Red Miner no. 11

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aa otrike shook up the UA aud proper. Thousands of al ners became activists. agers fearful for their

positions, kept quiet chair doubts and criticisms eoaceiil., The RUB executive clug, emt even for a period ORF & dae strike WES , to all the most left-wing in The impact of the defeat on the balance of within the NUM was, for a

aetrike cuncea led.

Tne 1986 delegate conference in Vanby has exposed the true state of axfairs. it is not a heartening sight. The defeat of the strike has enormously weakened Arthur scargiili and those like him, who remain advocates of class struggle re defend jabs, WARS and conditions. It has strengthened all of: those in the bureaucracy “Who Oppose stich a perspective. The Jk Lert’ executive is clearly in Che erip of ‘new realists’ - of wou who want to comprom.se with British Coal and, until they can get oa Kinnock government, with Hrs Thatcher.

The two key debates at jenby prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Scargill is. vitruaily completely : jsalated Ln the Reecutive, Those debates ~- on relations with the UDM and on whether the 8UM will seed ta take industrial action over jobs and pay — revealed Vhat an alliance of the traditional right-wing (Bell) and the tradi tiona }. left-wing (NeGahey, Boitan, Clarke, Taylor

and Terry Thome s > OQXiSts. Phe policy of tais al liance is one af

retreat and surrender Lm the face

of British Coai's attacks.

The old. ‘lett? are dominant within this alliance. They are in fact a new-rigbt. The coalition of the Euro Stalinist Communist Party members jJike Bolton anc HeGahey with Kinnock eu pporters ; Like Clarke, Thomas ang Vayior firmly believe tbat the lesson od the graet strike is “industrial action L& ‘outdated’. la ths piace they favour collaboration combi ped campaigu tor a Labour government.

bea th

aesatlLation and with aa

en Seargili LB bis sadress, When ooarg ;

called for industrial action, be was rounded on by the new-right. Seargiil argued ‘

ack ion

wi Don

Poa aes

ry ge than iater. " The response t9 this cals Wes

revealing. Host delegates wen re Silent while others afforded the

President only polite applause.

Scargihl i ; Taylor © plain ‘that he thought there was no prospect of industrial _action. - And ta demonstrate their: ‘wontrol Scargill these men ensured. that conference © was not any action at Vall

over the . pay 1 Stuuse an ty \

«h

Resolutions ‘ @émanding . sizeable DEY Ses were’ tabled. The: fact that British’ ‘Coal -has Last, year's! riseé* ‘and « be: trying to tie, all rises ‘to’ a. “type of . no strike deal” “Cpension rights would hee automatically: penalised if we taok action) indicates the need for a coherént’ and militant

strategy, op pay. A’ strategy based on co-ordinated action against the divisive incentive scheme .. is realistic. , The ‘recent: vote. for an overtine, bait in’ North Derbyshire (see R103" shows miners .can. be united. in. action “on . this : issue. Yet, Look what happened at. Fenby:

Yorkshire, in the name "of withdrew the:.call in it's

as nity”

resolution: ‘for strike action. ioustead it supported @ South Wales, Midlands and “Notts.

conposited.. resolution calling for negotiations toa achieve a L222 that would take the lowest paid surface workers from £98 a week to £120 a week. The only committment to this resalution was to cail a delegate conference if negotiations break down. The new— right will do all they can to ensure that negotiations do- not break down. In fact their great hope is MacGeggor’s replacement, Haslem. Peter Heathfield praised this man’s previous record and declared ;

vise,

"We hope we will be entering a new period of negotiations when we can seek to fulfil the aspirations of our jnembers, "

4s if Haslem is going to be any different (in anything other than manner >) than either previous butcher of the industry, Ezra or MacGreggor.

over,

committed. to .

nat paid |

>the scab UDM iumpned, They trump card against cGahey, a member of the OE Leaders, broke lily by calling for atvYon with the scabs. He declared: that no member of the UDM should be called a scab! What an insult to those imprisoned and victimised thanks, amongst other things to the treachery of the scabs. MeGahey argued:

rae it

"De not allow your anger to endanger the rebuiliding of tis unionb, We .need one united union imvthis industry.”

A resolution from Scotland setting this pracess of reconciliation in

motion was passed. It called on bkhe ruc and Labour Party ta mediate between the NUM and the

scabs. It allowed for individual UDK members to rejoin the NUK, though an ammendment from Notts. tied this to them accepting the

new Gisciplinary rules passed last year.

Duce again Scargill was yirttually ;alone in opposing this approach. |He recognised that any unity at ‘the moment would mean unity on the scabs terms. It would mean unity | based on accepting aspects of . the UD’ s company unionist style evident boy their wining and dining of MacGreggor at their conference. Scargill warned: in vain: ; .

"We must peyer again commit the error or our forefathers Who accepted false unity and reconciliation with Spencerism, ”

The conference opted for the strategy of : the old MF BG cones 1s ators. No wonder the rigbt— wing Labour Weekly declared after ‘the conference:

“4 clarion cali for unity and fur

Notts. miners to march back Iniv the NUM went out from Tenby."

Like George Bolton who said it openly at ;° conference, Labour Weekly recognise that unity on the scabs terns ‘will. re-assure Labour's potential middle class voters in the run-up to the election. :

The new- right Tenby. The NUH joined the Kinnock band-wagon. [f1 opted for a peace with Britivh Coal that will mean massive Jab Losses, poar wages and deteriorating - ‘safety and conditions, ALL af it's hopes are pinned ob Kinnack’s cavalry coming to the resoue. :

The PRASUUS - for » Fhis significant shift im our union are iapartant to understand. Ther defeat oa -the sreat strike has gradually worn down the morale of Lhe omijority of militants in the

union. At pit reflected ‘in the pits with a

level thia is willingness of reputation for militancy to boost production levels. Qf course this is partly explained by the fact that in. the absence of a pay rise bonus earnings are vital. But,. the bureaucrats bave used divert the union from a national

campaign on pay. And militants have not really resisted this

drift. | ]

triumphed at:

this to _

Demoralisatian is alsa evident in the lack of a fight against the putching of the industry. Since March 1984 438,000 jobs have gone. lastead of a fight back many men are taking redundancy money. At the same time the sacked lads are receiving little in the way of action to get them re-instated. A flurry of one-day strikes before the conference cannot conceal the fact that there is no organised and systematic campaign being waged by the union. Nor was one planned at Tenby.

The new-right are contributing to this mood by sabotaging local struggles, . There has been an increase in the number of lacal strikes, yet each of them has been deliberately kept isolated. The recent strike at Armthorpe is a good example. The tien were willing and able to spread it, but the Area leaders obstructed them ail along the line. The new right feed off the demoralisation they they help cause, and that way they have grown in’ strength and influence over the last year.

But there is another reason for their victory. Scargill is incapable of really fighting them. We will defend Scargill against the attacks of the old and new right. We support his “stance of rejecting "new realisn’ and calling for class struggle. But we will not | pretend that he is capable of: delivering the goods. Tenby proves that he, alone, cannot. Moreover it is his politics that mean he cannot.

Scargill is tied to the union machine. That machine is bureaucratic and, in the NUK, fiercely federalist. Scargill knows full weil that Clarke, Thomas and Taylor are out to obstruct ‘class struggle policies. Taylor § even prevented bim _addressing the Yorkshire Miners’

Gala just. before conference. Yet Scargil1 | will not go over the ‘heads of the bureaucrats and organise the. militants in the

! areas to! fight’ for class struggle policies) against their leaders. He uses the, fact that he is a servant of the ‘executive ta justify bis becoming a slave to its reactiomary decisions.

Scargill also refuses to face up to the fact that the strike was defeated. at the conference he

argued’ that the strike had saved

30,000 jobs and 22 pits. Given that 43,000 jobs and over 30 pits have gone this is, frankly, a piece of nonsense. The fact is that a defeat toak place. That is no excuse for defeatism, It does mean addressing the real problems, something Scargill does not do.

Qf course his call to action is generally correct. But it is too vague, too general. It is to be ‘sooner’ rather than ’later’. But what does this mean for militants in the pits, what tasks must be fulfilled in order to prepare for a new battle? Scargili has no answer to these vital questions. Red. Miner does not underestimate the difficulties of the present day situation. But we do believe there is an alternaltive to Scargill's ‘vague calls on. the one hand, and the treacherous class collaboration of Bolton and co, on

the other.

The regeneration of the union must begin at pit-level. The continuing attacks and provocations of British Coal must be met with Local strikes. Boosting production is still vital to the bosses. ; Regular interruptions of produdtion will make them think twice about

staging provocations.

On a long-term basis, confidence can be rebuilt through such struggles only if thay result ina re-juvenation of pit organisation. At a local level militants organise to throw out the ‘new realists’ on branch committeés.

Tay lor : ‘No longer listening t , Seangitl |

The committees

must —

| “ 4

“fi to:

mist: be made accountable ‘and recallable to the men. ”

But building the fightback on a purely local level is. not enough. A national strike is a long way off. But that does not mean that

area-wide and eross~area organisation and: action is impossible. Every attempt should

be made to spread local strikes. Every threatened new closure must be met by area-wide action. A fight must be waged to impose a total, indefinate overtime ban over the pay issue. Both of these questions are vital to all miners. All miners can be united in action around them, While an overtime ban is not the most desirable form of industrial action, it is a step in the right direction. It can, in the period ahead, rebuild a fighting spirit.

Militants in every pit must establish contact, Pit, panel and regional rank and file Links must be built up. Each dispute must become ' a means of extending a network of rank and file militants. A sizeable group of militants in the NUM could begin to turn the tide, on one condition ~ that they are organised in an anti-bureaucratic militant rank and file movement.

‘ ! 1

Since this article was written South Wales area leadership have called an overtime ban | over pay under pressure from the ladges, | This is an important move. However the (worrying thing is that the South Wales (leadership see it as a local issue and have \already told ,the bosses press that they idon't intend ‘to call on other areas to ‘follow. This 1% wrong! This Should be used as a lead by militants in the orther areas ito fight for a national overtime ban as a (first step in the pay battle.

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The recent deal struck between British Coal and the CHGB will mean around £20 million less revenue for B.C. in South Wales aad further destructio; of the cualfield. The Area director has annousced plans ta bring forward from December to September the production target of 3 tons/man shift, This will mean the axing of at least 10% of the weorkiorce, 1,806 jobs will go ~- but likely to be nearer 2,000, ln the short term BC plan to phase aut all districts producing less than 500 tons/day, this means that about i2 of the present 44 coal faces will be closed down. Fo pits will be ‘tshut yet, but obviously shutting faces will make many pits less viable and put them in severe danger if/when they hit problems in the future. So, after massive increases in productivity in South Wales, BC have responded in typical fashion. Clearly, increasing productivity in itself can't save’ jobs.

British Coal aisa recently announced the closure of the Tredegar workshops, the main service centre for the Area's 17 pits. 400 jobs will go in an area of already massive unemployment. After the closure of the Kountain Ash and ‘onddu workshops in recent years, the men at Tredegar were given an assurance by Bll that their future was secure. As usual, tihis meant the kiss of death, In addition, amother 50 jobs will be lost with the closui-e of the Ammanford workshops in Dyfed. The WUK leadership have not apposed either of these closures. Indeed, Area President Des Dutfield has played the role of the jinvisible man since his election last year.

The Tower Colliery at Hirwaun in the Cyon valley is to receive £5 million new investment. This will apparently ‘guarantee’ it's future into the next century, but will also result in the loss of 100 jobs. The new money will enable Tower to tackle a heavy deposit of anthracite coal up to 10 feet thick in places, The new face is likely to come into production in September. The Aberaman Phurnacite works which is supplied by Tower alsa appears ta have a safer future now. However, Abercynon, the other remaining pit in the valley ( Penrhiwceiber shut last year » is under possible threat of closure. The pit, which is linked with Lady Windsor at

Yaysybwl may not even go through the review procedure, as it is feared that this would put the future of Lady Windsor in doubt too. Kining conditions are far worse at the Lady Windsor end of the iink-up, miners travelling 3 miles underground to the coal faces, compared to i mile at Abercynon. Such considerations are of course of no importance to British Coal.

SQUTH. WALES GALA.

Last month saw the first South Wales miners gala since 1963, held in Swansea because the traditional venue Cardiff, has a Tory Council. "Guest" speaker was the treacherous Kinnock - invited by the NUM executive against the wishes of the militants. This may help explain the relatively poor turnout, with only around half the lodges represented on a march through the city centre before the gala.

KRinaock gave his usual vague committment to the miners and implied some of the sacked and jailed lads would receive justice’. Weedless to say be made no mention of Dean Hancock and Russell Shankland. While he received some applause (and heckling) most people had better things to do than ta listen to scabby Kinnock, Thankfully, uext year Art aage:: Scargill is quest speaker. ”

REGIONAL ROUN

Whitwell colliery : members voted not to fight the closure of their pit. Voluntary redundancies will take mnmst of the 750 jobs.

Selling your job seems to be the order

of the day, at Renishaw Park. Along with some men, the branch officials including the president, secretary and treasurer (all sulid) have took their thiry pieces of Silver.

The call went out at the national

conference for ail HCB officials carrying out Tory government policy during the miners strike to be sacked when the political climate is right. What do they mean when the politacl] climate is right? I assume our delegates mean when Judas Kinnock reaches Wo.10 he will pull the knives out of the backs of miners he so regularly put there during the strike. Our own area was the only section of the union to oppose the call saying, would you believe it, that they were against any ‘witch bunts of any sort’ Well! one stands outside the Chesterfield office and scratches one’s head. Eyes come into: focus on two stetues and you ask yourself what these two have in common with those inside!

One pit’s monthly management bulletin contained this article under the title Save

You can help by making certain we make use of what we buy and don't leave it lying about to get last. During the year, we will be illustrating the costs of our materials but to give you some idea:-

One Cutter Pick = 7 pints of Bitter.

One Strut = 40 cigs.

One Bolt = 1 Gin and Tonic.

So one pick/strut/bolt can take you and yours out for a night.

= 1

TA t *, ‘f

Has anybody got a knee pad strap plastic bag....J want to be sick!

‘ bp

“UP

An important fightback looks set to. develop at MAurton Colliery. The Board’s insistence on 6,600 tonnes a day praduction target made the Indge euspicious that they were paving the way towards clogure as well as the price cuts granted ta the major customer the CEGB.

The ladge are staring to campaign with the ‘Murton Hiner’, a new colliery newsletter to keep everybady up to date with the management’s moves, A major issue is the way the CB deliberately kept

‘industry out of the area in the 1960's and

‘70's when they needed all the labour. Murton will be looking for support from other areas.

The Yorkshire Gala made the headlines in the local press again this year. No, not the usual cheap stories about drunken brawling miners - well hardly after the magistrates refused to, allow it to be licenced! This time it was the fact Scargill was not invited to speak and the pitiful excuses offered by Taylor about not having the same person two years running. Some believe that Scargill had not even been invited to attend. When the speakers were ready the audience set up a slow handclap giving Taylor a rough ride until Scargill stood up to acknowledge them and wave the proceedings on. Taylor went on ta give his classic speech about being realistic and how he was working away negotiating the sacked lads their jobs back and how we must wait for a Labour government.

Pea

Lo, ~~ Cyril Ramaphosa.

SOUTH AFRICAN MINERS

ANSWER THEIR CALL — WORKERS SANCTIONS NOW!

The message for the British labour movement is that their support in our struggle for liberation is important. We don’t only mean verbal support. We don't ondy mean words. Ye mean actian’.

This was the call from Cyril Ramaphosa, the General Secretary uf the South African Wational Union of AHineworkers, to the Avnual Gonference at Tenby. Ramaphosa and the South African WUM’s president, James Motlasi, had made a dramatic appearance after two weeks spent avoiding arrest by the massive dragnet of arrests by the South African Police in the new State of Emergency. As they spoke, an 3,000 activists were detained charge being laid, about 1,000 trade union leaders and shop stewards.

of those or shaft

Reports reaching Britain tell of whole meetings of trade unionists rounded up, church services broken up by police using arms and gas, and torture of detainees.

unionists these Miners in the DE Beers diamond mines took strike action.

South African ‘trade fighting back, despite difficult circumstances.

are extremely

estimated : with no’

' Other trade unions affiliated to the major

federation, COSATU, have either taken or are planning strike action. The news blackout means that few reports are

getting through in the media, but we know that substantial strike action has taken place in stores and in the metal industries.

Cyril Ramaphosa made clear that black South African workers know they will have to continue to struggle and sutfer themselves.

‘We have to fight in the mines, in the streets, and townships. But the support we can get from the British working classes is very meaningful and would probably be decisive in winning the struggle.’

l, is time that the British trade union movement took matters into its own hands. It is no use waiting for Thatcher to impose sanctions. She has made patently

clear her desire to avoid them. Her own husband is a director of the truck manufacturing company Fradens. Her

cronies in the city have been profiteering in South Africa for decades. .

T.U.C,

Red Miner is convinced that a large number of trade unionists do want some effective action taken. They applaud the stand taken by young workers at Plymouth Hospital stores who have fiven a lead in retusing ta handle South African produce, But every steward in a car factory, every militant on the docks or rail, is worried that they can't get their own members to take action because of the real threat of victimisation. That is why no trade union activists should have to think they are isolated in taking action. That is why we must fight for joint union committees at all levels of the unions, And that is why we must demand the leaders of our movement

actually give a lead. (PTO -»)

Neither the British nor the South African HUM has any reason td..put faith in | the TUC! Cyril -‘Ramaphosa struck a familiar note when he told Conference :

‘The British TUC was highly respected but nowadays our working classes are beginning to doubt the TVC’.

Cyril Ramaphosa added: -

‘When it comes to South Africa we see the British TUC trying to draw back and not speak out when it should da’.

-FOOLS ERRAND

We know the TUC wili continue to avoid taking real action, that is organising an effective workers boycott of South African goods, unless it is furced to do so, Our union must take a lead in this. We should not be fobbed off with a promise of a new approach ta ‘the government - © a fouls errand that would be. We should not be satisfied with .further action to withdraw pension funds from South African investments. Of course we should ensure that our unions don’t have blood on their hands in that way. But the key to the situation doesn't lie in the slow trickle of investment out of South Africa. It Hes with massive workers action to stop all goods and services moving to and from South Africa.

INTERVIEW

An interview with Coventry Vomens' Support Group member Liz Sugrue, on her recent visit to Afghanistan.

Red Miner How did you come to go on this trip?

Liz. An organisation called Liberation contacted. National. Women Against bit Closures with an invitation to come on a fact finding visit to Afghanistan. it was passed on to Warwickshire and I went. Les Sweeting of Kent WUM was there and some trade union and Labour Party people.

Red Niner, What were your impressions of

Afghanistan? .

Liz, It was out of this world! We met all sorts of people. Trade unionists, soldiers, visited orphanages, factories and villages

lt lies with worke:. bere ensuring they are in touch with their feliow trade unlonists in the factories and mines in Suuth Africa, and taking action to prevent them being detained and victimised.

That is what our union executive shouid be taking to the TUC at the General Council in July and to the Congress in September. And that is what it should be preparing

‘the membership for. James Hotlatsi and Cyril Ramaphosa bave returned “0 South Africa at great risk to themselves, to help forward the struggle there. We must not _let them down,

LOBBY THE TUC GENERAL COUNCIL

Lobby of the July TUC General Council 9.00 am 23rd July Congress House, Gt Russell St. Gnore fun than the wedding!. Lobby supported by Birmingham and Lambeth Trades Councils. Demand the TUC organise

a blockade of apartheid!

in the border areas with Pakistan where the fighting is. Anyone can be trained to use a gun and we saw the villagers out working in the fields being guarded by local militia, Bven young kids have their. part to play in the militia and there are women involved as well.

fed Miner. Did people know about the miners strike?

Liz. Yes some did. in the offices of the Kabul Times there were photos and badges from the strike, and they asked us now things were going Since the return to work.

(PT.0.—)

Red Miner, Vhat kinds of _ Places did you

visit?

Liz. All’ ‘sorts. We Visited’a. textile. factory

which was ‘quite .interesting™ because there

was a creche there for the children so's- :

the women workers would be able to go and see them and feed them in break times.

Also the villages in the border area wore really interesting. When we were there

there were meetings called in the villages to discuss the attack on Libya. People asked us what we thought. I said I felt most people in Britain were against the bombing.

Red_ Hiner, Was it all bard work?

Liz. We had some fun too ! One of the local sultans or chiefs invited us to dinner and I tried to dance an Afghan dance for him! He gave us same clothes from Pakistan as we badn't expected to stay away from Kabul that day and bad no extra change of clothes.

Red Hiner. What's the political situation there?

Lig. It's 5 clear that the Soviet Union gives them aid for their orphanages and. schools and so on. But you don't see many Russian soldiers araund. There are lots of fair haired’ kids in the orphanages though. But. it’s true the Afghans called the kussians in to heip them against counter revalutionaries based in . Pakistan. The people; are sometimes very wary of the arny though and this upsets some of the soldiers. But they do have their own militia. The government told us themselves that it is very difficult to convince some af the villagers to change their “traditional and religious ideas

We were at the airport and abaut to leave when we were asked to come'‘back for some extra days just at the time when a new President was chosen. They wanted to explain this ta us I think.

They have definately done some amazing things though. There are collective farms where the desert was before. I wrote some poems when I was there about it all.

Off to Afghanistan I went Expecting to sleep in a tent Hotel Royal you should have seen Fit enough for our Queen

Wash and change and food to eat Then an hour in the heat

Off to meetings we did go Chauffered cars to and fro

The driving scared us half to bits Living Bow on our wits

Notes we wrote and notes we took Time later to put them in a book

Afghanistan is blisterivg hot

And in. such a short time we've learned a lot

They've armed their people as they must

But this was done to shaw a trust "They still have bandits who have a gun

Who'll come in the aight to hit and run

_ Times are changing in Afghanistan ' For woman as well as for man

Every time the sun came out

Ve have been shut inside

Hocting after meeting

We're taking it in our stride -

We feel we are the lucky ones learning

something new

Even learning Aighan words

¥e feel the chusen few

The sights are sometimes sarrowLul

The poverty is bad, :

Seeing homeless children here

Can make you feel quite sad _.

But to see Afghanistan striding un

To make a better future here

Makes you feel quite good inside

And our goad wishes @@ you are true and sincere,

A ES OLSVLA

ELEUTERIO GUTIERREZ ts a Bolivian miner. and Trotskyist who was imprisoned In September 1985 at the time of the five week general strike against the austerity measures of the UDP government. Accused of “stealing mining equipment” on his arrest the comrade has been imprisoned ‘for 8 months without trial or. any ; charges laid against him, The real reason for his arrest was because he was a well known militant in the region of Oruro, being active in campaigns to nationalise the private mines, on protest marches . of miners to La Paz, and an active § detegate of his Union, ‘Letters of protest and resolutions calling for his release should be “sent to the Bolivian Embassy,‘ 106 . Eaton. Square, London SWI.

- WHAT IS

In the April issue of Red Kiner we looked at the causes. of capitalist crises, We finished by saying that ‘abolishing capitalism will abolish the death grip of profit on production. It will liberate production once and for all from ali crisis.’

Sounds fine doesn't it? But how and why? Once the working class has triwnphed over capitaiiam and smashed the capitalist state, how will we organise production of goads and services to avoid crisis and to the benefit of all?

Marx and Engels were very wary of drawing up ‘clue-prints’ for the future of socialist society. They wére too scathing of utopian socialists who devised wonderful

schewes for socialism in the here and now ~

without getting down to the business of waging the class war now to get rid of capitalism first! Still we have had the experience of the Russian Revolution in its early years -before it fell under Uncle Joe’s stranglehold, and we can say a few things about how we'll set about the job.

First, we will no longer produce goods for exchange for money on the market. We will produce useful things to distribyte to all members of ‘saciety in order to satisfy their needs. Of course, before we get to that happy state we will have to massively increase praduction on a world scale to raise the masses from starvation and poor housing: That's why socialism can only te a world order because no one country, however| massive has’ the resources to provide, what. we need. But by taking advantage of a new, rational international division of labour we stop the ridiculous system , of competition | and duplication of effort that goes. on at the moment, For example, ‘one or two countries. could reasonably produce all the tonnage of shipping ‘we need. for.:trade, while other countries use the resource for something else. (And we will not waste all that steel and new technology on warships either).

MARXISM

Under socialism individuais will not be condemned to one oaccypation for life. lastead of being victims of the division of labour as under capitalism, we can master it, As Marxists we reject the idea that some are ‘born 6 cGuommand' and others ‘oorn to obey’. It is not in one's nature to be a miner or a bus conductor for life. The desire to try out ‘different activities

exists in us all. The proof ‘is in what people do in their leisure time. .

in socialist society the free access to education and relevant skills ‘will allow workers to set about numerous tasks. ‘The choice of jobs will not be imposed but will be fitted within the needs of = an individual's development.

A massive reduction in the working week will be possible because we will get rid oi enforced unemployment, This is only necessary under capitalism to keep a downward pressure on wages and increase profits, Work-sharing will be the norm under socialist society. Absenteeism and words like ‘work-shy’ will: start to disappear because work will cease to be an imposed burden that we try to escape trom.

Gettirg rid of the wages system over time as we produce an abundance of gaads

for all is not the only consequence of socialist society. Ip the factory or office it will mean doing away with

hierarchy in the workplace. In its place will ba substituted a system af producers democracy. The aim of sacialism is selfgovermpert oan all levele of social life,

beginning with economic life. Elected delegates will replace institutional hierarchias. Alt permanent functionaries

will be replaced by delngates who take on these roles in turn.

Such a syetem of organisation and social wealth cau, of course, only be achieved ‘through a planned economy.

Representative democracy that reaches down

—e

EEE RE as MRA MTOR mL

to every offire, factory, street and estate is a pre-condition of such an economy.

Only people know what their needs are; can

articulate them and decide collectively on the order of receiving then.

Uniy such an economy can put an end to waste, utilise machines for people and apply them on a large scale to the arduous, dirty, monotonous jobs (which are not very profitable to invest in today!) , and sa eradicate drudgery.

Workers will thus find work fulfilling and only a part of their lives. Miners will breather frash air, get the sun on their backs and let the machines do the work.

SALETIEG YORIZOWS Lypnn Beaton Canary Press £5.65

Horizons charts the journey af two miners’ wives from Hlidworth, Wotts.: over the year-long strike. Bath women came from mining back-ground and were ordinary housewives at the start of the Great Strike.

Shifting political

Both woRen were exttremly apprehngive about their busbands Joining the strike. Pauline’s young son had a rare iliness and. Doreen had been in financial difficulties. However once their hbusbarids were ' picketed out, both women stood firm with them, “Now we wore stianding up for our principles and that made us feel proud,"

Going to their first piicket got ' them involved with other women and together they began to organise a soup kitchen. Being on picket lines and being personally har-rassed by the police opened their eyes to the role of the police, Paviline said, “I coulda'’t understand why they had acted that way, (arrested a lad crossing the road) They're suppastd to be upholders of the peace, and there wasn't any peace bellng

’ “

broken.,., shey voula make a perfectly peaceful picket into aviolent one” It also made them rethink the truth of all that the media said, -not just about the miners’ strike but about other events such as the Brixton "riots".

Both women gat involved in activities they wouldn’t dream of

before: public speaking to support groups, giving interviews, accupy i ngs the youth club,

travelling all over the country to collect money for the strike centre

(RT-0,)

John Sturrock {Network}

and meeting people who supported the Miners’ strike hecause they felt it was their fight ton. One supporter said” understand that if the RUK is defeated in this struggle then I am defeated = az: Wall....f am merely acting, in ny own interests...."

As the Strike went on, bath Dareen fad Pauline gained confidence avi became «mre than snup kitchen crganisers. Doreen became the legal. "expert" for the strike centre, They became involved in other struggles and Dereen joined the picket and theu the lie-in at South London VYoren’s Hospital ua the day that it was officially closed. They also spent time with the Greenhau Common Women.

Their husbards ales changed. They took charge of the housewark and looked after the childrea while the women worked in the Strike Centre.

The saddest part of the book was at the end when striking miners were told to return to work, a lot of the men said, "We're not going back to work without Ken" (a sacked

miner), Yet, the next day, they all returned to work.

Tuas

Hatfield Main Wives Group

2 A ere

‘labour movement.

could weld workiag class women into a united fight for women's rights and woswen's emancipation against capitalism and its agents in the The experience and urganisation of miners’ wives could provide the basis on which such a movement: can be built. / Doreen and Pauline have now joined Labour Party Women Section and are still active in Blidworth Action Group, taking up issues like Health Cuts, Greenham Common.

Vives ‘groups must draw up their own demands to meet the needs of women in their communities, eg nurseries and adaquate health care. but they must also go beyond that

‘ and jgive active «support to other

women and workers in struggle. They must maintain their links they have built up with other worker during the strike. A first task for the wives’ group mst be the fight for

the reinstatement of sacked miners like Ken.

South Africa Speclal,

Apartheid: From Resistance to Revolution.

Avatlable from:

now

Workers Power BCM Box 7750 London

WCIN 3X,

Price £1.15 (incl. p&p)

af [POUTR