half of Solidarity's congress got off to a story start this week clear statement as a conthe const of full support for workers of Solidarity.
Ollen we find ourselves protesting repression South America, South Africa or Turkey, and yet we do not pay the same attention to leading managers.
tory, the workers"
report on the which to define showed the self-management the whole of society over the next management bodies control of the preliminary conditions.
Black of activities their realisation. 9. We must scil-management economic and the militants munication the selfTOE TES will un- economic statutes OI •TOTCE the factory, the region.
happening Eastern Europe, and unfortunately in the name of socialism. fact is that Solidarity is TICOLES advances in any East European state and vital WE NE these workers full support.' documentation for a competition for the posts of director of the factory and the 2. Before the final takeover of the fac will be to get from the factory director a the factory, including organisational outline and the circula tion of information inside the factory. Thus report will constitute the basis from establish the extent of the ac. tivities of the self-management bodies. 3. The report must be studied by experts and presented to the workforce. 4. After the acceptance of the report, one of the priorities of the self-manage. ment bodies will be to examine the wages system in force in the factory and to prepare a new wages policy approved by 5. The workers' council must organisc permanent consultative commissions. 6. During the period of transition before taking charge of the factory we must de mand that the factory director imple decisions of the self7. Self-management of the factory does not imply a systematic interference with the decisions of the managers but, on the contrary, it signifies the right of contro over the manager and the possibility of spotlighting the director's activities or 8. We must not accept the plans without first ensuring that the means exist for undertake a vast socio. education of the workforce 10. The self-management bodies must have access to the union press, to the media, the radio and other forms of com11. The best-organised self-management bodies must help those which have not yet reached their level of organisation. 12. All the self-management bodies and their founding committees must struggle promulgation decrees on reform, on self-management -TECTONES guaranteeing the management of the factory by the work13. In as short a delay as possible we must make contact with other selfmanagement bodies and scientific and technical bodies existing in the area or Socialist Challenge 1 October 1981 Page 7
THE DOWNFALL of the Shah in Iran inspired millions of workers around the world But the murderous repression agamst political opposition by the Khomeini regime has led many to ask what has gone wrong in Iran. Socialist Challenge was able to speak to a member of the Socialist Workers Party, a section of the Fourth International in Iran. We do not necessarily share all the views expressed in the interview but discussion on the issues it raises is long overdue The most common sentiment of people in this country, which is reinforced by the media coverage, is that Iran is no better off now than under the Shah.
What does the HKS say to that?
Khomeini's regime at one level is worse than the Shah. That does not mean that the Shah's regime was good! It was terrible, but the current repression is worse. The important difference is this: the overthrow of the Shah's regime through the mass upsurge of the people allowed three years of open activity for the workers' and left wing organisations, for the first time in 20-30 years. It gave the national minorities the space to fight against the central authorities, especially the This development of self-organisation threatened the Khomeini regime. When the The popular insurrection against the Shah (above) was one of the most massive ever seen strike committee under the Shah turned into anywhere in the world. Below Gharani Karimi. on the left. a Kurdish HKS sympathiser genuine working class councils the regime was executed by the regime tried to disband them and replace them with Islamic councils.
When these two began to side with the workers rather than the Islamic Republican Party (LRP) even they were shut down. They have been replaced by Islamic Societies in the factories which operate just like the old SAVAK secret police under the Shah.
We should not forget that there have been tremendous gains from the revolution like the eight hour day, equal pay for women, nurseries, rights of workers to organise and so on. Not all these gains have been lost. The Khomeini regime has completely crushed the working class and the gains of the revolution.
How does the HKS characterise the regime and what attitude do vou have to it? Are you for its overthrow or not We consider that it is a capitalist regime.
There were two important wings of the IRP authorities. wing around Ayatollah Beheshti was for a centralised economy with more state control. He was killed in the IRP headquarters bombing.
The other wing round Rafsanjhani opposes land reform and stands for defence of private property. This wing now runs the Socialist Challenge 1 October 1981 Page 8 country. Everything is now imported. ly from the West. The mullahs clain against capitalism and communism bu say their religion doesn't allow them isolated, so they have economic rela with East and West We are for the overthrow of the r and for socialist revolution. It is po that the civil war will provide an opport for overthrowing Khomeini.
We have no illusions in the Mujah Their leader Rajavi says that they sur Bani-Sadr in order to ensure they wit support of the bourgeoisie. They expl support capitalism.
But we say that if they come to pow overthrowing Khomeini this would ope big opportunities for open activity by workers and left wing organisations, th
alities and so on. It would also boost the nces to develop a mass working class or lutionary organisation in Iran In that sense we would fight aloneside n to prevent any right wing inspired tary coup that the royalists outside the ntry might support.
at has happened to the mass support t Khomeini had? is there a growth of i-clerical feeling among the workers?
Khomeini and the IRP got huge popular port from the hostages issue. We conred this matter as a factional dispute in the ruling class in Iran , not as an antierialist campaign. Bani-Sadr d for President the IRP was dogged by ion fighting. Their candidate for the election had to be withdrawn two days before voting when it was discovered that he was incligible to stand as a half-Afghani. Their last minute replacement was a nonentity.
On the other hand the Mojahedin leader Rajavi stood on a radical democratic programme, calling for support for the rights of the Kurds, workers and women and so on. When he was excluded from the poll by the mullahs, Bani-Sadr adopted and campaigned on many points of his programme, and was elected So the IRP used the hostages issue to regain mass support which it was losing. it didn't last long. solve the burning masses.
The situation in that regard was worse for the regime again queued up to go to the war to fight.
Khomeini. ple, especially people Fedayeen Majority number of arrests: brown or black hair!
of the counter-revolution'.
the centre and no TV munism is better'.
Russia or the Tudeh party by that.
What is moment?
But were popular.
The mullahs couldn't economic needs of the that there the Mujahedin.
the situation. dreds of other parents looking Sloped thi was a weeks when she authorities they gave her 'suspected Mujahedin victed for refusing to give his name many more killed. than under the Shah - production and wages were going down, prices were going up, housing problems were terrible and so on. Then the war with Iraq boosted support - people voluntarily But again the economic problems and the lack of democratic rights undermined sup port for the regime, though not so much for There has been growing disillusion with the regime. For example after the hostages issue people's reaction was: "If they were spies why have they been released? And if they weren't why have we had to suffer the economic consequences of holding them?"
There is now absolutely no base of support left for the regime. Their support comes from some bazaaris, and their paid agents in the Revolutionary Guards and committees along with their families. These are the peokids who arc on their demonstrations supposedly of one million The Tudeh (Communist) Party and the group also back the regime. At their last congress they decided that one of their duties was to inform on "counter-revolutionaries'. The Tudeh party exposed one headquarters of the Peykar (Maoist) group to the authorities leading to a To understand how fed up people are you have to grasp how few rights they fee they have left. I met a woman in a hairdresser who was crying. She told the hairdresser to dye her blond hair black because she had just received a Ministry of Health circular saying that as well as her scarf and overalls women had also to all have dark The people hate the mullahs. They have closed down the parks — they were centres You can't even the regime. go mountain-climbing — mountains are also counter-revolution'.
There's only Mohammed on at the cinema so people are very ted up.
It is common now to hear people say: If this is Islam then we don't even want the Mojahedin who are Islamic, Probably comAnd they don't mean the repression like at the them to Since the IRP headquarters was blown up it has intensified, Not just 72 people were killed it was more like 110. The Mujahedin Wing refer to the bombings as revolutionary acts of the people" and there is no doubt that they factories.
Our comrades in the factores reported were celebrations among the workers at the explosion of the IRP headquarters. But within a week the regime had killed 300 people in revenge, many were only between 9 and 15 years old, sympathisers of The regime is so brutal nationalities? because it is so weak. It has no control over A sympathiser of ours, Gharani Karimi age 29, who had been a student at Hatfield Polytechnic, was killed by the regime during this time. He was a very important Kurdish militant arrested before the IRP bombing. authorities The regime considered him to be important enough to be on a list of prisoners for ex- industry. change with the Kurds for Revolutionary Guards held prisoner. He had his throat cut.
I met a woman whose son went missing. She went to Evrin prison and found hun- enormous for their children. She went back each day for news and the crowds were smaller each day. She good sign that their children had been found. But after som eventually saw the ten albums of photos of young people and children who had been shot. She saw her son in one photo with five bullets in his chest where he had been shot dead. Underneath the photo it said sympathiser, con- money Gravediggers report that busloads of bodies were taken to the cemetery for burial. Whenever the regime announces a number of executions there are always in reality The assassinations have paralysed the Iran.
Bani-Sadr, exiled in Paris regime but they have also created a certain demoralisation and passivity, a feeling of 'what can we do?' People are reduced to betting on who will be next to be blown up. This passivity shows the substitutionism of the Muahedin for the masses. A political struggle is needed against There needs to be a general strike through organising the workers in the factories. This has to lead to civil war and armed confrontation with the regime, and its Revolutionary Guards.
If you favour overthrowing the regime what do you call for to replace it?
We are not for an alliance with the Mujahedin as such but we would fight alongside overthrow the regime. While we criticise them for their bourgeois programme we recognise that rank and file Mujahedin comrades are courageous fighters giving up their lives for the struggle.
Our slogans are for: Independent workclass organisation, constituent assembly, and for workers' councils in the We stand for generalising these all over Iran into a national workers' council.
What is the situation with the war with Iraq and the struggle of the oppressed Only the Kurds are well organised with real autonomy over their areas The other nationalities were not able to fully utilise the history ah side Kinds a lon struggle against centra Their territory is still very backward though, mainly peasants and no The war with Iraq continues — it is a year old now. But neither side knows how to win it. The economic damage to both sides is and increases both their dependence on the West. There is now in Iran rationing and a black market at triple prices for goods. To queue for the bare necessities takes hours The regime could have survived the economic crisis through paying for its imports for everything with cash from oil. But the regime has just announced that for the first seven months of 1981 the import bill was 7,9 billion dollars and oil sales were only 550 million dollars per month so the is running out The regime has already announced cuts for the winter.
This economic crisis, combined with the massive political crisis obviously puts into question how long the regime can survive. Next week: Socialist Challenge will carry a major editorial policy statement on the situation in Socialist Challenge 1 October 1981 Page 9
*I got horrified at what the government has got lined up for us' t the stepate surw LONDON • 24 OCTOBER • LONDON • 24 OCTOBER WE CAN STOP
----- pull-quotes -----
THE 24-week long strike against closure at Laurence Scott Manchester is under attack
Model resolution for AUEW branches
FIGE FOR/ JOI
LAURENCE SCOTT STRIKE BULLETIN
the bureaucrats' power crumbles
Immediate action programme for the workers'