British Attack oix-County

returned to office at Westminster has been described as an "absolute disaster" by the North's trade union leaders, Typical of their reaction were the words of John Freeman, regional secretary of the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union, (ATGWU), "it is an attack on the working class and the trade unions, '' he said. "Instead of declaring war on pover— ty, the Government has declared ~ war on the poor. !!

SWINGEING CUTS Freeman is absolutely right to talk of war because the Tory budget sets out not only to slash the living standards ef the working class but also to*cripple the ability of orga= nised workers to fight back. Thus along with swingeing cuts in the health and education services and the taxing of unemployment benefits and welfare, the Tories are going to starve the families of striking workers by refusing them sup-— plementary benefit. In this way the Tories hope to ensure that families of those on poverty wages will stop these workers from striking for fear of destitution. It is along time since any capitalist government in Britain has been able to threaten the working class with sucha vicious weapon.

LOWER LIVING STANDARDS Despite the fiery words of John Freeman, it is unlikely that Northern workers will be given any lead by him and his cronies in the Northern Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (NICICTU). The Tory budget will mean a further cut back of £64m in public spending in the North, resulting in the loss of thousands more jobs and almost certainly guaranteeing that the North's unemployment total will soar to 100,000 in the first few years of the 1980's, Under the Tories, the North will continue to have the highest unemployment rate, the lowest standard of living and the highest cost of living in the so-called United Kingdom.

The budget cuts mean that since the Tories took office public spending in the 6 Counties has been slashed by £174m -- adding up to approximately £100 per head of population. The North is already the poorest region in the so-called U.K. The latest report of the British Supplementary Benefits Commission revealed that 15% of the North!s population are dependent on benefits compared with 9% in Britain. Food and clothing cost up to 20% more than in Britain while fuel costs in the North are between 30 and 300% higher.

MISSED OPPORTUNITY The Apri! 2 protests against Tory spending cuts which were organised by NIC-ICTU provided a brilliant opportunity for the North's trade _ union leaders to mobilise the entire member ship in opposition to the Tory government. In the event it was like a wet tea party. The Northern Ireland Committee left it up to the individual unions to decide whether or not to issue strike instructions thus guaranteeing that right-wing trade union officials would refuse to call for strike ac-— tion. In fact very few unions did issue a strike instruction, and in some unions, such as the Public Service Alliance, branches that voted for strike action were orderea not to issue strike instructions, EMPLOYER INTIMIDATION In this situation it wasn't difficult for employers to intimidate workers into remaining at work by threatening victimisation. The small numbers who attended the protest ralliesin the 13 centres testified to the success which the bosses enjoyed, At the major rally outside Belfast's City Hall only about 5,000 attended, of which the largest single contingent was 1, 500 antiunionist workers who marched from West Belfast in defiance of NICICTU's instructions, FIGHTBACK NECESSARY If ther e is going to be a serious fight against the Tory cuts in the North then the trade unions will have to ditch the inappropriately named 'Jobs -—— An Action Programme! which poses false solutions of multinational investment and small cooperatives. Imperialism has no solution to the problems of the Northern economy, problems which

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