International News

The recent miners strike in Britain represents a serious. sethack for the Tory Government. The miners by their militancy and by their ability te win support and solidarity from other sections of the British working class were able to win-pay increases of 205% average. Notoonly did this represent in the shont term a defea! of the Tory governments sirategy on the wages front bat it als tas thrown into css Heath's long tc strategy for British capitaliam.

Since the Second Workd War British capital:

iam has been faring badly with respect to its iniemational rivals USA, Germany, France and Japan. Internally, it was faced with a continodus low level of economic growth.

The Labour Government of 1964-1970 tried to solve these probleme for the British Capitalist Class: [it began an attack on the living dandurds of the working class by attempting to freeze wages, enoourage Productivity deals on-the shop floor and begin to cot the wel fare stale expenditure. lt sought alen to weaken the bargaining power of the Trade Union movement, by attempting to pass anti-union law “[n Place of Strife", Ute failuré to do this, its fallure to negotiate Britain's entry inte the Common Market or to dampen the industrial militancy of the working class led to ite defeat in 1970. The defeat wos a result of the political demoralisa{ions of sections of the working class with “their”

party on the one hand, and a reabsation, on the other, by sections of the ruling clase thai the Labour Party was 40 ineffective instrumeni for taming the working class. The sew Tory government adopted a more tuthless policy. - It intensified its attacks on the welfare state poing so far as to cul off businesses. These “lame ducks” were [| i The recent heightening of African revolt in Rhodesia serves only to further pinpoint the inevitability of downlall of the while racist @iperstructute in that country, The basis of this downfall can be seen clearly in the hisfory of this-staie from the time thal the 'Fioneer Column” of the British South African ceremonially hoisted the British {lag orer the new settlement of Fort Salisbury in 1490, Behind the dreams of these white settlers lay the interest of British imperialism during the scramble for Africa in the best quarter of the 19th century. What was ac interest wis the defense of British Worldwide freedom to trade wherever there was prolil to be made, As LeHin pointed out: imperialism involved a stragMe for territerial “spheres of interest” ce exclude or anticipate rivals. The native Afritang were crushed following severa) years of bloody warfare. Eventually, they were virtunliy enalaved on the land with Teas security, in ¢xchange for their labour services, than under feudalism, Pallowtng the first world war British Imperjaligem was lefl in a very weak position. Consequently it was foreed to tely more on the while repimes in South Aftiva and Rhodesia, It was in this contenxttlat these regimes gained more or as complete autonomy 'and aaa Teak Rhodesian settiera gained the unique position of a sellgoverning ovlony within the empire. [n macy respects che structure al Rhodesian society was strikingly different from the other African colonial countes, The basis of this colonia! structure was ee eee a ee | ee On ec er nae allowed ta po to the walle throwing many thousands more on the dole quewes: | was in the trade-union field that the most drastic action was taken, As well as milroading new antl ireon legislation (induwtreaa! Relations Bill) through parliament they gio began to have ashowdewn with the workers tithe nationalised industries, In winter 1970 the Power Workers were the subject offa hysterical Campagn in the miss media and dao result intimidated into returning to work In Spring 1971) the Post Office Workers were grounded into the dusl by the use of all go vernment rescurces, With thes significant victorica the Tory Government was able to keep many wage agreements within the limit of 7%. [te last big obstacle was the sriners, The situation existing in the coalfields on the ewe of thestrike, was the most militant in decades.

There were ony reasons for this. The miners had suffered-a cut in real wages such that they had sunk to & postion from being the top wage carhéts in the Fifties to a position before the strike where they were about | 3th inthe Table. The same period had seen massive redundancica and pit closures with manpower being cut by halfin that period, Also a docile trade union leadership, (MLM) had pasdively witnessed this worsening situation. Added ti theee was Lhe general wnirest in the British Labour Movement over the rising unemployment and the growing hostility towards the Tory (rovernment.

The miners started off in an unfavolitabie position. It had been a mild winter, Demand for coal was low and stocks in the power stalions were teh. The Heath poversinent adopted its prediclible “not an inch” pose hoping to inflict a decisive defeat on the mene and force them back to work on the government's terms:

The militancy and tactics of the miners were decisive, They began an imaginative campaien of picketigg: power stitigns, ports, and even chips were picketed by minée from speed ty: other Trode Unions soon instructed their etolsie of small and medium mine owners ind farmers.

The white working clais did not proceed idustrial development but wos 2 consequence of it and therefore lived in a high wage econoiny¥. By dhe end of the thirties, they the small manufacturing petty-bourgeaisie constituted the bulk of Rhodesian whites, The probfem, however, for the white rurnl bourgecisie was to expand the internal market for their produce while harmonising the interests of the ather white classes and intemacicnal capital (nelustrialisation, while the answer to the problem and approved by inflernational <apitalism, could only be achieved by the proklarianisation of the Africans. This could not be accepted oa it would Virstly be a threat to the rural hourpeoisic in the form of a class of African capitalist farmers and a threat to the white workers in the form of 2-black proletariat, The solution was found ina series of maior racist acts to reduce the threat of African competition in every area, White power waa therefore conselidated in. this period by pushing the Alricans inte a state of semi-destracten, Alter the second world war, however, industnilisation grew and with it a black proleraTiat slowly severed from the relative securiry of the lind; more class conscious and with strong sodial and political roots in the peaSnuy becaase of their common exploitation. Fur thisnew uldustrial sector new outlets were needed and it came to depend more upen the growth ef purchasiiie power of the Atrican workers Who were in fact, a significant pari of the blick population, numbering in F9G8 176.000 culol 440K 00 linpert substitution and European migracion provided the initial growth of (he manufac turing sector, bul the question of the African markel could not iM put off while even the demand for labor in all acctors of industry was by no means salistied ba Buropeat migration, Thus, we have the interest of interactional capital, which had pained a hold in every industria! sector, now no longer coinciding with that-ob the ehice mural bourgeoisie. The Rhodesian government seeing this contradic ion in the (orti¢s and fillies tried to create an African proletatial but, due co mifitant Wie resection all such venturcs enued in in Che slrike Siathnig 5 partes, in their own right).

stabtliry, darity with Faurth Intemational.

a5out the A.M.G.

NAME | Great Charles Street. Dublin. members to cooperate with the miners’ pickets.

Many students from universities aad polytech: nics joined in the struggles, In pone areas students pul their wmvrersitics at the disposal of the flying-piwckets, To many miners this was significant i contrasted aharply wath the last national coal strike-in 1426 whew the students had played a decisive tole as strike brealerdfrom a political point of voew it is instru: tive to note the role the students had plaved many political groups regard THE SALTLEY PICKET: A fuming point in the suiners| strike. Here fhe combined action of the mines ond Hien s worker striking th solldunty foresad fhe Police ro clase fhe power the student population as no more than an area of recruitment to Che revolutionary oeowement failing te realise as che strike in Britain clearly showed, that 49-4 distinc! socal layer ttudeuts are capable of taking political initiatives Aa the strike proceeded the picketing beean to bite. The coal supplies were sudden|y found to be running out. Support for fhe miners oon: lined to prow. Ooe-day sympathy strikes to close, The tinpluy ment figures shot up anc] Werarian capitalism at the exmense of the Africana. After militant Peéponse to this from the Africans the tational capitalist, the petty bourgeoisie and the white working class polarised around the Rhodesian Frant Party that has conrcrolicd Rhodesia since 1962, UDI, having been declared in 1A, only resulted in a gniall decresse in the fortunes of the African population, Hil UBT not been declated the situation of the black masies ceuid only have continued to deteriorate, a6 it had done since the beginning of bmperial exploilation of Riode- Purope, sid, The present dtualion in Rhodesia exieted-in South Africa ten years or so apo and as in S. A. for international and aalional capital it Rhodesia, apartheid hus become the otly way of even temporarily traintiining This way limited expansion and un offsetting of a growth of an African proletariat can on ther be aehieved at the expense of the African rural masies, bot here the formula for lonelerm economic stagnation ia being applied: Thus, the whitt tacit regime and its imperialist backers are heading alone a road of Headly contradiction, Aut there is nothing inevitable about its fatality, The straupele to decapitate if has to be well prepared, Revolutionary socialist organisation in soliLar interested in getting more information ADDRESS awe. tye Here blip ie = Send to: The Secretary: AMG; 58, Nerth Mok eatimmared the miners cupacity to struggle .realized that he had a rnajor defeat on his hands, citer fhe egivetion in Britain ghous fhe role of Woop: (a rela wsing (hem apained pheir “ow people weld due heen Righty danger dus He badto rétrent. A Court of Rnquiry the Wilberforce enquiry, wis set up.

With the award of a 20% rise to the mines Heath's government is in crisis. Many other sections-of the British working class, baving lenrned the power ol mibtant action snd aolidarily, will themselves be eocounped to take on their bosses and mailers, But it ison the Lang terin strategy that the Lmpact of rhe riers sitike is so important, Many Jeading ruling clash papers in Aritain are now eritically questioning the wisdom of the Heath style of government, They feel that the Tuthiess confrontationist stvle of gover met las nol pard ~The ctisis of British capitalisen and of the British ruling class deepens.

Allover the world the Fourth Internationai has beet organising aolidarity with the national liberalign struggle is Ireland. bn particular they have allempted to mobilise support for the campaigns being waged by the PRA, Below we give three brief reperts carried cut by our comrades in Paris. Members of the Ligue Communiste oc cupied the offices of Botish Railways, Hundrede of Parisians watched on us the Bed Flag of the Fourth (nterstational was hoisted and large Red Bartners were flown from the windows with slogans such as “Sulidariry with the JRA” and “Wietomeobe the irish Revolution” inscched West Berlin, A decnonstmtion of over 1.300 people wis Of giiived hy our German comrades of the GEM to the British Consulate Cenenil, Slogans af solidaniry with the [RA and for the withdrawal of British Troops were again raised, Stockholm, Sixty mniliiants of the RME (Swedish symipathisite section of the Fleccapied the BEA Offices and mounted a continuous picket on the firitish Enibasay, - PLOUGH BOOK SERVICE Books Inchude:

Introduction te Logic of Marxism: George Novack Price £0.62 Introduction to Marxist Eoonomice: Ernest Marcel Price £0.37 What is Trotskyism?: Ernest Mandel Price £0.10 68, North Great Charles Street, Dublin, MARXIST DISCUSSION GROUP Lectures and discussions on topics of general Marxist theory, Irish Politics and History, Sundays: 6,30-9.30 pan, 54, North Great Charles Street,

£9.78 to £24 88 Le., by. Lode, Between Getober G0 and December 70 the consequently it is imposible to uphold the

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