Workers Press no. 1042

workers press

THEY FINALLY THROW THE TOWEL IN

- ACCEPTS

AN ANTI-PICKET squad again swamped builders and electricians protesting outside the St Thomas' hospital site yesterday May Day: Final fling for the TUC

INCORPORATING THE NEWS

DAILY ORGAN OF THE CENTR

BY OUR OWN REPORTER

THE TUC met yesterday and waved the white flag of total surrender over the Tory laws which keep wage increases below the rise in the cost of living.

They promised the government that if the hos- pital workers get a few pence more, other unions will be told to keep inside the Tory £1 plus 4 per cent wage limit. The pledge came at a special meeting of the TUC inner cabinet-the finance and general purposes committee-which discussed the hospital workers' fight. After the meeting the TUC chiefs said they would help between the government and in negotiations the two unions involved in the dispute.

In other words they are working telling the class: *Stop fighting, the struggle's the law over, accept pay and let us get on with more talks with the Tories on the round of wage cuts.' next The exact which passage contains this promise reads: The finance and general purposes committee ex- the willingness press to assist directly in the nego- tiations and to give an assurance to the government that if the hospital ancil- lary workers' claim could be considered on its merits as the an exceptional case,

TUC

would call upon its affiliated organizations not to quote any settlement on behalf of these workers in justification of any claim on their own. workers' Hospital leader Alan Fisher carried this from the

TUC

message to Tory health chief Sir Keith Joseph yesterday. But this further capitula- tion by union leaders is un- likely to impress the Tories.

They know they are deal- ing with men who will not fight. will The government hold out until gets its full pound of flesh from the strikers. The two leading 'lefts' of the trade Hugh unions, Scanlon of the engineers and Jack Jones of the trans- workers, port were at the TUC meeting. But no voice of protest was raised. Yesterday's capitulation represents the final step to- wards a deal with the Tory governent by the union leaders. All the manoeuvring has ẤN ANTI-PICKET squad again swamp occurred before the TUC- • See story page 3. organized May Day protest.

UNION

LEADERS

have They saw Labour leader Harold Wilson and Party launched a secret campaign secretary Ron Hayward and asked them to to stop the May Day strike the Party's national prevent against the government from from committee sup- becoming too large or too porting the 'day of protest stop- political. page. The secret summit represented It first emerged last week a major step in the bid by Feather

TUC

when two top person- TUC leaders to defuse and other alities went the Labour the May Day action of any to ex- Party and asked them plosive political content.

not to support the day of protest cal- The TUC decided some time led on May 1 against the Tory that the strike ago movement prevented at all laws controlling wages. must be

COSTS

from turning into political The men who carried the mess- showdown with the Tories.

age from the trade union leader- Jones and Feather in particu- Ship were TUC general secretary Victor Feather and Jack Jones of have been lar speaking in top labour once des- about the transport workers, movement circles a 'left' in the the need to 'head off the revo- cribed as move- lution'. ment. •

HE NEWSLETTER

SATURDAY APRIL 7, 19

CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE SOC

n swamped builders and electricians pr

BY OUR OWN REPORTER

As it was, the attempt to paralyse the NEC was only par- tially successful. No real lead was given when the committee met, but Labour MPs were given the green light to speak at workers' rallies on May Day. Even this limited commitment angered the right. Shopworkers' leader Alf Allen declared the NEC decision a 'wrong move' and joined Sidney Greene of the railwaymen and Frank Chapple of the electricians in opposing the one-day strike. These crucial manoeuvres are well known to the Tory leaders.

They know that beneath the reformist protests, made to

RIL 7, 1973

No 1042 4p

HE SOCIALIST LABOUR LEAGUE

0. cians protesting outside the St Thomas' placate their militant members, the union leaders are ready to talk. Heath and company were com- pletely unimpressed by plans for May Day and the Labour Party 'support. They went right ahead-much encouraged by the offer of a deal from engineers' leader Hugh Scanlon-and organized Wednes- day's NEDC meeting. is understood, here, Feather, Scanlon, Greene, Aller a friendly chat and Jones had with the Prime Minister and his lieutenants about the economy and the next round of wage con- trol under Phase Three. Financial Times' As the shrewdly observed, May Day 'should be the final fling in oppo- WE'VE certainly got off to a good start. A generous donation of £1,000 from V.L., an active trade union- ist and member of the Socialist Labour League, has brought the fund up to £1,078. Many, many thanks. Now keep it up. Who will be next? Post to: Party Building Fund 186a Clapham High Street London SW4 7UG Thomas' hospital site yesterday sition to the government which has built up since last autumn's tripartite talks gave way to the pay freeze. FOR the thousands of workers who take part May Day will be an expression of the desire to get rid of the Tory government.

FOR the men who walk in front of the processions it will be a last act of defiance • before the next round of talks with the Tories. May Day will give workers an opportunity decisively to reject these politics of class-collabora- tion and go forward to mobilize the working class to bring the Tories down and replace them with a Labour government pledged to socialist policies.

workers press

THEY FINALLY THROW THE TOWEL IN

AN ANTI-PICKET squad again swamped builders and electricians protesting outside the St Thomas' hospital site yesterday May Day: Final fling for the TUC

INCORPORATING THE NEWS

DAILY ORGAN OF THE CENTR

. BY OUR OWN REPORTER

THE TUC met yesterday and waved the white flag of total surrender over the Tory laws which keep wage increases below the rise in the cost of living.

They promised the government that if the hos- pital workers get a few pence more, other unions will be told to keep inside the Tory £l plus 4 per cent wage limit. The pledge came at a special meeting of the TUC inner cabinet-the finance and general purposes committee—which discussed the hospital workers fight. After the meeting the TUC chiefs said they would help in negotiations between the and the two government unions involved in the dispute.

In other words they are telling the working class: 'Stop fighting, the struggle's the over, accept pay law and let us get on with more talks with the Tories on the round of wage cuts.' next The which exact passage contains this promise reads: The finance and general purposes committee ex- the willingness press to directly in the assist nego- tiations and to give an assurance to the government that if the hospital ancil- lary workers' claim could be considered on its merits as an exceptional the case,

TUC

would call upon its affiliated organizations not to quote any settlement on behalf of these workers in justification of any claim on their own. Hospital workers' leader Fisher carried Alan this

TUC

message from the to Tory health chief Sir Keith Joseph yesterday. But this further capitula- tion by union leaders is un- likely to impress the Tories.

They know they are deal- ing with men who will not fight. The government will hold out until it its gets full pound of flesh from the strikers. The two leading 'lefts' of the trade Hugh unions, Scanlon of the engineers and Jack Jones of the trans- workers, port were at the TUC meeting. But no voice of protest was raised. Yesterday's capitulation represents the final step to- wards a deal with the Tory governent by the union leaders. All the manoeuvring has before

TUC-

oicurred the • See story page 3. organized May Day protest.

UNION

LEADERS

have They saw Labour leader Harold and Party secretary Ron Wilson launched a secret campaign Hayward and asked them to to stop the May Day strike Party's the national prevent against the government from executive from sup- becoming too large or too porting the 'day of protest stop- page'. political. The secret summit represented It first emerged last week a major step in the bid by Feather when two

TUC

top person- and other TUC leaders to defuse Labour alities went to the the May Day action of any ex- Party and asked them not to plosive political content.

support the day of protest cal- The TUC decided some time led on May 1 against the Tory ago that the strike must prevented at all costs laws controlling wages. from turning into political The men who carried the mess- showdown with the Tories.

age from the trade union leader- ship were TUC general Jones and Feather in particu- secretary Victor Feather and Jack Jones of lar have been speaking in top the transport workers, labour circles about once des- movement 'left' in cribed the the need to 'head off the revo- as a lution'.

HE NEWSLETTER • SATURDAY APRIL 7, 19

CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE SOC

n swamped builders and electricians pr

BY OUR OWN REPORTER

As it was, the attempt to paralyse the NEC was only par- tially successful. No real lead was given when the committee met, but Labour MPs were given the green light to speak at workers' rallies on May Day. Even this limited commitment angered the right. Shopworkers' leader Alf Allen declared the NEC decision a 'wrong move' and joined Sidney Greene of the Frank Chapple railwaymen and of the electricians in opposing the one-day strike. These crucial manoeuvres are well known to the Tory leaders.

They know that beneath the reformist made to protests, RIL 7, 1973 • No 1042 • 4p

HE SOCIALIST LABOUR LEAGUE

cians protesting outside the St Thomas' placate their militant members, the union leaders are ready to talk. Heath and company were com- pletely unimpressed by plans for May Day and the Labour Party "support. They went right ahead-much encouraged by the offer of a deal engineers' leader from Hugh Scanlon—and organized Wednes- day's NEDC meeting. it is There, understood, Feather, Scanlon, Greene, Allen and ones had a friendly chat with the Prime Minister and his lieutenants about the economy and the next round of wage con- trol under Phase Three. As the 'Financial Times' shrewdly May Day observed, 'should be the final fling in oppo- WE'VE certainly got off to a good start. A generous donation of £1,000 from V.L., an active trade union- and member of the ist Socialist Labour League, has brought the fund up to £1,078. Many, many thanks. Now keep it up. Who will be next? Post to: Party Building Fund 186a Clapham High Street London SW4 7UG Thomas' hospital site yesterday sition to the government which has built up since last autumn's tripartite talks gave way to the pay freeze'. FOR the thousands of workers who take part May Day will be an expression of the desire to get rid of the Tory government.

FOR the men who walk in front of the processions it will be a last act of defiance before the next round of talks with the Tories. May Day will give workers an opportunity decisively to reject these politics of class-collabora- tion and go forward to mobilize working class to bring the Tories down and replace them with a Labour government pledged to socialist policies.

Two set-backs for Stalinists at students' conference PAGE 2 Workers Press, Saturday April 7, 1973 not enough money for such

ALL THE

major political which conterence conterence contradictions have

FROM IAN YEATS IN EXETER

agreed to levy the largest unions the five-day characterized meet expenses. National Union of Students' students' need for a pay rise the and their distrust of the Stalinists.

conference here came into the open during the 12-hour Uproar

PRECIPICE

broke out among dele- debate on grants. gates executive was accused of lobbying students In line with the miners and Despite trustration other of workers, eer a second care vote been with the leadership's union defeating the amendment. dents realize the battle ahead policies, conference had, never- sentent Another vote was taken, but theless, earlier voted in a new sign, but lack of confidence produced even mas- Stalinist-dominated executive.

leadership has left them on heir the ехеси- sive the brink of a political precipice But card vote yesterday, tave LLOW COUNTORe banned the executive from accept- only 170,000 against. further attempt to be ing any Stalinist-led call of may make until the system The second major setback Ior expected of discretionary awards is ended.

the when confer- came the re-call conference. insisted that delegates attene Ine summer Te-cal con First steps taken on ference for a report-back on any

UPROAR

hursday grants offer.

WELC

tola there was no legal justnca- The executive claimed they had tion for them. The substantive resolution on the campaign Pals canny 101 increase for an was passed overwhelmingly. Up to half the NUS's 500,000 membership work in further edu- cation courses where their grant the discretion local

COMMENTING

the bers, return the extra money to on confer- authorities. Treasury. The decision not to government cule These students have been has the power to impose a settle grants awara unti tne system badly hit by rising prices and are discretionary grants was ended, ment on the grants system. fast becoming the poor men NUS president and Com this mandate retiring to we will profoundly education. Mr Digby mean that at- munist rally successful does Yesterday's jacks sala yesterday. taCK sertened 203,000 It is impossible and impractical not include the abolition of the -209,000 ment Delegales in for the NUS to say to its mem- discretionary award. -reflects both urgency IN PREPARATION for the elections to the Ireland Assembly-now bogus Northern in June-Ulster scheduled to be A RHODESIAN court has sentenced journalist Peter William Whitelaw is casting Niesewand (28) to two years' hard labour for a breach supremo friendly, if benevolent eye, in the direction of of the Official Secrets Act.

the Official IRA. BBC reports were too close Niesewand's Press and unstinted co-operation of the to the truth to be to the liking of the Smith regime He has secured the the Social Democratic on Feb- Communist Party set out to get him. He was arrested which and Party and ine Labourites ruary 20 under the Emergency Powers Regulations and White Paper proposals and the later charged under the Official Secrets Act.

con- firmly the creation The trial was held in camera and details of the charges by Westminster and supervised said that suitably camouflaged with the fig leaf have not been revealed. His lawyer he had been charged on two counts and had been convicted on proportional He has split the Unionists two hostile and one of them 'Bloody diabolical' -one led by William Craig of Was the reaction of Mr Gordor McLean of and the led secretary opposed to Assenuly. branch of Central London who is in lavour or a poluca.

the petty bourgeoisie under the National Union of Jour with acal nalists the aegis of the British crown.

his FBI for Whitelaw Only yesterday the branch The only problem how to secure co-operation Fleei was OT Tire sent circula chief formist and utterly opportunist Official IRA with- Fein Party fund (Gardiner Street). immediately Sinn legalzing le his Niesewand famil PRESIDENT Nixon has had alre after his conviction. Officials have long since relinquished their The to arop nis nonlined on Ulster and have Director of the One year of the sentence role of opposing British troops in post of Investiga- closer re- Federal Bureau was suspended conditionally.

confined their acutes seekle d Gray, lation with the Stalinists-and through •The assistant editor political time to time they issue sult of the outcry From "The Guardian', Mr with Whitelaw. about the bugging of the civil war, statements Taylor, said Niesewand Threatend resume Party head only in order to secure even more cordial relations Democratic did a lot of work in Salis with Whitelaw and the army. during the election quarters bury for the paper, campaign the sentence 'unbelievably For the last year they have Gray, establish their, image savage'. perately. way to Ior a since respectability and conformism and their manifest And he added I think death Edgar Hoover desire to be a loyal constitutional opposition.

this sentence must obviously and Is friend close that For their obsequious behaviour they are now Nixon, admitted polluca. one.

…HOU

judicial one.' to be rewarded. Republican us allow to litt the handed on thi secued Labour MP Derby Republican them Watergate bugging case to proscription North, Phillip Whitehead candidates in both local and provincial President's legal adviser, to put up an NÚJ member, described elections. the : sentence as Democrits This, of course, Goc not aoov to sun ren disgraceful con- of yielding to White House which is still threatened by prosecution and legal and failing clusion to con- onsoracerl But even this anomaly, case', he went on, 'since it goverament Droscon. it is rumoured, will be gradually, phased out once the after He was closely questioned very day Cullies Official Republicans are assimilated into the the the Senate Mr smith nas announced in Rhodesia that he wants to new acmunisurallve sel up where committee wad Whitelaw. He This is a double-edged sword for talks with Britain. 1cupcl

BBC

said seeks not only to integrate Oficials. to hand over the files was a the sookesman hopes breach of the FBI policy not they were 'shocked both by the same time, the secrecy of the case and with ruthless v decimate the terrorist wing to allow outsiders to see the active support of the new Dublin coalition.

records of an investigation severitv of the sen _ovrne Whitelaw's problems, however, are far from in progress tence. is intolerable that of industrial discontent nothing should be known of rumblings Gray's withdrawal is a de- over. Vilious can be heato trom santovares winere ranianu TerI Torne case and Wolff issued the breakdown nikes me al 2,000 notices is being seriously embarras- he added: we retain ou sed by his political oppon- full confidence in Peter workers after Niesewand as our man ending. Watergate ell-week non-co-operauon candalki ells by boilermakers over a pay claim.

case. Salisbury.' legates in conference this week.

Peter Niesewand THE UNITED States is accuse tinue the war in Vietnam throu south in an article in the Hano Nhan Dan' the visit by It sees President Nguyen Can Thieu to Nixon as 'an image - building oppor- tunity and occasion to beg for more weapons and money to fight the people at home. only point worth "The noticing in the Nixon-Thieu communiqué, it goes on, 'is the design to consolidate the American neo-colonial- ist regime in Saigon-con- trolled areas. 'It leaves no doubt as to the intention of the US to continue its military involve- ment in South Vietnam and the use of American armed move NEW TALKS with Britain proposed Prime Minister Rhodesian Ian Smith in an attempt to solve the dispute over the unilateral declaration of in- dependence by the settler regime seven Admitting that Rhodesia was entering a period of speculation and uncertainty, Smith told parliament: 'The moment has come for the government to take posi- tive action.' He said he would try to convince the British govern- ment of the need for a set- lines tlement along the already put forward. This was overwhelmingly African rejected by the majority at the time of the Commission's visit in Pearce 1971. Smith's initiative has been attacked by the right-wing of the white settlers and has not been welcomed in Lon- don. Raising of the controver- sial Rhodesian issue at the present time could disrupt British relations with black Africa, where the economic stakes are now much bigger than in Rhodesia. is accused of scheming to con- am through economic aid to the he Hanoi army daily 'Quan Doi forces as a means of intim- idation and to maintain its control over South Vietnam through economic assist- ance"? Thieu received promises from Nixon of aid running at about $500m a year sub- Congressional ject to approval. The Nixon-Thieu com- muniqué accused North Vietnam of sending troops and weapons into the south and threatened 'appropriately vigorous reactions' Nixon has already twice said that renewed bombing take place if would the alleged infiltration did not stop.

Panic flight from money financial

A MAJOR

scandal has erupted on Wall Street with the collapse of the Equity Funding Corporation, until re- cently the glamour one shares on the stock market.

Trading in company's the

GOLD

shares suspended on Tues- was day and since then things have

PRICE

The Securities moved fast. and Exchange Commission (the gov- 'watchdog'

TODAY

Wall ernment's on Street) has accused firm of the deceiving the auditors by forg- ing phantom insurance policies and death certificates. These measures appear to have been used in a last-ditch attempt credit to inflate the company's per DZ balance and prevent withdrawal by depositors. Equity Funding has now been cited in a bank- order taken out by ruptcy Federal judge in Los Angeles.

The company's collapse has brought an avalanche of credi- tor's claims. Among firms which may have been caught in the Equity Fund- ing bankruptcy are Loew's Cor- poration, Chemical Bank, Bank- ers Trust, the Ford Foundation, the Sears Roebuck Pension Fund and the Morgan Guaranty Com- pany. as Liverpool and Southend joined pickets outside the St Thomas' Hospital site on the South Embankment yesterday.

But the show of solidarity was no carried alternative labour into work. match for the huge At the time contingent of police. same police photographers Several busloads of have taken pictures of police who form part pickets. of the new anti-picket Yesterday morning a squad successfully divi- company official used a ded the pickets into two movie camera to film and kept them groups the confrontation about 20 yards from on the picket line from a the gate. safe vantage point on Only a handful of leading stewards the site. from the site allowed Delegations included were electricians from the to picket the main Inland Office Revenue entrance as two coach- Liverpool, loads of at Bootle, scabs were who have been engaged driven through. in a struggle for more Electricians the on new hospital site have than two. years. A Union of Construc- been out on strike since tion, Allied Trades and February 1 over a wage Technicians' steward claim for fl an hour. on Their fight has the St Thomas' site been told Workers Press that undermined by an align- ment of interests which his union had instructed stretch from the leader- members 'not to get ship of the electricians' involved' with the union. Laing's construc- picketing. 'But I've come out be- and the police. tors. "morning " for cause you have to, don't • Each you?' he said. many weeks police-style coaches have 'We let these broken can't blokes get carved up?' the line and picket manding FORD workers on Mer- this and a campaign seyside finished mobilize have to whole trade voting on the company's the union movement in a General latest offer in confusion.

Strike to bring down The assembly plant has decided to accept and the government was not the transmission section by put to the meeting to reiect the £2.40 dic-

T&GWU

official Bill Godrick. tated by the Tory Instead a recommen- government. At a stormy meeting dation to turn down the offer was accepted. transmission workers At a poorly-attended heard a demand for the in re-call of the national meeting Liverpool committees of the two Stadium, assembly wor- main unions, the AUEW kers accepted the offer.

T & GWU

and the T&GWU. convenor They should organize Billy McGuire broke throughout union policy and recom- a stoppage mended the £2.40, which the car industry in de- fiance of the government is well below the cur- rent rise in the cost of pay laws. But a resolution de- living.

COLD

RGE

THE BIG monopolies which economic life are at the cer out of paper money as they protect themselves against Earlier this week the 'Los Angeles Times' re- ported from Tokyo that 'a gold rush mentality has swept across Japan and commodity engulfed one after another in a wild orgy of speculation' Evidence or strong sus- picion that speculation and hoarding has included stocks, beans, red lumber, soya used in Japanese beans sweets, animal fodder, silk, wool, cotton, electrical wire, paper for printing, bandages, cod and gauze, tuna, roe rights in private membership golf courses (!), the paper says. Naturally the staple food, rice, has not been over- looked by the speculators.

These are not small-time but the operators, most important firms in the land.

Minister of Finance The has twice called the execu- tives of the top companies to beg them to stop the panic. At the first meeting with the Finance Minister, on March 1, the companies denied the charge of specu- lation outright. But seven days later the Minister called them into his office again for another -and equally unsuccessful-- confrontation. Customs officers are now investigating the six major trading companies on sus- picion of falsifying docu- ments to avoid payment of tariffs on pork imports. Evasion of £500,000 in taxes has already been uncovered. Give me gold. The more | stuff, the sic es which dominate Japanese the centre of a panic rush as they try desperately to against an imminent crash.

BY FOREIGN EDITOR .

Branch managers in YOKO- nama tor three of the four major stock brokers have been arrested on charges of manipulating the sale of more than 6 million shares in Kyodo Feedstuffs Co, whose vice-president was also arrested. In all, five executives of firms— the three broking Daiwa, Nomura and Nikko- were charged. firms between The three them control a majority of the trading on the Tokyo stock exchange. Other firms have received 'warnings' from the Finance Ministry. There have been wild fluctuations on the stock and commodity markets. On February 2, the stock market average set a record for a single day's fall, only to shoot up two trading days later to a record day's peak.

Trading has fluctuated from 100 million shares a day to 1,000 million. An index shows that stock prices have doubled in re- lation to profits over the three years to last September.

Even wilder gyrations have witnessed on the com- been modity markets. The three Japanese wool exchanges were ordered to close on March 8 after prices reached levels far beyond what could be ex- a world-wide plained by shortage of the commodity.

When the markets were closed the prices had risen Workers Press, Saturday. April 7, 1973 PAGE 3 nore | eat this he sicker I get THE Steering Committee of judgement from the House National Union of Stu- Lords in his appeal for the political asylum. dents' Conference meeting Instead, the Committee In Exeter has refused an gave five minutes to a joke application to devote five fictional discussion on minutes of conference time college in Scotland and its to the case of Tzu. Tsai- • non-existent problems. chéng. Cheng is seen (left) with Cheng is awaiting a his wife. which were previously con-

DITOR JOHN SPENCER

cealed from view. The 'Los Angeles Times' comments: 'A trading mentality has cent gripped the nation [sic]. The had ten- volume gone up "anything soes, Seems to be password now fold. Similar developments forced in business and it has assumed closure of the silk band- the wagon proportions.' exchanges. When the capitalist rats panic flight unCovered an The all bale out, there's no question money of women and children first!

manner of sharp practices

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PAGE 4 Workers Press, Saturday April 7, 1973

BY DAVID MAUDE

It was hardly a surprise Monday that the on TUC's proposal for the establishment of a national register of build- ing workers, similar to that existing in the docks, should be met with little response from Tory Ministers, Paul Channon and Robin Chichester- Clark. The Private Members' Bill drawn *up by •Laboar MP Eric Heffer, which says rough- the thing, not ly same the expected to survive com- mittee stage in parliament, if the Tories let it get that far. And the bed thousapdoy ers, who thousands pumped pounds into the Tory party last financial during unet year, have made clear that as far as they are concerned 'the lump', which the register is designed eliminate, is to here to stay. 'Lump' labour is one of the used by the weapons building employers their in bid undermine the fident, trade even aggressive union organization built up in during the course Hally alcas of last year's building strike.

Labour-only subcontracting, 'the lump', now provides an 25 cent of the per building labour force nation- ally. Labour councils who have tried ban the system London have been given an ultimatum either lift their bars employers that they 'the lump' or the firms re- on fuse to tender for contracts Since cases major, in most and housing daaly - neeaed involved programmes were many of the councils con- cerned have had to back down.

Casuals: "a social evil' During meeting with Cha Clark, of re State for and Con and of struction of State at the Employm

TUC

industry des- Commier cribed casual that be social evil nuSU eliminated'. They wage Cause security were non- existent firms commonly of of labour Tales 200 300 high to per levels of dismissal spread and impossibl sion rights. Moreover, they of dered the safety and of em- ployment in the as a whole. of labour both casual make improve stable industria for more relations. Ministers, The smiled sympathetically. But their suggestion that 'more the TUC go away, put flesh' on their proposals and the come back when Ministers have had chance building talk …LO ployers understandably sounds to most building workers like kiss of the death. No one knows, or course Ministers exactly what the said to the committee. But the Smith, George committee's chairman, that 'the be Thessue Is gullg subject of continuing activity' bit of an exaggeratio so the government subcontracting Labour-only undoubtedly the biggest source of casual employment In its worst form, 'the lump' of consists mobile gangs building workers who paid no rday April 7, 1973 the Building workers marched with the back a group arrested during last year's bul income or selective employ- ment tax, who buy no insur- who hawk ance stamps and themselves round from site to site without a union card.

Employers will often pay a 'lump' bricklayer £20 a day as against the national union basic of £26 a week because he will rush around the site doing any job required, work- hours demanded and ing any thus seriously weakening trade union organization. Though the rates paid to these men seem relatively high, they are really a source of cheap labour. A big. employer will fix rate with a subcontractor for a gang of workers. Often this cuts out holiday pay, sickness pay, guaranteed time in bad weather, travel money and other fringe benefits. After fixing an overall rate the subcontractor-a mere go- between supplying labour- his cut by paying his gets 'lump' workers less and pocketing the difference.

It is estimated that an aver- age employer might save as much as £8 or £9 per man per "lump' week by taking on labour in this way. In bad weather his savings might top £30 a week. Small wonder that figures released recently by the tax authorities reveal the issue of more than 460,000 tax exemp- tion certificates as compared with 353,000 in October 1972 and 262,000 last May an in- crease which has paralleled a big rise in self-employment in the building industry. rule At the same time there has been a signiticant stepping-up of building industry activity by private employment agencies, some of whom work in total violation of the work- ing rule agreement between unions the building and employer. in a recent issue Writing 'Building Workers' of the sites', no Charter', Birmingham

THE LUMP' AND

HOW TO FIGHT IT

backing of

PETE ED

leader Peter investigator agencies. Lunce layers? What are bricklayer you you into A, are in grade on we graded less. The grade you. graded ance cards? We Take it with a lax factory, on say, with the tax No sir. Do 1 get for inclement no objection the rain. and expenses? This bility, sir. You can time rates. What about employments? do the atmosphere. rattinglo unionists fror ke were brought to tria Carter reports w between a union of the one acancies for brick- wages? ds on what sort of and you and bull you per nour will you get site will It is possible to be week and works out in these and put a ice stamp on. If you prove satis- e can explain how can paying tax. you only pay £100 need to form your- company, , use your and one can business. By the 1 have any trouble start you can ut the firm will stop any holiday pay! weather? anteed payments are if you work in the ill get paid. We have on to your working . It's up to you. bout travelling time your own responsi- e the hours? work as many as Ne do not pay over. give you a minute's all over the country, Moreover now there are vincial Labour advertises National

SET.

holiday stamps London and its books out by bricklayers 105p-plus surcharge ON i The limited Have labour. The for orandum 1 orv 'an the The

DOSC

ensure a steady clauses to Phelps-Brown showed that casual labour the smaller Conceils. altons opment of relations, the

SOP

Shrewsbury, when dozen Hire, openly the slogans: pension

CITB

men them hires Rates cent per which as a company from deduct- lump into the Board. to Monday, is of decasuali- also pro- flow of work contracts problem of most senious and building building 'would im- industry industrial memorandum Labour-only subcontracting is a 'corrupting influence' on the industry and, says the TUC it is clear that the new tax rules introduced in 1971 are doing nothing to eradicate it.

The ultimate aims of the proposed register of employers and workers would be to act as a job machine service, to control entry into the industry of both companies and wor- kers, to provide fall-back • pay a job and the function of a quality licensing system for companies.

Although it is recognized, it would take some time for a register to build a comprehen- sive record of the industry, it should cover all companies, should be and all workers registered by skill. No call for nationalization The TUC says the reg and the Manpower could be financed out of the surplus of the Building and Engineering Holidays Civil with Pay Scheme. A public inquiry is required 'with the specific task of pro- for posing a firm programme decasualizing the Construction Industry'. But, says the TUC, are of little use such inquiries unless there is provision made to follow up the recommenda- tions. The government could do more to encourage decasuali- zation by 'greater co-ordination and scheduling of government contracts in construction to a steady workload maintain and stable workforce'. In addition, there should be clauses in public contracts to specify that labour employed by the main contractor and specialist subcontractors (not including labour - only sub- contracting) should be not less certain percentage than a a permanent employed on The TUC suggests a basis. starting figure of 60 per cent, rising annually. Nowhere in this reformist the building union screed do leaders call for the nationali- zation of the building industry workers' control. Yet under this is the only way to really end the employers' attacks on wages, conditions and organi- • 'the lump' zation-of which is merely the most concentra- ted expression. was nationali- And neither zation anywhere mentioned in the policy statement agreed by the recent national conference organized by the Communist 'Building Wor- Party-backed kers' Charter' in Birmingham.

This is the policy on which • would like building the CP workers to fight their current campaign of industrial action and political pressure to end 'the lump', which is scheduled to culminate in a nationally- supported strike on June 7.

The policy statement of the 'Charter' conference agreed that: 'Conference must reflect the growing mood of workers throughout industry to cam- paign for an end to this Tory administration and a return to a Labour government pledge to socialist policies' But how this is to be achieved is left as vague as how 'the lump' is to be got rid of. Clearly there can be no 'campaign for an end to this Tory government' which does not confront the central poli- tical issue: force the TUC to call a General Strike to make the Tories resign. And similarly a campaign for registration of building workers, without the nationa- building in- lization of the dustry under workers' control, can only foster dangerous reformist illusions. General Strike to force the Tories to resign and replace them with a Labour govern- ment pledged to nationaliza- tion of the building industry under workers' control - that must be the policy for all building workers today.

THE LABOUR LEFTS' AND SPAIN

BY JUAN GARCIA

After the impassioned attack by Labour Party leader Harold Wilson against the Franco regime at the last party confer- ence, protesting against repression in Spain has become very fashionable among certain radicals. The Labour Party Young Socialists have run a long pro- test campaign against political prisoners in Spain, sponsored by engineers' president Hugh Scanlon, transport union sec- retary Jack Jones, and lof course) Anthony Wedgwood Benn. The Labour Party has estab- Democrats' lished a 'Spanish Defence Committee' The Socialist Labour League and Young Socialists have always been in the vanguard of the defence of the Spanish working class. But it has been a defence based on principle.

There has been firm recog- nition that the best way of fighting against the Franco re- is through the struggle gime against the Tory plans for cor- poratism in Britain. This fight has always been united with the struggle to build the Trotskyist movement in Spain. The protest of the Labour Party, on the other hand, has anchored in the tradi- been tions of radicalism, particularly in the remnants of the Popu- lar Front of the 1930s. In this way, strong words against Franco are backed by cir complete collaboration with Tory corporatism. The defence of the Cara- banchel Ten — alleged mem- workers' bers of the illegal commissions who face 15 to 20-year jail sentences—has be- come a step on the road to the European parliament and the Common Market. The British 'left' is at last doing what the New Left wanted it to do-become more The case of Cama- European. cho and his companions is an excellent opportunity to show triends in the Italian, French communist and social-demo- cratic parties that they too are good European democrats. It was in this spirit that those intrepid socialists, MP, for Ebbw Michael Foot, Vale, and Will Paynter, ex- the National president of Union of Miners, ex-leading member of the Communist Party and one-time participant in the corporatist Commission of Industrial Relations, flew to Madrid on March 29 on a fact- finding mission. 'We were surprised to get in so easily', Mr Foot and Mr told a Press confer- Paynter ence at Transport House after their return on March 31. 'But we didn't announce that we were going beforehand..? Foot revealed that they had discovered that repression was on the increase in Spain, but there was tremendous courage and spirit in the opposition— 'some splendid fellows'. Dissatisfaction had even reached the bishops who were circulating a petition for the Michael Foot (left) and Will Paynter- Henry Ford Il with the Spanish Minister £2m in Spain to take advantage of chea release of the ten workers in the Carabanchel jail, Madrid.

With off-hand cynicism, he added: 'Statistics show that more illegal strikes took place.

in Spain last year than any- in Europe where else although they tell me strikes are illegal here now? That was Foot on April 1, when Phase Two became law.

Will Paynter enthused about liberal industrialists' in the Spain: 'These men realize that if Spain is to join Europe, there must be sume changes, more in the way of demo- cracy... But he wras unable to give any indication of the where- abouts of these gentlemen.

Paynter- visitors Spain. Above: Henry Ford Il with the Spanish Minister of Industry. Ford's are investing {2m in Spain to take advantage of cheap labour under the fascist state.

After all, the democratic capi- Seat car who run the Lausts plant in Barcelona and Citröen in Vigo have never shown any dismay when workers in their factories have been shot by police Indications of what could be.

done to fight Franco were non- Consultations existent. are necessary with trade union and Labour 'We Party leaders: not rush ahead. Anyway

MUSE

the people Spain We saW were terribly pleased that and were taking an interest want the facts to get known outside of Spain. The fascists waste do not their time. Foot noted that the Spanish police had confiscated Press, Saturday April 7, 1973 PAGE 5 the passport of Camacho's wife shortly after she had addressed a mass solidarity rally in Paris.

Tom McNally of the inter- department of the national Labour Party stepped in to explain why workers in Britain should be concerned about Spain: Ford's are going to invest £2m in Spain because there are no unions. That is being taken from Dagenham. If there was more democracy in Spain, then Ford's might keep their money here.' The Labour Party 'lefts', like the Spanish Communist Party, are using the Caraban- chel Ten as a cover-up for their own opportunism and capitu- lation to the requirements of European capital. Thousands of workers, from Baker Perkins in Peterborough, to the Renault plant in Bou- logne-Billancourt, France, have supported the demand for the release of the Carabanchel Ten and the end of the Franco regime. But this cannot be separated from the struggle against the Pompidou govern- Heath and ments, which want to destroy the rights of trade unionists in Britain and France. The construction of a revo- lutionary, Trotskyist, leader- ship in the European i working class against the collaboration of Stalinism and social demo- cracy in the capitalist conspi- racy of the Common Market is the only way to ensure that the labour and trade union organizations and their mem- bers are defended.

FOOD: VANDALISM BY LAW

PAGE 6. Workers Press, Saturday Aprii

BY BERNARD FRANKS

The recent admission by some Tory and Labour MPs that western Euro- beef prices have pean been forced up by whole- sale slaughter of cows re- veals only the tip of the iceberg as far as Com- mon Market destruction of food is concerned. An entire system of lega- lized vandalism is built into laws which EEC agricultural now apply to Britain. Under this legislation each EEC country must set up organizations to control and supervise the 'denaturing' of any food alleged to be in sur- plus. Denaturing is the system of deliberate contamination to make it unfit for human con- rday April 7, 1973 sumption. The resulting stance can then be sold only as animal feed or as raw ma- terial for some industrial process. The methods to be used in denaturing are also laid down by law. They are: Treatment with an appro- ved dye, tainting with fish oil or mixing with a recognized animal meal.' The process must be carried out under licence and in the presence of inspector. an Farmers are paid a premium if they denature large enough quantities. At the moment warehouse and farm premises up and down the country are being examined for suitability as de- naturing premises. The rules laying down the and amounts of procedure dye, etc. to use are strict.

For example, the regulation for sugar intended for live- stock feeds states that: 1. The member-states shall appoint competent agen- to supervise denaturing cies and ensure that the denatured sugar is only used for animal feed. 2. Denaturing shall be carried out in establishments which are approved by the member- state in which the denaturing is carried out. The member- states shall only approve fac- tories manufacturing sugar or compound feeding stuffs, or warehouses in which denatur- ing can be supervised effi- ciently. 3. The minimum quantity to be denatured in one place shall be 20 metric tons. (Article 19, Regulation 100/ 72/EEC January 14, 1972. In the denaturing process each 100 kilogrammes of sugar must be mixed with 'either (a) 2.5 kilogrammes of fish meal and one kilogramme of high viscosity swelling starch or (b) 4 kilograinmes of chalk and 1 kilogramme of fenu- greek flour.' If the sugar is to be used for feeding bees, then ferric oxide or a mixture of garlic powder and charcoal may be used. Fenugreek flour is described as a product 'with a charac- teristic smell'. The starch is added to prevent filtration. One of the reasons for strict of denaturing is that control enterprising farmers may find ways of un-denaturing their product and then selling it as normal produce or presenting it again for a second dena- turing payment. Incidentally, the 'animal meal' mentioned above as a de- naturing substance does not refer to its use for feeding animals, but to its content.

The sugar regulation describes it as a product 'obtained by drying and grinding carcasses and parts of carcases of warm- blooded land animals which have undergone high pressure steam treatment and which may then have been de-fatted by extraction'. In this way the authorities kill two birds with one stone —contaminating sugar with a product which itself is a pro- duct of denaturing. The supervising and con- trolling body for denaturing in Britain is the Agricultural Produce Intervention Board.

The board itself employs centrally, but its 400 staff operations in the field are carried out by two other organizations--The Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA) and the Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC) acting as the Board's agents.

Since February 1 this year the Board has been a buyer in the market place for certain cereals, dairy products, beef and pigmeat.

ст- ich ul e ich ted ties one 1a 10° on- ing iral d. oys are ner m e rity and LC) 11L0 rear , in tain beef In Britain, the main subject for denaturing so far has been wheat. regional cereals Already Officers have been appointed to supervise denaturing and to authorize payment of the £7.29 per ton subsidy. Once wheat is denatured it can only be sold at the lower of price barley and other animal feeds. The subsidy is paid to make up this amount to the wheat price and also to cover the cost of denatur- ing. The rules for wheat say that it must be of sound market- able quality, be weighed on an approved weighing machine and be of EEC origin. If dye • is used, the mixture must be at the rate of 30 grammes of dye in 24 to 3 litres of water to each 500 kilogrammes of grain. This, in is turn, four thoroughly admixed with times its weight of untreated grain. Farmers who want to use the subsequent feed for their own animals rather than sell it can either register themselves as denaturers, send the grain away to a compounder or rely on mobile denaturing services -Feedmobiles-which are now being established. So far this year 17,000 tons of wheat have been denatured in Britain, but according to a farm trade paper, in future, 2m tons of a possible 44m tons wheat harvest will go to human consumption: 'This leaves an estimated 2zm for animal tons to be sold feed. And, provided that it quality criteria meets the which make it acceptable for denaturing it is probable that most of the 24m tons will be denatured.' Weekly', August 11, (Farmers 1972) Already a of de- variety naturing machines have been Germany, imported from 1081 K. M.l. though at the moment the German manufacturers can barely produce enough to satisfy home demand. Prices £400 and between range £6,000 each machine. A dual-purpose German model-dye or fish oil admixer —sells at around £1,647 in Britain and converts 20 tons an hour. The travelling Feed- mobiles charge between £1.50 and f3 a ton, leaving the balance of the £7.29 as pay- ment to the farmer. The law requires that the equipment can process at least tons a day in order to 40 justify the cost of an inspector being present. The HGCA has published a list of firms making or hand- ling denaturing equipment.

Denaturing is not the method of the EEC. Money is paid for fruit to be left to rot on trees or in heaps in the orchards, Workers Press, Sat Far left: Dumping onions-one means of 'intervention' by the EEC. Centre: Sicco Mansholt- forecasts 25-30 per cent increase in farm prices. Left: Joseph Godber, Tory Agriculture Minis- ter-recently announced a pay- ment of £200 an acre to growers who put grubs in their apple and pear orchards. the trees being grubbed up to reduce future crops. Cereals, meat and dairy pro- ducts are bought up by the Intervention Authorities and 'stored'. Alternatively, some controlling body for a parti- cular product is paid to do this. into Eggs are processed powder form so they can be stored or used in industry. Grades of fruit and vegetables manipulated to are ensure that a greater mass of alleged second grade produce is re- jected for sale. Subsidies are paid for manufacturers to process milk, rice and tomatoes, also to sell at the lower abroad world prices, the difference from the EEC prices being made up by the Boards. Import levies ensure that cheaper produce from outside the EEC cannot be brought in to undercut the home pro- duce, a situation which has brought a new crisis for many underdeveloped countries which up to now have sold their crops in Europe. The EEC figures for the des- truction of some fruits and vegetables in 1968 are given in the table below. the following In year 250,000 cows were slaugh- tered as a first step towards alleviating the 400,000 ton so- called 'butter-mountain'. The cost of this culling was enor- mous as at one time farmers were being paid f100 for each cow killed. To date 1.4m cows have been killed off in the EEC-6 per cent of the herd. No cows means no calves, so it is hardly sur- prising that there is a beef shortage. Grants for modernization benefit only the largest and richest capitalist farmers. The same applies to price rises.

It is estimated that a 5-per- cent rise for cereals creases the income of a 50- acre farmer by 8 per cent, but that of a man with 250 acres, by 18 per cent, because it is easier to increase production on the larger farm. In Britain, Minister of Agri- culture Joseph Godber re- cently announced an apple and mil pear-grubbing payment of £200 an acre to growers, sub- ject to re-planting restrictions and in addition to standard grubbing costs. Some fruit- growers were disappointed that this could not be applied to back-garden growers as this cultivation is widespread and has a sizeable effect on the market. The egg-laying flock was cut by a million (2.7 per cent) in 1972, which is expected to push up the price of eggs. On the other hand, there was an extra 4.8 per cent table fowls reared. But prices have been raised anyway in line with the general rise in meat prices'. Butter and cheese supplies are both being stockpiled to keep them off the market. At the same time, measures have been taken to stem the 'flood' of surplus butter from other EEC countries. During the last two years consumption fell in butter Britain by 25 per cent and cheese consumption 5 per cent. In the recent price review, calf subsidies have been cut, a further discouragement for beef production. Also capital modernization, grants for

FRUIT DESTRUCTION

Cauliflowers 37,440 metric tons Tomatoes 2,010 metric tons Apples 296,190 metric tons Pears 490 metric tons Oranges 31,700 metric tons Press, Saturday April 7, 1973 PAGE 7 buildings and equipment have been reduced. A new round of farm price increases in Britain for sugar, cereals, bacon and butter, other pig meat are due later this year in line with the tran- sition to EEC levels. Wages of workers in food production, transport and sale certainly give the lie to the Tory tale that it is pay in- creases which force up prices.

These workers are some of the lowest paid and have for years had the least increases of any. Yet food prices have rocketed non-stop. For months now there has been a complete ban on all increases, but prices wage have risen even faster. Heath's pre-election pro- mise to cut prices 'at a stroke' and Minister of Agriculture James Prior's remarks a year later-'Certainly, over a period of time the cost of Tood will decrease, of that I am absolutely certain'—were made in the full knowledge that prices would have to be raised by an enormous amount in line with Common Market entry. Not by the '2 per cent a six years' later year for claimed by Prior in November 1972, but by amounts in line with the 25-30 per cent in- crease in farm prices forecast by Sicco Mansholt, the EEC Commissioner for Agriculture.

Earlier, in October 1971 the chairman of Associated Bri- tish Foods, one of the largest flour millers and bakers Britain, had refuted the gov- ernment's figure of 15 per cent for the rise in the price •ds of bread under the EEC.

'Bread will be 50 per cent higher, not 15 per cent' The main method of restrict- ing farm output by the EEC Common Agricultural Policy is the plan to drive millions of farmers and peasants out of farming and take the land out of production entirely. Under Mansholt proposals, 12t the million acres were to be with- drawn and the rural popula- in the EEC reduced by tion 5 million between 1970 and 1980. However, according to the president of the Scottish National Farmers' Union, a recent meeting of Common Market officials in Berlin dis- cussed taking three times that land area out of agricultural use. 'France alone has a farming area of 35 million hectares (87 nd million acres) and the EEC believes that to contain rea- sonable levels of production in the next ten years, they may have to take 1l million hec- tares out of farming,' he told • the Scottish NFU's council meeting at Renfrew. ('Farmers Weekly' report, March 30, 1973.) The EEC Common Agricul- tural Policy is in a state of near ruin, built as it is upon a non-existent joint monetary system, the so-called 'units of account'. At the same time, millions of peasants and small farmers becoming increasingly are angry at their enforced im- poverishment on the one hand and their compulsory eviction from the land on the other.

The existence side by side of mass poverty and mass des- truction of the prerequisites of life further confirms the entire bankruptcy of capital- ism and the urgent need for the implementation of the social revolution to develop the Socialist United States of Europe to plan agriculture and food supply on the basis of the 'Community's' needs and not the profits and trade war tactics of the capitalist gov.

ernments in and outside the

EEC.

2.9 per cent of total EEC crop.

per cent of total EEC crop.

0.04 5.7 per cent of total EEC crop.

0.025 per cent of total EEC crop.

per cent of total EEC crop.

OIL WAR IN OMAN

PAGE 8 Workers Press, Saturday April

BY JOHN SPENCER

The eight-year war in Oman and the Arabian Gulf has entered a new phase with a frank ad- mission by the country's British Defence Minister that it cannot be won militarily. The war is a struggle be- tween the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Arabian Gulf (PFLOAG) and the Sultan of Oman, who is backed by the imperialist powers. PFLOAG is a left-wing liberation movement which stands for the overthrow of reactionary all the feudal rulers of the Gulf States.

These rulers are kept in power by the oil magnates who profit from the natural riches of this desert area. The British and American oil com- panies with interests in the Gulf want at all costs to pre- vent the spread of revolution.

British imperialism origın- ally created the Gulf States with the purpose of grabbing strategic positions along the route to India. Once oil was discovered in their territory the preservation of the servile rulers who owed their positions to British mili- tary strength became all im- portant. Britain pulled out of the Gulf over a year ago, because the government feared direct involvement of British troops would compromise the rulers of the Gulf States and lead to their speedy overthrow. But these rulers, like Sultan Qaboos Bin Said of Oman, are unable to exist in genuine inde- pendence. Not only are they depen- handouts dent on continued from the oil companies, they also require military assistance from the imperialist powers and their agents in the area.

This explains the presence in Oman of British officers, among them Colonel Hugh Oldman, the Defence Minister.

The war in Oman has been as 'Brit down to described its desert boots'. British offi- hired as mercenaries cers are and detachments of such 'crack' units as the Special Air Service go to the Gulf for 'training' The British are not the only 'contingent involved. Among other units are 600 troops from neighbouring Iran, equip- ped with helicopters and the latest armaments. There are 100 officers from Pakistan—which, like Iran, is a member of CENTO-and another ultra-reactionary Islamic state, Jordan, has sent officers too. Oldman, however, has indi- cated that the war cannot be won on the ground. He said as much in a Press conference on January 26. At this conference the col- onel contradicted the previous excuses put out by the regime to explain the course of the struggle. He admitted that the libera- tion forces' strength and popu- larity had increased since Sultan Qaboos ousted Sultan Bin Taimur in 1970. The regime had previously claimed that Taimur's incom- petence and 'mistakes' were responsible for the Oman up- rising. He added that even the children had begun to join in the struggle, throwing stones or hand grenades at the Sul- tan's troops following Tai- mur's departure. Again, Oldman said that until recently the government had not been in control of the situation. This contradicted what the previous Defence Minister (another British officer) said rday April 7, 1973 Oil field in Oman. British forces maintai at the time, not to mention the numerous newspaper re- ports paid for by the Sultan's Press adviser. These uniformly maintained that the rebels were finished.

At one point the Sultan's PR men claimed there were only six rebels left. Oldman dated the 'turn of the tide' to the battle of Mor- forgetting that bat last year, himself claimed the Sultan before this battle that only a small number of rebels were left in the hills. Now, the Oldman line that the rebels cannot be subdued by military means is endorsed in various keys by the other British officers serving in Oman. Rather belatedly they are to 'win hearts and minds' in the mistaken impression that the men and women they have been shooting at can be won over by material benefits.

Hence the scheme to drill a water-hole deep in the arid mountains which are the heart of the rebels' territory.

Reuter's reporter Colin Fox, who visited the site of the drilling, reports: 'Omani commanders hope water will succeed where eight years of remote guerrilla war- fare has failed in the fight for control of the vast Jebel mountain range. Jib Jat, the site of the drill- ing, is high in the savagely broken mountains which drop sheer into the sea along most of the south Arabian coast, except where they draw back behind Salalah and the Dhofar Plain. 'The rebels-PFLOAG-still largely control the Jebel, even after two years of more in- tense operations by the gov- ernment military backed by jet fighters and helicopters.

'The Dhofar war, the army Oil field in Oman. British forces maintain the Sultan's regime to protect British and American oil interests.

here quick to admit, will the road passed through the militarily. never be won of the various insur- 'They say the object of the gent tribes. drilling project to find water Arms supply possibly 1,500 feet below the barren limestone surface would from be to win the area's lasting loyalty through providing water for livestock and agriculture.

South Yemen The scheme involved bull- The military dozing track order employ deser- transport the drilling rig ters from the rebel ranks to patrol the road to the drilling the site. This took a steadily rising rig in mines have been case toll of killed and wounded as laid by the insurgents.

ANNOUNCING...

вет 10154, 1838-9

WRITINGS OF

WRITINGS OF

LEON

TROTSKT

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Qaboos' attempt at winning looks support locally like being too late. The revolt has spread from Dhofar in the south, where arms are sup- from the neighbouring plied South Yemen republic. A total of 60 people were recently arrested in the north of Oman and charged with plotting to overthrow the re- gime, indicating that no part of the country is now safe for the Sultan and his British hire- lings. Trotskya documentary by Francis Wyndham and David King £1.65 including postage reet, London SW4 7UG lable, free, on request.

FROST

OVER

UGANDA

TV REVIEW

It promised to be a grip- ping bout. In the white Surbiton corner was lightweight David Frost, while in the black corner was the all-time heavy. weight champion of Uganda, Idi Amin. The arena was a TV studio in: Kampala where Frost pro- moters had arranged another

'SCOOD'.

The first round began very badly indeed. The lightweight began: read in the British Press that the shops are closed here, but that's not so. 'I also read that whites are badly treated here, bul again that's not so.' Amin beamed at this feather- duster treatment and even thanked his opponent for his generous remarks. Then Frost altered his tac- 'The other reports I can- tics: not check,' he said, 'so I ask you to set the record straight.

Where is the Chief Justice, Benedicto Kiwanuka? (Late last year the eminent judge was seen leaving the Supreme Court Kampala building central flanked by soldiers. It was later reported that he had been put death and his body burnt inside a car so that all evidence was destroyed.) Amin took this one on the chin. 'I don't know, ' he parried. 'It is so confusing.' What about Alex Ojera, the Minister of Information and Milton Obote's Tourism in Dr government? this point At was hashed onto picture screen of the night that Ojera was paraded, stripped to the waist and in handcuffs, at a state function. He was photo- graphed by the Press and inter- viewed before being taken awav. He was never seen again Amin didn't bat an eyelid. He said Ojera escaped from 'He prison. away,' Amin 1 all said. 'I don't know where he is now.' If Amin doesn't know, then the rest of the population of une country does One morning Ojera and other suspected Obote sympathizers were taken outside the jail and told a fence. to run towards As they moved they were shot down in cold blood by a firing squad. Frost then asked the general

WORKERS

NOTEBOOK

Everyday life Nicholas Winterton the

DIO-

Orange Tory MP for Maccles- field, has launched a pIo- gramme against certain books He wants in nesoure schools.. works like 'A Kind of Loving' 'Billy Liar' put the reach of pupils because they young people think that the incidents por- trayed in such books are of life'. He everyday Wall wants books examined in the "points of future for their view' and 'moral contents'. The Winterton works

LWO

highlights notable for are their critique of society disturb the this appears to Tory MP. light-Willg Frost (lett) and Amin. Above: Troops | coup which deposed Obote and brought if it was true that more than 5,000 opponents of his regime had been executed. No, said Amin, it was not true. But what answer did Frost expect? Can anyone seriously imagine Amin replying: 'Yes, Mr Frost, as a matter of fact you're absolutely correct.

'Since seizing Uganda with the help of the armed forces and imposing a military dicta- torship I have been systematic- ally shooting and hacking to death The my opponents. bodies have been dumped in Lake Victoria or dropped in chains into the River Nile But Frost, the fearless inter- viewer, appeared quite happy with bland denials. He accep- ted the answer that Amin had not been responsible for whole- sale purges and began asking about the expulsion of the Ugandan Asians. About two-thirds of the hour-long programme was spent on this topic, as if it represented the single, most important aspect of the regime.

At the end of the encounter it was difficult to decide who Expenses Despite the opening shots in the trade war, some Japanese companies still have largesse to cast around. Take Brother International of Nagoya. This one of Japan's company is sewing machine largest manufacturers. Last month it flew 200 West European businessmen to the Far East on a ten-day junket.

The air fares and expenses were all picked up by Brother International. 'It was a wonderful holiday,' said Peter Hobkirk managing director of William Hobkirk and Sons, the Black- burn - based sewing machine dealers. 'I was also impressed by the loyalty and dedication of the workers in the factory we visited, he added. We wonder how loyal and dedicated the Brother Interna- tional workers would have been if they had known that the total cost of the junket was £110,000. Troops in Kampala at the time of the d brought Amin to power. had scored the most points. It was probably a draw. Frost had exposed himself yet again as one of the more sycophantic interviewers on television-and that is some league! At one point he was almost on all fours pleading with Amin to retract a statement that expressed sympathy for Adolf Hitler's treatment of the Jews.

Amin wouldn't be But no, drawn. The viewer was left feeling that Amin was still a Hitler-lover, even though 'our David' had tried to get him off the hook. In that sense they comple- mented each other. There were times when the unanimity of views was such that one almost expected them to stage an impromptu minuet. Amin came over as a slightly tongued-tied genial giant who had made some errors, but he loved the Queen, Mr Heath, all the British people, and he was working now to develop Uganda and make the African peoples strong so that one day they could be proud and free.

All this, of course, is com- The cult of Stalin is growing again, but not among the people of the Soviet Union.

His new supporters are in the west. The butcher of the old revolutionary in vanguard Russia is gradually being por- trayed as a 'hero'—a grand- fatherly if stern leader of his people and a great patriot, etc. The biggest public relations job was on television where Stalin was treated to a two- hours, 20 minutes documen- suggesting that his 'mis- tary takes' originated from the real source of evil - Lenin and Leninism. (See Thursday's TV review.) latest to The attempt gradual rehabilitation is David Lewis. He reports in an article sindicated in the British Press that people in Russia are slowly beginning to hanker after their old leader. 'Just what is behind this heart?' he asks. change of Workers Press, Sa plete and utter rubbish. Amin's notorious history is well known. He served in the King's African • Rifles and was pro- moted from the ranks because of his brutal efforts on behalf of British imperialism. Step by step he climbed his way to the top of the Ugandan armed forces by a process of corruption and arm-twisting.

Trusted by nobody, he was in- dispensable to every politician who craved power. In the finish he pulled the rug from underneath all of them and began one of the most tyrannical regimes seen since the 'independence' move- ment in Africa. He abolished parliament, elections, all political parties and the trade unions. The Heath government rewarded him by being the first country in the world to recognize his regime. followed This was quickly by large sums of aid, including for the military equipment forces which he has armed doubled in size since coming to power in January 1971.

On all these issues Frost was absolutely quiet. He ended the programme with the most ex- traordinary plea to the general.

Do you really want to im- prove your image with the British public? Well, said Frost, the best thing you could do is to make a statement now that you intend making com- pensation to Uganda Asians and other non-Ugandans whose property has been taken over by the state! 'The Russians to whom 1 spoke were prepared to talk in a guarded way about Stalin, but couldn't really explain why he should be finding favour. 'However, there is a very real yearning for the old days, terrors and hardships of the which have been forgotten in relative affluence of the modern urban Russia.' Stalin has some curious allies. David Lewis worked for Forum World Features which was financed by the Congress for Cultural Freedom - well- known front of the Central Agency Intelligence of America. Dehnition of a trades council: 'We are here to look after trade unionists and not to talk trades council is politics. The not political in that sense. We are a body of men and women looking after the town.' of Middleton, Manchester, at the annual meeting of the Middleton Trades Council.

Press, Saturday April 7, 1973 PAGE 9 It was such a revealing ques- tion to come from Frost. The only thing that bothers his entrepreneurial conscience is whether the refugees will re- ceive compensation? Amin muttered that he would. But if this question and on tele- answer was shown vision in Uganda it would cause bellylaughs from every- one who saw it. Such a ges- ture by Amin is out of the question. He doesn't intend giving them any money. Any- way why should he? The powerful Asian com- munity has been draining money out of the Ugandan economy for decades. It's not the expropriation of the Asian bourgeoisie that is offensive, it's the fact that turned it into a Amin has racial issue; and he has only Asian businesses taken over . so that they can be placed in the hands of the African bourgeoisie. The programme concluded with the two relaxing in their like two armchairs chatting old acquaintances. The most horrific thing was that outside in the streets Kampala, in of terror, the form of Amin's soldiers, was stalking with gun in hand.

They have butchered count- less people since the general seized power. I wonder how many were dragged from their homes and their families last Sunday night while Frost was chasing the ratings with his amiable chat with Idi Amin, the butcher of Uganda? Mills has a curious inter- pretation of politics. Last year he broke ranks and voted with the Tories over the Housing Finance Act. Mills said he was voting with not really Tories, but for 'law and order' In September he survived as president of the trades council when a vote of no- confidence in him was de- feated by his own casting vote. At the trades council meet- ing last week, Mills was de- moted to vice-president. Gas appointed deputy chairman of the Northern Gas Consumers' Council. The appointment was made last week by Peter Walker, the millionaire Secre- tary for Trade and Industry.

Mrs Bolter is assistant to the organizing secretary of Age Concern. In the recent gas dispute Age Concern was one of the bodies which attacked gas- workers through the Tory Press.

PAGE 10 Workers Press, Saturday April 7, 1973

SATURDAY TV

BBC 1

TV Repondez 9.00 Time 9.35 Se ur beatha. 10.00 off. Farmhouse kitchen. 10.30 Avventura. 11.25 The exploring mind. 9.55 Sesame s'i vous plait. 10.55 Cartoon. 11.05 street. Weather. 11.30 Camberwick Green. 1om 11.30 Partridge famil Gold mouse. on 12.30 News. 12.3 Crow Mountain. 12.30 Boat race. World sport. On the ball. Grandstand. 12.40 Cup preview. 1.05 special. 1.03 sports World hockey championships. Cycling. seven. 1.30, 1.20 2.00 Czechoslovakia v Russia. 1.50, 2.15, Marret Rasen. 1.45, 2.15 3.10 2.45 Racing from Market 2.55 Racing from Ascot. 3.15 Rugby International special Hockey sports Bradford Northern Canadiens Leakue CuD New Montreal Dewsbury. 1.25, 2.05, 2.40, 5.00 In- 3.50 mense 4.00 Results. cup

SRU

Wrewsins,15 ternational rugby union. cen- news. 4.50 Service 545 Protectors. 4.00 Boat race. Oxford News. Doctor in tenary sevens. service. Cambridge. 5.55 News Weather. • Ambush Bay'. Hugh 6.20 es On Tapanese 6.10 DR

WHO.

Planet of the O'Brian, Mickey James Daleks. Mitchum. Marines Pacific. 6.35

A SPECIAL TOMMY STEELE.

Gardner, Grace Kelly. 8.20 showgirl invades American 9.00

COMEDIANS. 9.30 NEWS.

satari leader headquatters safari 9.40

BURT

BACHARACH SHOW.

Wonder, Guests Stevie Gilbert 8.30 A

MAN CALLED IRONSIDE.

'Sullivan Peter Ustinov. Good Samaritan. 10.40

FILM:

"Two for the Money'.

NEWS.

Weather. 9.20 Robert Hooks. 9.30

EUROVISION

SONG

CON-

THE

EXILED.

Miguel Garcia From Luxembourg. 20 years Franco's spent prisons.

11.10 MATCH OF THE DAY.

12.05 ODD COUPLE. I Do, I 12.00 Weather. Don't. Do you get WORKERS PRESS regularly? If not, why not take out a subscription now? {£20.28 for 12 months (312 issues) £10.14 for 6 months (156 issues) £5.07 for 3 months (78 issues) If you want to take Workers Press twice a week the rates are: £1.56 for 3 months (24 issues) £6.24 for 12 months (96 issues) Fill in the form below NOW and send to : Circulation Dept., Workers Press, 186a Clapham High St., London SW4 7UG. I would like to take out a subscription to Workers Press.

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Name.. Address. The 'classic' Jane Russell - Marliyn Mo

REGIONAL TV

CHANNEL: 11.40 Bonanza. 12.30 Lon- don. 5.15 Cartoon. 5.35 Tommy Steele.

6.15 Who do you do? 6.45 Film: "Cheyenne Autumn'. 9.30 London. 10.40 Film: 'Foreign Exchange'. 12.05 Weather WESTWARD As Channel except: 10.20 Foreign flavour. 10.45 Joe 90. 11.10 Cartoon. 11.35 Gus Honeybun. 12.30 London. 12.05 Faith for life. 12.10 Weather. SOUTHERN: 9.15 Jobs around the house. 9.40 Foreign O50' Wildiite 10.10 10.35 At your service. theatre. 11.05 Stingray. 11.35 Cowboy in Africa. 12.25 Weather. 12.30 Lon- 5.15 Tommy Steele. 5.55 Per- don. suaders. 6.55 Film: "The Hallelujah 10.40 Let Trail'. 9.30 London. then Film: "Five live. 11.05 News. 11.10 Women'. 12.40 Weather. Desperate Guideline. HARLECH: 9.00 London. 9.55 Grass- hopper island. 10.10 Sesame street. Osmonds. 11.35 Tarzan Tommy 11.10 12.30 London. 5.20 Bugs Bunny. 5.35 do? 6.45 Steele• ‚Chevenne Autumn'.

6.15 Who do you 9.30 Lon- Film: Fireball forward. 12.25 don. 10.40 Weather. HTV Cymru/Wales as above except: 5.20-5.45 Merrie melodies. 5.45-6.15 Sion a sian. ANGLIA: 9.00 London. 9.55 Hammy hamster. Film: Tarzan. stones. "Voyage the Bottom 6.15 to of the Sea'. 8.20 London. 9.00 Who you do? 9.30 London. 10.40 do 11.25 Streets Aquarius. of San Francisco. 12.25 Epilogue.

REGIONAL TV • 11

Weather 215 Condon ondos 2.13 London. Film: Weather. "The Crimson Kimono'. 4.40 Golden shot. 5.35 Flaxton boys. 6.05 London.

7.55 Film: "Sardonicus'. 9.30 London. 12.10 Epilogue. Weather. WESTWARD. As Channel except:_9.30 Sesame 11.25 London. 10.30 street. Honeybun. 1.00 Talking hands. Gus 1.15 Pacemakers. 1.30 A pretty good 1.55 profit. arrangement• for life. 12.15 Weather.

12.10 Faith SOUTHERN: 9.30 London. 10.30_ Farm World progress. 10.55 Weather. 11.00 War London. 1.00 Grass- 11.30 hopper island. 1.20 Best _of Lucy. 1.50 2.15 London. 3.15 jimmy Stewart. 3.45 Golden University challenge. shot. 4.15 Frankie and Tommy. 5.05 Bird's 5.30 News. 5.35 eye view. Flaxten boys. 6.05 London. 7.55 Film: *Soldier in the Rain'. 9.30 London. 12.15 Weather. Guideline.

HARLECH: 9.30 London. 10.35 Farm- ing diary. 11.30 Lon- 11.00 Angling. don. 1.00 University 1.30 challenge. Drive in. 2.00 Bugs Bunny. 2.15 Lon- 3.15 Film: "Dear Wife'. 4.40 don. Golden shot. 5.35 Flaxton boys. 6.05 London. 7.55 Film: "The Ambushers'. 10.00 London. 12.15 Weather.

HTV Cymru/Wales as above except: 6.15-6.40 Highway Walsingham. to 6.40 Swn y jiwbili. 10.30 Circus. ANGLIA: 9.30 London. Day. 11.20 Cartoons. 11.30 10.55 Doris Champions. 1.50 London. 1.00 Weather. 1.55 Farming. 2.25 Film: •The Three Musketeers *s.35 Flaxton 3.40 Foot- ball. 4.40 Golden shot. boys. 6.05 London. 7.55 Film: The Silver Fleet'. 9.30 London. 12.15 Epilogue. ATV MIDLANDS: 9.30 London.

10.30 Camping 11.00 and caravanning. Čitizens rights. 11.30 Londonsoccer.

Randall Hopkirk. 2.00 Rains Came'. 3.00 Film: "The 4.40 Golden shot. 5.35 Flaxton boys. 6.05 London. 7.55 Film: "David and Bath- sheba'. 10.00 London. minds. StolenA MIS Film: Who Stole Million'. 4.40 Golden Flaxton 6.05 Lon- shot. 5.35 boys. 7.55 Film: 'Hide and Seek'. 9.30 don. London. YORKSHIRE: 9.20 Chess masterpieces.

Pipet 9.30 London. 10.30 and his world. friends. 10.35 Untamed 11.00 couple. 11.30 London. 1.00 Farm- Odd ing. 1.25 Calendar. Soccer. 2.50 1.55 "Kaleidoscope'. Cartoon. Film: 4.40 5.35 Flaxton 4.45 Golden shot. boys. 7.55 Film: "Destination 6.05 Londod. London. 12.15 Shirley's Gobl'. Marilyn Monroe movie 'Gentlemen Prefer Blon

BBC 2

8.55-1.30 Open University. 3.00 Film: •Claudia' 30 Play away. Robert McGuire, Dorothy 4.55 Pets and vets. 5.10 Attaturk. 5.55 Man alive.

6.45 WESTMINSTER.

7.10 NEWS AND SPORT. Weather.

7.25 RUGBY SPECIAL. Scottish 11.2 centenary sevens.

8.15 PASSWORD.

8.45 BEL-AMI. Virginie. ATV MIDLANDS: 9.15 Jobs around the house. 9.40 Foreign flavour. 10.10 Skm::Abbott and kostello Meet the 10.35 Jackson 11.00 Film: Ghost'. 12.30 London. 5.20 Cartoons.

Tommy Steele. 5.35 6.15 Who do you 'Cheyenne Autumn'. do? 6.45 Film: Film: •Foreign 9.30 London. 10.40 Exchange'. Shirley's 12.10 world. 12.40 Stories. Weather. ULSTER: 10.10 Look up. 10.30 Se- 12.30 same street. 11.30 Thunderbirds.

London. 5.15 Sport- Ambush Bay' 5.45 Merrie melodies. 6.15 Film: 8.20 London. 9.00 Comeapers Man® 9.30 London. 10.40 Film: 'Paper 11.55 Kreskin. / YORKSHIRE: 9.15 Looking Tomfool- 9.40 Foreign Phant bly. 10.10 ery. 10.35 Elephant | 11.05 Film: "Boys Will Be Boys'. 12.30 London. 5.20 Persuaders. 6.15 Tommy Steele.

6.55 Film: •To Catch a Thief. 9.00 Comedians. 9.30 London. 10.40 Film: "Companions in Nightmare'. 12.25 Weather.

GRANADA:

9.15 Jobs around the house. 9.40 Foreign flavour. 10.05 You and your golf. 10.35 Sesame

SUNDAY TV

ITV

9.30 Service. 10.35 UFO. 11.30 Week.

world. 1.00 Thunderbirds. 1.50 end Look up. 2.15 Big match. 3.15 O'Hara five. US Treasury. 4.10 Junior police shot. 5.15 Aquarius. 4.20 Golden

NEWS.

6.05 6.05

• ARGUMENT.

7.00

STARS ON SUNDAY.

ON THE BUSES. The Visit. 7.25 FILM: 'Babette Goes to War'.

7.55 Brigitte Bardot. A French girl acts as bait against the Nazis in occupied Paris. 9.30

OUR

KID. Three's Company. New comedy series. 10.00

NEWS.

PLAY:

"A.D.A.M.'

10.15 With Georgina Mark Jones, turns out to be even more versatile than it seems.

FROST PROGRAMME.

11.15 12.15 SCALES LEP JUSTICE. Pay-

SCALES

12.20 ment in Kind.

BBC 1

9.00 Nai zindagi naya jeevan. 9.30 Repondez s'il vous plait. 10.00 Avven- 11.35 Don't just tura. 10.30 Service. 12.00 Training sit there. for 12.25 Picture making. 12.50 work. Farming 1.15 Made in Britain.

1.30 and children. 1.55 News. Parents Weather. 2.00 Along the river. 2.15 Shari Lewis show. 2.25 Animal game. 2.55 French way. 3.25 Film: "The Racers'. Kirk Douglas. Grand Prix 4.50 International motor accinGKN Daily Express motor Silver Jubilee Meeting. 5.20 The new road. Col-of-the-Tricks.

world. 12.45 Weather. London. 10.35 GRANADA: kitchen. 11.00 9.30 Addams farmhouse 12.55 family. 11.30 London. Saint. 1.55 On the line. 2.25 Football. 3.20 "Whisky Galore'. Golden Film: 4.40 shot. 5.35 Flaxton boys. 6.05 London.

•Wild 7.55 Cartoon. 8.00 Film: Women'. 9.30 London. TYNE TEES: London. 9.20 Chess master- pieces. 9.30 10.30 Tobs around the house. 11.00 Ugliest girl 1.00 Farm. in town. 11.30 London. ing. 1.25 World War I. 1.50 Where the jobs are. 1.55 Shoot. 2.50 Film: 'Kaleidoscope'. 4.45 Golden shot. 5.35 Flaxton boys. 6.05 London. 7.55 Film: refer Blondes' Is on BBC 2 tonight.

9.30 FULL HOUSE.

Magdalena. Buznea sings Piaf, Auden, Burnt Out Blown Out and Broke, Blue Bitch, Matrix, Robots. 11.15 NEWS ON 2. Weather.

ttish 11.20 FILM: 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'. Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, Charles Coburn. Co- about the from medy girl friend Little Rock and her who go to Paris. Steery Finn. London. 9.00 Who London. Kill'. 12.30 Seaway. TYNE TEES: 9.15 Wildlife theatre.

Foreign flavour. 10.10 Tom- foolery Will be Boys'. 10.35 Joe 90. 11.05 Film: •Boys 12.30 London. Tommy 5.20 Persuaders. 6.15 Steele. 6.55 Film: "To Catch a Thief'. 9.00 Comedians. 9.30 London. 10.40 Com- panions in nightmare. 12.25 Lectern. SCOTTISH: 9.15 Jobs around the Foreign 10.10 house. 9.40 flavour. Pebbles and bamm bamm. 10.35 Black 11.05 11.30 Dick beauty. Osmonds. Van Sins Bonar Cavalade Tommy 12.30 Dyke. Roman ast 6.10 London. 6.55 Film: Giant Steele. a Shadow'. 9.30 London. 10.40 Late call. 10.45 Name of the game. GRAPON and friends. 230 Punstuf. friends. Lon- 11.45 Ron don. 5.15 Flintstones. 5.45 Sky's the limit. 6.15 Film: "Taras Bulba' 8.20 do: 9.30 London. 9.00 Who do you London. 10.40 Film: "Love, Hate, Love'.

BBC 2

8.55-1.05 Open University. 4.30 Money 5.30 Horizon. work. 6.05

NEWS.

6.50

SUMMARY.

WHithe FIMELESS 6.55

THE

MOMENT.

Modness Coate Barnes and Mary Morag have both who been mad. 7.25 THE WORLD ABOUT US. The Other Iceland. ONE. Ronnie 8.15

SEVEN

Barker. 8.45

DELHI DAY.

Sights and sounds of India. 8.55 Pro-

THE

about Tohann gramme Bach's famous tian six con- certos. 9.50 AWAY FROM IT ALL. 'The New Life'. By Carey Harrison. With Philip Latham and Maureen O'Brien. 10.40

THEY SOLD

• A MILLION. The Supremes, Frank Ifield. 11.25

NEWS

ON 2. Weather. 11.30

UP SUNDAY.

6.05 NEWS.

Weather. 6.15

WHERE IS

YOUR GOD?

6.50

SONGS OF PRAISE.

7.25

THE BROTHERS.

No Hard Feelings. 8.15

FILM:

'A Farewell to Arms'. Rock Hudson, Jennifer Jones.

10.40

NEWS.

Weather. SIR NOEL COWARD. Conver. 10.50 sation with Patrick

KENNETH HARRIS INTER-

11.30 VIEWS. Antoine Riboud, one of Europe's leading glass manu.

facturers. 12.10 Weather. 'Destination Gobi'. 9.30 London. 12.15 Dr Simon Locke. 12.40 Lectern.

SCOTTISH: 10.05 World War I.

10.35 Win.30 London. 11.05 You pays your 1.00 Cham- mons. 2.00 pions. Sport. 3.25 Theatre of 4.25 Golden shot Film: 'David 5.15 Aqua- stars. rius. 6.05 London. 7.55 and Bathsheba'. 10.00 London. 12.15 Late call.

GRAMPIAN:

11.00 Farming. 11.30 London. ( 1.00 Exploring mind. 1.30 Take Sport. better photographs. 2.01 3.25 Film: It's Congratulation 5.35 Flaxton Boy'. 4.40 Golden shot. 7.55 Film: 'Julie'. boys. 6.05 London. 9.30 London. 12.15 A kind of living.

Lancaster tenants face Tories' production plans in crisis ASK SKERTON tenant, Ray Wren, what he thinks of the Tories' Housing Finance Act and he says things which are almost unprintable. Last weekend, along with other council tenants in Lan- caster, Ray received notice of a 50p rent increase, the second within a year. The continuous rises are dic- tated by the Tory Act to bring rents up to a so-called 'fair rent'.

The increase marked the final abandonment by Lancaster's Labour council of opposition to the Act. The initial 50p increase under the Act, last year, was brought in before it was made law by the Tories, who then con- trolled the city council.

BITTERNESS

Like other Labour Parties around the country, Labour in Lancaster swept into the council on a policy of declared opposi- tion to the Tory Act. But after their argument that 'fair' under existing rents were the Act, was rejected by the Heath Lancaster's government, Labour group voted along with the Tories to implement. Only three Labour councillors voted to oppose the Act-Mike Lewthwaite, Bill Corr and Gor- don Holding. At his home on the Ridge estate, Mike Lewthwaite, a mar- two children, ried with man pointed to the anti-working class nature of the Act. AFTER a year of stagnant sales and declining invest- ment we are told manufac- turing is on the verge of an upswing. But the signs are that the 'expansion' has been jagged and hesitant. The chances are that the industry will be caught in the gales of the trade war before it has left port. The bad omens come in the form of figures on stocks held by the manufacturing firms. puzzling over Experts are now the failure of stocks to swing rapidly upwards as a first signal of boom. Hopes of a dramatic revival have been dashed by government days ago figures published two showing that the fall in stocks in the final three continued months of last year-though the drop was not as great as the £145m decrease during the first.

three months. The laggardly recovery has been blamed on two factors. since the big labour First shake-out' between 1968-1971, manufacturing more nrms are cost conscious and are not keen to bring the proportion of stocks output to its pre-recession to level. But secondly the general un- future certainty currency values, and the value of sterling played havoc in particular, has with the best-laid plans.

Firms in manufacturing buy the bulk of their raw materials and supplies that make up their from abroad. The Toty stocks devaluation of sterling since the Tories' forced 'float' of last July has hit them hard since this has the effect of increasing the price of all imports. The desire to boost stocks through imports has therefore been curtailed somewhat. But it is the rest of 1973 that Tory planners and indus- •gives trialists the biggest headache.

If output is to pick up, stocks and therefore imports - will have to be increased enormously.

The problem is the balance of economists Already payments. are forecasting Britain's debt on trade reach world will an astronomical £900m by the end of the year. It would, he said, force up to 40 per cent of tenants on to the means test. In addition, a vast number of people on the border- line would have to juggle with their money in order to live.

Mrs Lewthwaite pointed out that many tenants would prob- ably not claim rebates because of the means test. It would be the higher-paid lower-middle workers and the class-not the wealthy people- who would pay for it all.

Mike Lewthwaite is particu- larly bitter the about the way decision to implement was taken.

'This Act is directly against the people the Labour Party supposed to stand for, he said. 'If the whips were put on, it shoulc have been the other way? council meeting, Before the Mike Lewthwaite told me, he had been approached by no less than three councillors to remind him that the whips were although they knew his position on the issue.

VICTIMIZED

When he referred to the detri- mental effect of the Tory Act on the problem of 'twilight areas with more tenants being forced to look for cheaper accommoda- tion, the mayor Mrs Henderson, tell him he interrupted to was 'out of order' for raising 'fresh information'. She said she had been 'very patient with him!

"The Tory group leader sat opposite me, smug and smiling,

STEPHEN J

Two things can happen. Either . be allowed to the pound can drift downwards, so raising the price of goods abroad and choking off the demand for imports; or by sterling can be supported government intervention. But this would involve a deflation by the Tory Chancellor to halt the demand in the economy. Either way manufacturing gets badly caught. If the pound keeps falling, foreign stocks will on be too expensive and the boom will never come. If the pound is supported, the resulting de- pressures will crush flationary hopes of a business revival.

Meanwhile international com- petition gets fiercer as countries

SOCIALIST LABOUR

LEAGUE PUBLIC

MEETINGS

Transform the SLL into the Revolutionary Party

TUESDAY, APRIL 10

8.30 p.m. Mona Hotel James Street Liverpool 1 Lecture: The economic crisis of world capitalism Manchester

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11

8 p.m. Angel pub, Chapel Street.

watching the Labour group do their job for them. Not one Tory needed to get up and speak.'

Mike is an AUEW member. maintenance workers' He was convenor at Storeys, until sacked in 1971. A long strike by the maintenance men failed to win his reinstatement. He is also a delegate on the trades council.

PRINCIPLES

He is particularly disappointed with a number of fellow trade unionists in the Labour group who had originally said they would oppose the Act, but who stayed silent at the council meet- ing and then voted for imple- mentation. 'Although I expected some councillors to vote for the Act, 'I still expected a considerable number to oppose it,' he said.

Explaining his own opposition to the Act, he said he would 'merely because argue that cabinet government has used parliament to carry out a policy in the interests of a small min- ority of capitalists is no reason why we should have to obey. If an Act is against the interests of the mass of the people, we should resist it. The only way we had to resist this Act was to refuse to implement it.' He went on: 'If you are faced with the question of whether to implement something fundamen- tally against the interests of the people you represent, you have

IEN JOHNS

like Japan and Germany look for new markets for goods now shut out of America by tariff walls.

Britain's ailing manufacturing industry simply will not be able to withstand such competition.

An answer might be to com- pensate for extra imports by exporting more. But this takes the hard-pressed industrialist to square one. To export more he needs to increase output, to increase out- put he needs more stocks, if he buys more stocks he plunges the economy deeper into the red.

The dilemma is a general one facing the shaky British economy.

In the past expansion has always immediately spilled over into

SOCIALIST LABOUR

LEAGUE MEETING

Build the revolutionary party Join the Socialist Labour League Defend basic democratic rights Make the Tories resign

TUESDAY APRIL 10

7.30 p.m. Caedraw School Caedraw Merthyr Tydfil Speaker: G. Healy (SLL national secretary) Registered as a newspaper at the Post Office. Published by Workers Ponson: swapa. Hirint Street, Printed Lonaon, Plough ham Newsdesk: 01-720 2000. 01-622 7029. Workers Press, Sati to make a decision. Are you going to back down, just because side" want people on your "own you to back down? 'If your beliefs are really deep, you oppose, right down the line.

'People who say they have socialist beliefs have got to ask themselves, what are they in the business for? For status, or per- sonal gratification ... or to fight for what you believe in? 'If they are prepared to com- promise, they could never have really held principles in the first place.' And Mike warned: 'If you agree to implement all reaction- ary legislation by compromises, then the Tories can have imple- mented any legislation they want' So far as he was concerned, the Act was a matter touching basic principles. It represented the sort of profit system in land and property which Labour was supposed to be against.

NO LEAD

'I had to ask the question, my- self, of what my motivations were for being on the council.

'You can't compromise over a basic question of the shelter over a person's head.' Both Mike Lewthwaite and Bill Corr blame the Labour Party leadership for failing to give a lead in the struggle against the rents Act. Asked why, in his opinion, so had Labour councils many backed down over the Act, Mike Lewthwaite replied: 'I would blame the Labour Party. It has never taken the lead.' imports, and a balance-of-pay- ments crisis has been the result.

Hence the minor cycle of boom and recession. But each time the curves con- necting 'slump' to "boom' have become more : violent. This time the situation is unprecedented.

Expansion has not even begun and the debts have begun to pile up. But this domestic sickness is insolubly linked to the inter- national economic crisis. The world currency system is in total chaos and the basis of inter- national credit, which supports world trade, irrevocably under- mined. The capitalist nations have launched a trade war - Britain staggers forward like a dying man and the 'boom' in manufac- turing , may well be the killer blow.

SLL LECTURE

SERIES

The revolutionary party and the history of the working British class Caedraw School Merthyr Tydfil 7 p.m. Sundays April 8 and 22 Lectures given by Peter Jeffries The Unions and the working class in Britain. The Revolutionary Past of the British working class-and its future. The Transformation of the SLL into a Revolutionary Party.

READING

Trotsky, Where is Britain Going? Problems of the British Revolution. Perspectives for Transforming the SLL into a Revolutionary Party. Marxist Analysis of the Crisis.

Workers Press, Saturday April 7, 1973 PAGE 11 All Trades Unions Alliance

MEETINGS

Deptford Engineers Cross Road (opp. Cross lube) Build Councils Force the Tories ACtion. Resign'. WANDSWORTH: Monday April 9, SWit. Kuc must c High Street, • must call a General

WATFORD:

Monday April Trade Union Hall Watford Watford Station.

HOCO.

Cine fight against Stalinism'.

CAMDEN: Tuesday April 10, 'Prince Albert', Wharfedale Road, Kings X. 'The

TUC

must call a General Strike

CLAPHAM:

April 10, Tuesday p.m. Small Hall, Clapham Manor Manol SW4. Seneral Strike to make she Tories 'The

TUC

must resiel.

ELLESMERE

PORT:

Tuesday, April 10, 7 p.m. Grosvenor Hotel Ellesmere Port. 'Build the revo- lutionary party-Defend rights.' astic ida, Cox April 10, 7.30 p.m. Elastic Inn, Street. VAT—the new attack the working class. Fight rising prices Force the Tories to resign.

HARROW: Tuesday April 10, Labour Hall. Harrow p.m 'The TUC must call Nealdstone a General Strike'.

HACKNEY:

Wednesday April 11, Parlour Room, Central Hall, opp. Town Hall, Mare Street.

*The

TUC

must General Strike to make the Tories resign'

CROYDON:

Thursday April 12 Ruskin House Coombe Road, Croydon. 'The fight agains!

Stalinism'

FULHAM:

Swan Yu Aam Broad- April 'The Swan', 'Forward to the Revolution- way ary Party'.

BERMONDSEY:

Thursday April 12, 8 p.m. 'Havelock Arms' Bala- off Southwark Park Cove Road. 'Build Councils of Action.

Make the Tories Resign'. Aprll 12, WILLEODEN: inursday 8 p.m. Labour and Trades Hall, High Road NW10. Tory Preparatior ano Greer

TOI

dictatorship' HOLLOWAY: Thursday April 12, • p.M. LO0O Ha •ever osters Road. 'Forward to the Revolution- ary Party.

SLL LECTURE

SERIES

The Socialist Revolution in Britain Middleton (nr Manchester) Hollins Social Centre Tintern Road, Hollins Estate 7.30 p.m. Monday April 9 and 16 Lectures given by Cliff Slaughter (SLL Central Committee) The Socialist Revolution in Britain: state and revolution. I ne Reformism and revolution The fight for democra- Means redar ing for working-class power.

Basic reading: Perspectives for transforming me •LL no a revolutonary party Marxist Analysis of the Crisis.

Problems the British Revo lution (Trotsky). Death Agony of Capitalism and of the Fourth Inter- the Tasks national, Communist Manifesto.

PAGE 12 Workers Press, Saturday April 7, 1973 Fresh rail 300 food price rises in VAT's talks fail first week IN THE first week of Value- dent of the Food Manufac- Federation, FRESH talks failed to break the turers' Added Tax there have been said the deadlock vesterdav. The over 300 increases in food lall Ddy price or un plate was expectec three rail unions have rejected to rise 12 and that prices and "The Grocer' British Rail's Phase Iwo fl plus pulp paper would increase bi magazine Flour has increased 5 per of March foods increased be- 4 per cent pay offer. all food prices of bacon and ham tween 0.4 and 24 per cent in rise cent, over But leaders agreed to meet the This would force firms like Board week fur- 1.8 per cent. Heinz and the other big manu- again next for Der cen Price Products involved this credible 35 cent in The talks. level 13.7 Prices for ther put up lacuurer Sir living week. March general secretary leap in the cost of prices.

LICW

Sidney Greene said afterwards wide range of Heinz These increases come on to!

higher than March 1972—the On Incide a fresh food Beresford the could canned products, Spillers flour, of evidence which shower biggest leap 12 months. Board obviously not said there suong pos® canned cheese and has risen 100 per sibility that by the end of the Imorove Lucy

DCL

celi lue lood DOSSeS are already. Tories were hoping for better fringe Boy processed meats and were elected warning that more big in- butter would be up 24

FOYK

since The year way because benefits, pensions and holidays. Ratcliffe spices. and frozen chicken by 30 per creases are on the per 18 per cent cent surar ov Big rises occurred decide unions could of VAl and rises in packaging by per cent, 1lIc Lave «ried eggs before the processed and fresh survey by "The Grocer' costs. meat by 12 per cent and fish Take Their case

DOEI

Railways Staff National Tribunal. foods. shows month Anthony over Beresford, presi- by 1u per cent London stoppage ends Dockers thoughtful over return LONDON DOCKERS yesterday voted two to one to end the stoppage which has crippled the enclosed docks for the last five days.

At an hour-long meeting inside the Royal Illabo Victoria Dock, Tilbury, West men from the Royals, India and Millwall rejected a proposal from their 18-man committee to continue the stoppage.

The committee proposed that the meeting reaffirm the policy, decided by a mass meeting last month, to with- draw from flexible manning arrangements because of dis- Dockers voting to end their action.

satisfaction with a £2.60 pay offer.

APRIL FUND £119.71 STEP

If the dispute were Con-

BY DAVID MAUDE

tinued, committee members support would be

UP WEEKEND FIGHT

Cowley right-to- of the state pay laws dockers working taking the emplovers concon s verside wans government-controlled offer WE ARE now at the end of our first week, but are It was also suggested that of £2.60 plus cent on month's countrywide might differential payments. •roO benina in raising this work strike ends Fund. This weekend, a boost. Press be gained from a meeting of But will 'devalue' thev ahead as before. know we have ine natonal

DON SHOD

stew. existing agreements with the ards' committee in Birming- by demanding Everywhere, hospital and Ford workers, are extra men gangs but determined keep fight against the Tory up

BY OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT

do more than one day

TUSIC TO

Each Well Standards job per shift. cockers CA Inreatened more ana more as prices rocket nign.

Bri- at But the trade union leaders ignore these attacks Both Peter Shea, T&GWU day will review, progress in tish-Leyland's Austin- their Their docks against members. actions today lead to London the sericlal y. Morris plant DoOV Man CommuteC and and aver realer Les newman. Line Oxi strengthen their attacks.

officials NAS&D, supported the com- Full-time Workers Press is vital today.

Thousands of work- morning, mittee's recommendation. Hallow unanimously ers everywhere are looking for ste- all auerudulve week. And a number government. our paper can lon wards who argued Only with Mickein® Fenn speakers. provide this lead. was

WOTLO

'reluctantiv'. steward Micke The Because Don't let's waste a of moment, therefore, Dock. But the main- weekend. stewares supported worker", 'rank-and-file' tenance drive to raise April's Fund. See how much you can assembly and the itself associated with the plant, however, paper Post every donation immediately to: Socialists International not be

NOI

Workers Press April Appeal Fund the able to welcomed The body workers 186a Clapham High Street, London SW4 7UG officials' attitude. certaintv was created in the The After the meeting several for .....________ who are manage- guaranteed stewards began blaming ment's breach of days pay yor rank-and-file dockers for the days laid off with- Ford pay talks chi vote, ridiculing suggestors dra without that the cy ion leaders and safety cover. policy the 18-man shop the A If the fails to dispute rent threats from

UNIONS

*We would representing escalation of these by pay. fault. meet 50,000 Ford workers the they will Monday, But the of the is the phase down plant's Icover enclosed docks is get some yes- The unions are claim- stoppage WiTh The •ollers. was terday to get some that Ford's is now whenever for work in no wav the finish of th ing The 3,000 body-plant employers' and the govern- provements fringe being hit badly the strikers will return to work ment's problems on the to ado to work-to. overtime Monday with £12 in lieu on docks. Phase Two offer. rules, and withdrawal of 18-man committee being co-operation or lost earnings Most dockers were in an The union side of the recent assembly workers' plants. National Joint Council, plied in extremely thoughtful mood various strike and the of promise But all plant afternoon after yesterday's vote. with Their

SAUD

indicate that the re- rejected stewards' leaders, en- A l centra talking-point their chief complaint. formist leaders are keen dorsed the actions of leadership was the kind settle the dispute as This is that during the company's on their which our members quickly as possible. annual pay which is assembly strike management Maurice rolev big battles. economic sanctions See confused vote, this is that broke an agreement cover- These will centre on the against the company. 3. ing the banking of bodies. laws. growing non-regis- use of labour. tion of 'casual' labour and 13th ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF attacks on the Dock Labour Scheme.

FOR DETAILS

As one steward commen. ted: 'You can't accept state

YOUNG SOCIALISTS

TELEPHONE

of and then control wages follow you 01-622 7029 isolated truggle on some other issu

BLACKPOOL APRIL 14/15 1973

We need a united fight all port. — lorerrel Will other sections of workers in struggle directed at the SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, APRIL 14 & 15, WINTER GARDENS, BLACKPOOL issue before the Illalll

WOLK

ing ciass, getting ra of tne Tory government.'