Partners to Social Police

This summer's Tralee conference, under the utle “Managing Change” marked a new turch to the nght towards company unionism and redelining [CTU as an adjunct of management.

The policy, outlined by outgoing President Phil Flynn. contained an explicit endorsement of the new capitalist strategies of “lean production”, “human resource management” and worker “participation”.

His onc complaint was that the new policy was too individualistic and concentrated too much on the individual worker - the message to the bosses was that there was no need to bypass [CTU - they could play their part in speeding up the workforce. Amongst all the praise of modernisation there was no mention of the new levels of exploitation recorded by lean production. Experts boast that workers are on task for 57 seconds in every minute!

You might expect some working class opposition to these new levels of exploitation. Flynn and company have the answer - compulsory arbitration and aggregate voting. ICTU will join with management in erecting new barners to industrial action and by attempting to swamp the votes ol militant workers in more gencral votes to prevent advanced lavers ol skilled workers from taking independent action.

ICTU are entering the end game ol their policy of social partnership -the degradation into company unionism where the real nature of the partnership becomes crystal clear - the bosses tule, the workers obey and increasingly [CTU provide the police force to keep it all on track.

For A Workers Republic. Page 9

to contribute the [rish government was willing but not able to meet the request because of overstretch in the Lebanon, two dozen Garda were sent as consolation.

Bosnia has been a major victory for a british foreign policy of appeasement to Serbia. All the mayor partics in the 26 countics have slavishly supported the Brush linc. Working people should demand that the Insh Government break from this impenalist bloc and support the nght ol the Bosnian people to self defence.

The crisis in Bosnia has brought the worst tendencies out of many individuals and groups from the socialist left. One strain is best epitomised by individuals like Tony Bennand groups like those publishing the journal Living Marxism. These people all place the responsibility tor the War on secondary influences. They find a conspiracy of interest directed mainiy from Germany to see the breakup of Yugoslavia in the interest of the West. We reject this analysis and put the blame for the breakdown of Y ugoslaVia with its intemal political struggles. [twas the centralising tendencies of the Milosevic faction in the name of a greater role for Serbia within the federation that unleashed the dynamic towards breakdown. The evidence ts clear cnough to show that the Milosevic regime is guilty of ynsonng acts of unbndled aggression against the other national republics;war was started in Bosnia betore the reterendum on independence had cven taken placc.

Other lett groups like the Socialist Workers current spread the false tdea that all parties involved are equally to blame for the war in Bosnia and the Bosnian struggle has got nothing to do with democratic nghts. The Bosnian defence force is nota multi-ethnic one but a Muslim militia hei! bent on setting up an [slamic Republic. The Socialist Workers current warms all its members to stay well clear of discussing the issue with anvone who takes a different view. The party that set up the anti Nazis Ilcague in Ireland to alert people tothe fact that extreme nght movements are growing again and must be opposed has been unable to identity the Chetnik gangs at work in Bosnia as part of the new fascist threat. There has been no anti fascist acuvity taken up by the SWP tn Britain or ireland reluuuing to Bosnia, maverick university dons are the real danger and concem when it comes to a light against the new mght. it is time for ordinary members of the SWP came out of the closet and asked their leadership to change their position on Bosnia. Atthe very least they could stop referring to the Bosnian side as the Muslims in their party press.

Some left groups like Militant have argued that it is too difficult to adjudicate the competing national ciaims in the region. Milttant end up tn the position of the SWP praying for a spontaneous outbreak of workers unity to md the felt of the burden of having to take a stand when economism fails to show the way. In truth when the bosses are in open strife with the workers these left groups arrive on the scene claiming to have all the answers but when political life ts not so simple all they can do ts opt-out or murmur psalms to Workers unity as the vicuims of oppression are led away.

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“Managing Change” FROM SOCIAL

Little socialist solli- darity with Bosnia: