Polish Worker Speaks

people. 200 kilometres to the South of Gdansk. Recently, its. prestige has madeit of interest to all of Poland. Solidarity supp-— orters throughout Poland speak of the Torun Inter—Factory Strike Committee (MKZ) with great admiration andrespect, Pierre Caen went to Torun for the Fourth International's journal INPRECOR, The TorunMKZ militants took him to the Towimor industrial region, 'the soul of the movement!, It wasina factory which makes machinery for the naval dockyards that the strikes last August began.

A strike committe was setup. For once Communist Party militants were inthelead. Then the wind of Solidarity blew through the party. Pierre Caen met CP militants inside the party officesin their Towimor factory, Inparticular he spoke to Zbigniew Ivanow, the best known oppos-— ition militant of the CP, What happened in the Communist Party within the factory?

It began with the strike. Most party militantsin our factory, Towinor, were for the strike. Some were on the strike committee. Stanichevsky was our delegate to Gdansk. After the strike, we soonrealisedthat Solidarity wasa safeguard for the people, Later we had to split from Solidarity because the constitution of Solidarity says that people who hold party pcsts cannot hold responsibilitiesin Solidarity. Itisnot possible to have two major positions and todo them both well. Despite all that, we did everything to help our MKZ comrades because weare stil] member s of Solidarity. We saw, very quickly, that the changes we had instigated in our party were insufficient. Thus we sought contacts with like— minded members of other party organisations. The quickest response came fromthe party at the University.

Now we have 32 organisations inthe commission. Ithasno leader. Thereisa weekly meet— ing. Each time somebody else chairs to avoid one person dominating. All documents drawn up by the commission are circularised in the rank and file party organisations where they are debated to see if they meet with approval.

We are workers, not diplomats, we do not mince our words in the meetings. When we think: some— one isa thief or a gangster we say so.

The people who donot want aregeneration of the party listen without pleasure because they arenotusedtoit. They think we should always applaud theFirst Secretary's speeches without questioningifitisright. They would not shout in the hall that heisanidiot or thathetellslies.

It was over these problems of manner and not of substance that they expelled me from the party -it wasabitlike the Inquisition. One Sunday, | wastold that! must attend a meeting on Monday, On the Monday they expelled me, and on the same day the factory organisationrejectedit.

Hence 1 am the only party sec retary whoisnotin the party! Of course 1 appealedin writing butitis three months later and bigger fish than me} continuing my work.

congress? gate. ect suffrage. his or her choice, still noreply -itis true the commission must have lots of work to expel other militants who are Today the parséy control commiss— ionis coming to discussmy case (laughter). Itisaploy to win time because this commission can can do nothing toreverse the decision. Itisplaying for time. lam doingnothingelse. Just ee ee HOW can you inipose democratic elections atall levels before the In the present party rules there are several points which are undemocratic and we want them changed, Thenumber of candidatesislimited— that cannot continue. Votescan be manipulated because everybody isnot adele— Here, inour discussions, we have gone still further. We think that the party authorities at all levels shouldbe elected dy dirFor example, ina party meeting to elect a secretary there would be several candidates, each outlines their programme and finally there is aknowledgeable win. vote. Everybody, by voting for his or her candidate, would feel responsible for the candidate of Also we have considered the role of the party. Until nowour party has playedarole that it shouldnot not have: it doubles with the func— tions of the state (administration, police). Thatis why we think that this duplication of state apparatus in all fields of the party apparatus, this bureaucracy, hasto disappear. the CP in the factory and what it shouldbe, Itmustbeaforce making positive proposalson all the problems andnotaninsti — ument of government. | would like a party like that in our coun— try. Tojointhis party one should wait a year or twoinorder to show what you can do, toget some quality not quantity.

YOU have spoken about self— management in the factories but how do you envisage it in society asa whole so that the workers really decide?

Now, you say that the factories belongtous, Nottrue, They are in the hands of the government. The governmentisledby avery limited group — not even all the political bureau of the party — but only afewof them, Itis they whodecide. Society hasno influence andit bears the consequences of their decisions. That is why we want et make this reform as quickly aspossible, How to achieve thisreform? To cleanup Poland...

| think that the factories must have greater autonomy and the ultimate aimIs tolet the workers decide. | seethatasa series of councils ofall the workers from all partsofthe factory. They couldnot be bought. Other wise the one with more money would The workers would decide how to to develop the factory, howto share things, howtorecruit, that would be areform of all the fac-— tory administration, At this moment the interviewends as the party control commission arrivesin the party offices at the factory. Theparty control com— mission upheld lvanow!s expul— sion from the party.

sei SOCIALIST REPUBLIC THE PEOPLES DEMOCRACY bases itself on the following points:

We agree that the central political question for the Irish people is the political, economic and military domination of Ireland by imperialism and that the central task for the the Irish revolution is the solution of the national question through the ending of partition and achievement of political and economic indspendence.

We are united in our rejection of the claim that any lasting solution to the oppression of the Irish people can be found within a 6 county framework, and in our rejection of any "right" of the Loyalist minority to continue partition, AS Marxists we believe that the capitalist state must be smashed and replaced by a workers! state and that only the organised worWhen the United States of America inspired the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organiz— ation (NATO) after World War 2, itaskedall Western European countries to join thisnew military alliance directed against the Soviet Union anditsalliesin Eastern Europe.

The Dublin government declined the invitation for one decisive reason: it didnot want Britain to have the right to station troops South of the border - John Bull was doing far too much damage in the North already.

Thisobstacle is as mucha factor today asit wasin the 1940's and 1950!s. So why should there be any discussion of a change in king class can provide the motive force for doing this.

We believe that a crucial area of capitalist oppression is women, and this is especially so in Ireland, given the history of clerical power here, Women are oppressed as a sex and even a successful rev— olution will not automatically guarantee the elimination of this oppression. For this reason, we unconditionally support the right of women to organise independently to fight for their emancipation, As Marxists, we believe that the working class has the ability to successfully challenge and defeat imperialism. It produces the wealth of society without being able to control or distribute it. It is potentially stronger than any other other class because of its ability to organise on amass base, combining its economic strength and atcher experience has taught the British that direct attacks on the political integrity of the Dublin government can be counter—productive. This was the tactic employed after the Mountbatten killing, and the deaths of 20 paratroopers in Warrenpoint in August 1979. JacklLynch was pilloriedin the racist Britishpress, and then given an insulting dressing down during three hours of talks right after Mountbatten was dispatched to earth.

Lymch duly capitulated, but then foundhimself tobe an easy target for resentment within the Fianna Fail party for failing to pin any responsibility for what had happenedon the political short— its strength of numbers.

We accept that workers have the right to defend themselves against imperialism. However, we do not accept the ideology of militarism -the belief that armed groups can substitute themselves far the masses and win freedom for them, We believe in the building of an organised and experienced leadership, in a Marxist party based on the Leninist theory of party organisation: the central feature of which is democratic centralism.

The organisation is internationalist. It commits itself to holding an organised discussion with representatives of the Fourth InterNational on the question of affiliation to the Fl. Members of the organisation may hold individual membership of the Fl.

creator the USA, issteppingup ly, this is because of the Soviet threat. Butnot only the USSRis European working class. Its leading strategists like Sir John Hackett admit this frankly: in their view, the next World War will be alimitednuclear war in Europe.

And what are they afraid of? They fear the reluctance of the European working class to become sacrificial guinea pigs for closures of NATO military plans have shown, these war—mongers would destroy several major Western European citiesrather USSRarmy. AndIireland? They expect Dublin and Belfast tobe razed to the ground.

And these war-—mongers, !edby RonaldRay-guns (Charlie and John Hume of the SDLP claim he is our friend!) want countries like Ireland to offer themselves up as victimsin anuclear holocaust. The answer we give back to them has tobe clear: we don't want NATO because we don't want Imperialism running our country!

JOHN MEEHAN the Nuclear ArmsRace. Allegedits target - soalsoisthe Western angry workers.

UsAimperialism. Asrecent disthan let thembe ''occupied!"' by the Wing both. The above isamore apt title for the last wage deal negotiated by the 1C TU with the Fianna Fail government and southern employers. A wage deal which despite frantic efforts by C.J, Haughey during the negotiations to ensure some agreement now seemstobe falling apart. The second phase of the NU isnow under threat for thousands of workers. Many have been told they will not be receiving it.

The FUE were first to the lifeboat with cries of universal ljnability topay!. Dire threats of loss of jobs have been issued to workersresi sting such robbery. Suchmajor semi-State employersasAer Lingus and CIE, declaredunwillingness to pay the second phase, but appear to have backed off in the face of threats of industrial action from determined and The deal secured--8%+7% ‘and compensation if the CPI rose above 10%, hasbeen hit hardby massiveinflation, Itisnow running at the rate of 21% and the CPI rose by 6%.

Once the figures became known, the 1|CTU immediately argued for compensation on top of the 7% -—- the employers are refusThe financial crisis within the economy, massive inflation, huge foreign borrowing and risingunemploymeni are factors many workers are aware of, Periods of recession have alwaystendedtocurb the confidence of anxious workers. Huge job losses, factory closures, short-time working, selective and extensive redundancies hang over their daily lives. However it would appear that some signs of resistance are emerging. Possibly with the memory of the 74recession and their experiences, some workers in slowly growing numbers are fighting back. This 'fightback! spiritis emergingintwo distinct ways: -- thenumber of workers who (though mainly in the stronger, highly organised sectors) are notprepared toforfeit the second phase and who are prepared to take industrial action -- thenumber of workers who areresisting closures and redundancies —--egthe Talbot workers, Alcan site, and Limerick fitters, Ross& Co shipyard workers, to mention afew. Their actions have taken the form of sit-ins to full— scale occupations. The demands have been sometimes limited, ie seeking more adequate compen— sation for unemployment or pay— ment of wages etc due. Nevertheless, the willingness to engage in struggle and the lessons learned, harden out a wider and wider layer of militant workers, Also central to the change in scenario, during the recession, is the tacit support of the trade union leaders. Many, possibly motivated by party political hos— tility to the present government are offering strident if somewhat empty resistance to employers and government alike. But even words can spur on the working class to fightback. The bureaucrats can well remember the ravaging effect on active, dues paying members during the last recession and how !shaky! union finances became. Most will simply be cautious of being outflanked or pushed aside by their member— ship. 2 ++ Contdon page 7