Trade Unions And the Fightback

THE BEGINAING of July saw some 1600 delegates gather In Gelfast for | the annual conference of the Drish Congress of Trade Unions.Jt was | a gloomy, uninspiring affalr only (iifed briefly by striking healthwore hers and o representative of the (de Lorean cocupation who addressed | the delegates. | TU president David Wylie set the tone for conference in Als apening Bddress; he spoke of the appalling unemployment, he savage attacks on public servicés == health, educatlon and housing == of [he altempts by both the Geltish and Irish governmenis to amash the organ|sead strength of the trade wnlons, MO DEBATE ON FIGHT-BACK Missing from Wyllets speach wes any plan ta lead-a fightback epalnst this offensive by the bogs class, Pious statements, pollte.appl ause for sirlkers, pleas for the govern= mente to change course -—= thet.ls ell the platform offered the delegates by aay of a plan to solve the orlsia.

The platform was equally detenminad io see that here would ba no debate on what 4 Peal plan might look Ilke.

FRilghi 21 the beginning of conference se motlon from Derry Trades Council calilng for discussion on bul Iding.a Labour Party in the North based on <2 trade unions wae ruled out of eeder for belng polltl cal.

The idea of bulliding such & labour Poerty In the 6 Counties Is unreal -Sul no more unreal than the fiction of workers! unity within the trade wmions which is constantly paraded Sy the ICT leadership, That flcon would have been exploded by ® @eboate on bullding 5 Labour Party gid thatis the reél reason for ICTU baring ite discussicn.

real world, Oesplte the facts that Wrempl oFment How totals over 270,000 in boih the 6 and 26 Countles and Is-stifl rising, that the bagic infrastructure of the North's economy Is in tetters and the South= nm economy Is almost totally in eck to International finance, the TU refuses tocknowledge the eavicue — fre cépliallst system lta of solution far which a] clase must orgenise, Welle brushing shoulders with Beeerment ministers may heave pro @oted some crumbs In the pat, men the crisis was lese severe, |i eo!) provide any angwers today.

Workers need nat only a blogger slice ‘of the cake =- we need to take aver (he bakery. Instead of thea | Present system, profit-orlented capitalism, we must secure @ system of workers! contrel and soclallan.s | The present leadership of the IOTU ls Incapable of gPasping this natile, fey are wedded te fe caolfalist Eystem. The likes of Wylle are more concerned with being. seen as 'responsible! by dhe Tory.press than with ofganising a real militant fight , for jobs and in defence of living Siandards. Anew leadership, in= Cepenident of the bosses and thelr SOeermimenis willl have ta be built. Sucha leacershle willl meed to Pecognise that 4 fighthack agsinst he Soseea isa poalltical ag well as an economic battle, FACE UP TO BRITISH DOMINATION That means facing up to the role ehich British Imperiallsm plays in Ireland, Ever since the 1916 Rising lt hes been-fashionable In the trade inion movement to dismiss the ques lion of netione! independence as «4 @eeerelon foam the socalled ! reall of te wf pay packets == the [righ economy.

The bCTU leadership, proimper-— ialieta Vike Kemmy!s SOP and the Workers! Party defend this same POEMIoi today, For cover fey dress in the clothes of lantl=sectar= laniamn!, preach. tthe unlty.of protes tant and-cathollc, workers! In ihe North, And they are.not afraid to ambrace the mostcreasctionary causes in thelr ceusdade to appease ihe loyalist allealance of the majority of protesient workers, Ex~preditian? Yes, finel! "Let the hunger strikers die? Mo preblem.! 'Suopert the RUT Of course, why nor t! W bile Glass unltyy; nothing ta stop the SSsassination campaigns of loyalist paramlilfaries; nothing to end the Protestant sireanglehold in the Belfast shipyards and othe heavy industry: nething to end the discrl= mination whlch means that one of everyttwo workers In Ballbynurphy is on the dole while the figure in loyaligt are@ag ls one In elght. The truth Is that [rich workers will never be united while British tmpertaliam holds sway In Ireland, while it 18 @lowed to buy the loyalty of Protestant workers at the expense of their catholic fellows, while It is 4Sllowed te menipulate the econonles he -— —_ eines i southern capi talista.

ECONOMIC PLA of the North and South, Partition ie the link berween Impertallst damlnation and [eishocap! tal bem, The trade union movement In tretarncd ip 650,000 strong, he wasbmajority siflliated te the [CTU Propert! one Blely, If ts one of the largest control, teade union movement mn the capi tallest worid, With the right pro= gramme and the proper leadership ltwould bn an urnstoppeasle power on the side of the working class.

The trade union movement should be at the Aeadol the movement for hathonal selfdeterminatloa, tis willed ransen 36 ta believe inaL.a in the. 26 countles to setthe accounts with Haughey and FitzGerald d with out intervention on the labters!l be= half. The same Brith sh soldiers wha how paireal the Falls Road would very quickly besmanning checkpoints on Dublin's Ol@onnell Street, The withdrawal of the Gritish Army from the Morth and the digmantling- of that Sectorlah State are wiial ingredients for any successful ‘siruggle against THE NEED FOR A SOCIAL IST The teade-union movement, angen sed throughout Ireland, wands nob leaye any QrOuUp Of workers to Tight the bosses on thelroown. There should be a nathenal campaign to halt factory closures, to see that de Lorean, Clondalkin, Burlington and any other plants under threat arectaken into public @wrership under workers!

The trade union movement should put forward «plan for putting the Unemployed back to work and to pro vide Jobs for the tens of thousands of youth joining the dole. queues. Such 2 plan would include a 35 hour Wook to share work, and. programme of public works to bulld the much negded houses, schools and hogpliatse., This plan would be financed through the nationalisation ef the banks, Insurance companies and other financial institu tlons, — and punithye taxation of multinalarn= ala! proflts, To pramote workers! unity fhe trade Union movenent must adopt policies of poshtive acthon to offset the his— tary of discrimination that burdens massive sections of the Irish work= Ing class —- catholle workers in ihe North, women and yoling workers throughout the country, Such policlhes would Include « national minimum wege and the establishment of quotes for the most oppressed tn all s@ctlons of Industry, commerce and @ducation, “Only fr this way can discrimination which cripples the workers! movement be enced.

ORGANISE THE FIisHTERS To force the-treade unions ta imple ment guch 4 pettcy, the leadership Must bS made accountable, This invelves the right ta elect all-otfictals and the right to recall, the right of workers of any political afflllat ton io campalgn apenly far election to offlce, the right to take all major nieretere Briel Gis argantsatte ae unl on ectivety eo that all onmentbers can participape fully.

It 450 Means pulling to an eid. thea varlous schenes through which the present leadership séeks to tie the working class to the bosses! state, Particlpation fn the. Employer-L abour Conference must be ended and trade unionists should nme longer provide caver for repression by [nivel wement in polles and prison bodies.

The healthworkers! strike in the Merth, the Burlington strike, ‘the oceupations of de Lorean-and Clandalkin shew the willingness of work ing people todight. “They krow they are notconly flahting for their. aan

OVER THE past year trade union Sai ge * That: the employers! “Liabilt:

----- pull-quotes -----

of i ina massive crisis. Tse Raters of this crisis determines

rere it does Aothite 7% re renoia parked